The Sicilian's Bought Bride. Carol Marinelli

I don’t use it as an excuse to snub people. I didn’t treat the nurses and doctors like dirt on my shoe…’

      ‘If I hadn’t interrupted him he would have asked about Marco, asked how he was doing, when they could expect to see him again. Did you want me to tell him, Catherine? Did you want me to stand in the foyer and tell the world my brother is dead when any moment now they’re going to find out anyway?’

      He looked at her bemused face and shook his head disbelievingly. Picking up a remote control, he flicked on the television, watching her expression as the images shot into focus, hearing the tiny strangled sob as the mangled wreckage of a car filled the screen, then Marco and Janey’s wedding photo, superimposed on the top right corner. The news reader droned on, regaling supposed facts Catherine simply wasn’t ready to hear, and her hand shot to her ears in a childlike gesture, her eyes screwing closed against the horrible images that seemed to be choking her.

      ‘I asked the hospital not to release their names until we left.’

      His explanation wasn’t helping, and she opened her eyes, stared at him, bemused.

      ‘A Mancini is dead.’

      ‘Two Mancinis,’ Catherine corrected. ‘My sister counts too.’

      ‘Your sister counts for nothing,’ Rico sneered. ‘But, yes, I stand corrected. Technically two Mancinis are dead, Catherine, and that is news. No doubt the poor concierge you were so worried about is now either kicking himself for his insensitivity or ringing the press to tell them I am here.’ He gave a small shrug. ‘Frankly, I don’t give a damn which one it is.’

      ‘But why would the press want to speak to you?’

      ‘Are you stupid, Catherine? Or just a really good actress?’

      His words barely touched the sides. Pain was already layered on top of pain—another dash of scorn, another dose of humiliation from Rico was not much in the scheme of things.

      ‘I’m not stupid, Rico.’ Her brown eyes met his. ‘I read the papers, I watch the news when I get home from work, and I know how powerful the Mancinis are, I know that the stockmarket rises and falls depending on your company’s profits. But Marco wasn’t a part of the family business—Marco never worked a day in his life. I really can’t see why the press are getting so excited. His death isn’t going to affect the company—’

      ‘Do you think the press will care about a small detail like that?’ Rico broke in, ‘Marco is rich, he has a daughter—’

      ‘Was rich,’ Catherine corrected, and for a second so small it was barely there she was sure she saw a flicker of pain in those dark eyes, saw the haughty, bland mask slip for a tiny second, but she continued anyway. ‘Had a daughter.’

      ‘Which is why I’ve brought you here.’

      ‘You didn’t bring me here,’ Catherine pointed out. ‘I chose to come. I’m not stupid, Rico, but possibly I’ve been a bit naamp2;¨ve. Maybe the world isn’t going to stop because of Janey and Marco’s deaths, but it’s certainly going to pause for a few days’ reflection, and I can see that Lily’s future will be debated vigorously by people who don’t give a damn about her. But I for one don’t care what the newspapers have to say, because at the end of the day everyone will get on with their lives. We’re the ones who are going to be living it; we’re the ones dealing with the issues.’

      ‘I don’t give a damn what the press say, either,’ Rico responded. ‘But it is not only the press who will be having their say…’ His eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he stared at her for the longest moment, as if deciding whether or not to continue. ‘My stepmother is not going to let you have Lily.’ A tiny gasp of protest escaped Catherine’s lips, but she swallowed it back. Rico’s words were too important for interruption. ‘I can tell you now that she won’t allow it to happen. She will not allow Lily’s inheritance to leave the family.’

      ‘But why?’ Catherine asked, bemused. ‘Surely she doesn’t need the money? Surely…?’

      ‘Too much is never enough, and the way my stepmother spends money this unexpected windfall will not be given up without a fight.’ His mouth set in a grim line. ‘My stepmother is the coldest woman on this earth. She is the reason Marco went off the rails, the reason he drank himself—’

      ‘That’s an excuse,’ Catherine broke in. ‘I had the same argument over and over with Janey, when she tried to blame our parents for whatever scrape she found herself in. You had the same family as Marco, the same pressures, yet you still managed to hold down a job, manage your affairs. Marco may have been disadvantaged by his stepmother, but he still had a lot more opportunities in life than most people dream of. You do him no favours by blaming your stepmother.’

      ‘Perhaps,’ Rico conceded. ‘But it is not always black and white, Catherine. People are different. I am stronger than Marco; I am tougher.’ There was no superiority in his words, just the cool deliverance of fact, and this time Catherine chose not to remind him that Marco was now in the past tense. She just listened as he continued to talk. ‘Antonia is a nasty piece of work, and till the day I die I will blame her in part for the fact Marco is now lying in a mortuary…’ His voice wavered slightly, his fists clenching in salute by his sides, and Catherine was shocked to see what was surely the glint of tears in those dark eyes. But just as soon as his pain registered, like a light flicking off, the impassive mask returned. ‘I will not allow her to mess up Lily the way she messed up Marco.’

      ‘Then what was all that about back at the hospital?’ Deliberately she kept her tone even, refusing to be intimidated by him. ‘Given what you’ve just told me, surely I’m the better option to raise Lily? And before you insist I only want her for the money, let me tell you, Rico, you are wrong. Her inheritance never entered my head—not until you came tonight.’

      He stared at her, disbelief etched on his features, but his shrug was almost weary. ‘Maybe you want both. Maybe you do care for Lily, and I guess there is no shame in wanting to be rich.’ She opened her mouth to argue, but Rico carried on talking. ‘I cannot let Lily go with this woman, Catherine.’

      ‘Then let me have her.’

      ‘It is not that simple. Antonia will go to every court in the land, use every means available to discredit you. She’ll have the most expensive lawyers. You are a teacher, Catherine. The reality is that you survive on a schoolteacher’s wage. Against her you won’t stand a chance.’

      His words made sense, and a dark feeling of foreboding shivered through her. Though it galled her to ask for his assistance, Catherine knew she had no choice, and the words were out before the idea had even formed. ‘You could help me.’

      ‘Why would I help you, Catherine? Why wouldn’t I just apply for custody myself?’

      ‘Go ahead,’ Catherine said airily, though her heart was in her mouth. She registered the surprise in his expression and it gave her a small surge of triumph. Her eyes met his defiantly, fighting fire with fire as she carried on talking. ‘But don’t try and scare me off, Rico, with talk of money and lawyers. I’ll sell my home if I have to, and when the money has gone I’ll apply for legal aid. I’ll tell you this now, and I’ll tell each Mancini in turn if they care to ask: I have as much right to Lily as anyone. Unlike you, I’ve actually played a part in her short life. As much as I loathed the way Marco and Janey carried on I still went round, still made sure I was there for Lily…’

      ‘I’ve been busy with work,’ Rico argued. ‘And watching those two made me—’

      ‘Save it,’ Catherine snapped. ‘Tell the court how you couldn’t even get away for her christening, how you saw your niece for two minutes at the hospital the day after she was born and that you haven’t seen her since.’

      ‘There are reasons!’ Rico roared, but Catherine just glared back.

      ‘Excuses,’ Catherine flared. ‘They are nothing but excuses! And now you have the gall to tell me you want custody of Lily—a baby you’ve barely