Bella Rosa Marriages: The Bridesmaid's Secret. Fiona Harper

strangely breathless.

      A single tear ran down her cheek. ‘She’s amazing, Romano. Just so…amazing.’

      He sat up a little straighter. ‘You’ve met her?’

      She nodded. ‘She started looking for me a few months ago and we’ve been meeting up, trying to establish a bond.’ She pulled a face. ‘It’s not been going very well.’

      Well, if she had Jackie’s temper, that was hardly surprising.

      He watched Jackie as she stared out into the gathering dusk, not sure he’d ever seen her like this before, with all the armour plating stripped away.

      ‘I was going to tell my family after the wedding,’ she said. ‘She wants to meet them, find out where she comes from. And then Scarlett told me about the letter and I realised I had to tell you too—tell you first. But I was going to do it after today, to avoid all…this.’

      You stupid fool, he told himself. All this time you thought she was coming on to you and all she was doing was paving the way for the truth to come out.

      ‘What are we going to do?’ she said, with equal measures of fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

      He stood up and offered her his hand. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet and waited while she slid her feet back in her shoes.

      He stared at a cluster of trees, looking for answers.

      Honesty deserved honesty.

      ‘I don’t know,’ he said, ‘but it’s time we went back to the party and faced everybody.’

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      JACKIE felt as if her skin were too thick, as if sensations from the outside world couldn’t quite get through. She was floating and heavy all at the same time. The details of the walk back towards the terrace were fuzzy; she didn’t remember which path they took, or any of the sights and sounds. Just before they emerged from the trees and into the open, she stopped, pulled at Romano’s shirtsleeve.

      ‘Here. You’d better have this back.’

      She started to slide his jacket from her shoulders, but he hooked the collar with a finger and pulled it back up. ‘Keep it. You look cold.’

      She was cold. Ever since Romano had said those things to her in the grotto, she hadn’t been able to ignore the shivering deep, deep inside. Sometimes it worked its way outwards and she had to clench her teeth to stop them rattling, but it all felt a little disconnected from her, as if it were happening to someone else.

      ‘But—’

      ‘What’s the point, Jackie?’

      ‘I…’

      She didn’t know. Just that it seemed the right thing to do, to hide the fact she’d been in the garden with Romano. The need to keep everything about their relationship under the radar had become a habit she’d never thought to break.

      ‘We don’t have to keep it a secret that we went for a walk in the garden,’ he said, taking her by the hand and leading her forwards. ‘Who cares if anyone sees us together? Your family will know all there is to know soon.’

      Jackie nodded, because she recognised the need for response of some kind. Her brain wasn’t working fast enough to keep up. Romano’s words seemed to make sense. Why hadn’t she thought about this before? Somehow in the confusion of recent days she hadn’t connected the fact that telling her family also meant that they would know about Romano, that they would all know the secrets she had kept to herself for seventeen years.

      Seventeen years.

      That was more than half of her life. She’d hated Romano, believed him to be heartless and superficial, for all that time. But now the truth was out. Her secret had been revealed. Wasn’t she supposed to feel free? Lighter? But she was too numb to feel anything but the pressure of Romano’s fingers on her hand and the warmth spreading all the way up her arm.

      In their absence the party had spilled outside. The tall glazed doors that led from the ballroom onto the patio had been thrown open and guests were wandering through the upper terraces, champagne flutes in hands. The large paved area where she and Romano had lunched the other day had been cleared of furniture and planters, and a swing band played while couples danced.

      She tugged on Romano’s hand, not really knowing why. Just that she didn’t want to throw herself headlong back into the party. She didn’t know what to do now, how to behave. How could she just go and rejoin her family as if nothing had happened?

      He squeezed her fingers lightly and nodded towards the palazzo.

      Good idea. Perhaps there was somewhere quiet inside where she could sit and recover.

      Despite the fact she was still wearing his jacket, nobody took any notice of them as they weaved their way through the neatly clipped bushes. Romano walked slightly ahead, his face serious but not forbidding.

      He’d surprised her by taking her news incredibly well. Too well—he was handling it much better than she was, even though she’d had more time to adjust to recent revelations. Under normal circumstances, doing better than Jackie Patterson at anything simply wasn’t allowed, but at this moment she was heartily relieved.

      They were only a matter of steps from one of the entrances to the ballroom when she spotted her mother inside, heading their way. Jackie suddenly veered in another direction, following the curve of one of the low hedges. Their hands were still joined and she took Romano with her. He let out a grunt of surprise, then muttered something about quick thinking. Jackie was looking directly ahead but with all her attention behind her as she strained to pick out her mother’s footsteps, as she waited to hear her name in that shrill voice.

      Just as they reached the edge of the dance floor it came.

      ‘Jackie?’

      She kept going. There was no way that she could deal with her mother in her present state. The only fireworks planned for this evening were the ones that Jack and Lizzie had arranged, and she’d very much like to keep it that way.

      ‘Jacqueline!’

      She should have known that she’d need a more sophisticated plan than just trying to outrun Mamma.

      ‘Sorry, Lisa,’ she heard Romano say beside her as he slipped his jacket off her shoulders and pulled it away. Jackie didn’t see how he disposed of it. ‘Jacqueline promised me a dance. You don’t mind, do you?’

      And then he took her in his arms and spun her away. When the motion had taken her one hundred and eighty degrees and they were disappearing into the crowd, she looked back to see her mother standing there, holding Romano’s jacket, with her mouth open.

      ‘I can’t believe you just did that!’

      Romano smiled his twinkly smile. ‘What was it that you called me? Incorrigible?’

      A soft laugh escaped her lips. ‘I never thought I would say this, but I’m very glad that you are.’

      He turned again with some nimble footwork and her mother disappeared from view.

      ‘Glad to know I have a redeeming feature,’ he said softly so only she could hear. ‘I’ve been trying very hard to develop one.’