Surrender To The Single Dad. Michelle Douglas

you want me, I’ll be in the library.”

      Alessandra left the office and headed for the kitchen to find something to eat. Afterward she walked to the castle library on the main floor, the repository of their family history where she could be alone. Years earlier she’d turned one corner of it into her own office, complete with file cabinets and a state-of-the-art computer and printer, plus a large-screen television for viewing the many videos she’d compiled. This had been her inner sanctum for years.

      She sat down at the desk and got back to work on the book she was writing about Queen Joanna. Just as she’d settled down to get busy, the phone rang. It was her father.

      “Papà?”

      “I just wanted to let you know I’ve got business in Metaponto. The pilot is flying me in a few minutes.”

      “Do you want company? I’ll go with you.”

      “Not tonight, piccola.” Her father’s endearment for her. When Alessandra was born, she was the younger twin by three minutes and the name little one stuck. “I’m sure you’re tired after your scuba-diving trip, so you get some sleep and we’ll talk in the morning. I could be gone a couple of hours and will probably get back late tonight.”

      “All right.”

      While she got back to work she heard her father’s helicopter fly away. She kept busy for another hour, then went upstairs to get ready for bed. But when she slid under the covers, she didn’t fall asleep right away. Memories of the past with her sister filtered through her mind.

      Though their personalities were entirely different, she and Dea had been as close as any two sisters until college, when Francesco had come into Alessandra’s life. She’d fallen in love and they talked about getting married. But before they got engaged he met Dea, who was more confident than Alessandra and had already started her modeling career.

      Her sister had a beauty and lovability that had drawn guys to her from her teens. By contrast, Alessandra felt rather dull and unexciting. Certainly she wasn’t as attractive. But she’d always accepted those truths and never let them affect their friendship. Not until Francesco had laid eyes on Dea. From that moment everything changed. Alessandra felt herself lose him and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

      He followed her sister to Rome and she never saw him again. Francesco sent Alessandra a letter explaining he couldn’t help falling in love with Dea and hoped she wouldn’t hate him too badly. As for Dea, Alessandra didn’t see her for two months. When her sister came home, she told Alessandra she was sorry for what had happened. She explained that Francesco had done all the running, and she’d soon found out he was a loser. Alessandra was lucky to be out of the relationship.

      The trauma of being betrayed by Francesco and her sister had completely floored her. It had taken a long time to work past the pain. Though they’d shared sisterly love in the past, from that time on they’d had a troubled relationship and two truths emerged. Alessandra didn’t know if she could trust a man again and Dea would always be the beautiful one who usually got the best of Alessandra. People seemed to love her the most.

      Alessandra had to live with the knowledge that she was known as the clever one, a scholar with a sense of adventure. She’d thought that by the age of twenty-eight she would have finally gotten past her jealousy of Dea’s ability to attract men. But it wasn’t true. Otherwise meeting Signor Montanari, who’d met Dea first, wouldn’t have disturbed Alessandra so much.

      If her father was right, what a sad irony that this man might be using Dea to get what he really wanted, making both sisters appear as poor judges of character. First the chef Alessandra had fallen for who couldn’t remain faithful once he’d laid eyes on Dea. Now Signor Montanari, who looked like the embodiment of a woman’s dreams. But what if her father learned this man had a secret agenda? The troubling thought kept her tossing and turning all night.

       CHAPTER TWO

      ON TUESDAY MORNING Alessandra awakened and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. She dressed in jeans and a blouse. After brushing her hair and applying lipstick, she walked down the hall past the stairs to her parents’ apartment wearing her sandals.

      She knocked on the door with no result, so she opened it and called out, “Papà?” He was probably in the sitting room drinking coffee while he read his newspapers, but the room was empty. Frowning, she retraced her steps to the staircase and hurried downstairs to the small dining room where the family ate breakfast. Maybe she’d find her father there.

      The second she opened the doors, she received a shock. Her sister stood at the antique huntboard pouring herself a cup of coffee.

      “Dea! What a surprise! It’s good to see you!” She looked beautiful as usual in a stunning blue dress and high heels. Alessandra rushed over to hug her. “Where’s Papà?”

      “In the office.”

      “I didn’t know you were coming home.” She reached for a glass of juice and a roll.

      “Neither did I until I got a phone call from him last night.”

      “You did?” That was news to Alessandra. He must have called her on his way to Metaponto.

      Dea’s eyes darted to her without warmth. “He told me Rinieri Montanari had come to the castle to do business with him and wanted to know if I had been dating him. He seemed concerned enough that I decided to make a quick trip home to talk to him about it.”

      “He’s always trying to protect us, you know that.”

      They both sat down at the banquet-size table. “What I’m curious about is how you know Rinieri Montanari.” The tone of her sister’s point-blank question had an edge. There had to be another reason her sister had made a sudden flight home. Alessandra didn’t begin to understand what was going on.

      “I don’t! Didn’t Papà tell you? Signor Montanari was in the foyer when I came in from my scuba-diving trip yesterday. As I started up the staircase he called out to me. I had no idea who he was. He thought I was you.”

      “Did he say anything else?”

      “Only that he acted surprised you were here at the castle and commented that you’d cut your hair since he’d been with you on the yacht. He said you’d told him you had another show to do in Rome. I took it that’s why he seemed shocked to find you here. I told him I wasn’t you, then I went up the staircase. That’s it.”

      Dea sipped her coffee slowly. “So he mentioned the yacht.”

      “Yes.”

      She could hear her sister’s mind working. “Is that all he told you?”

      Dea sounded so worried, Alessandra was perplexed. “I swear it.”

      Her sister’s mouth tightened.

      “Have you worked this out with Papà?”

      She put down her empty cup. “Not yet, but I will when we fly back to Metaponto in a few minutes.”

      “But you just got here last night!”

      “I have to return to Rome for another show. As soon as Papà finishes up business with Signor Montanari, he’s flying me to the airport.” She checked her watch. “They’ve been together for the last half hour.”

      With nothing more forthcoming, Alessandra knew she’d been dismissed and rose to her feet, feeling chilled. “Then I’ll say goodbye to you now.” She leaned over to kiss her cheek.

      Until Alessandra could talk to her father alone, she would have to wait to know what had gone on. Dea was going back to Rome without clarifying anything about her relationship with Rinieri Montanari. In fact she hadn’t been this cold to Alessandra in a long time.

      She left the dining room without saying anything and rushed down the hallway to the library,