‘Do you want to tell me about it?’
‘There’s nothing much to tell. It was confused and more about feelings than a recollection of an actual event.’
‘And it made you feel sick?’
Angelo’s belly hollowed. Was her past so bad it affected her like that? The doctor had mentioned the possibility she’d suffered some recent trauma and that was part of the reason her brain refused to remember, as a defence against something it didn’t want to face.
Ally gnawed at the corner of her mouth. She looked vulnerable, her veneer of confidence slipping. Angelo wanted to pull her to him and assure her everything would be all right, but he held back. He had no right to touch her without an invitation, no matter how much he wanted to.
‘It made me feel...’ She shook her head. ‘Upset. But I don’t know why.’
Angelo heard the fear in her voice. He could barely imagine how it would feel to have no knowledge of yourself or your past. ‘Don’t read too much into that. It’s a big thing, regaining your memory. It’s bound to knock you off-balance.’
He just hoped the doctor was wrong and she wouldn’t have to face past trauma on top of all she’d already been through.
‘You’re right.’ She scrunched up her nose in that cute way she had, then sent him a swift sideways glance. ‘Despite what just happened—’ she gestured to the bed ‘—I suppose there’s no way Icouldbe her?’
‘Absolutely not.’
Ally mightn’t know much about how sex felt but there’d been no mistaking her virginity. He almost told her about the bloodstained bedding but wondered if it might embarrass her.
‘Which means I really do look like Alexa.’ She shook her head. ‘It seems too fantastic to be real.’
‘I know what you mean.’ That was why he’d been so convinced of her identity, despite the couple of differences he’d put down to time or an imperfect memory. ‘But the likeness is uncanny.’
An idea occurred and Angelo shot to his feet. It only took a minute to grab his phone from his discarded trousers. He sat down again beside Ally and started searching. ‘I’ll show you.’
‘You kept her photo?’
Ally’s voice held a note he couldn’t interpret.
‘No.’ He’d eradicated every trace of Alexa from his life. He didn’t want reminders of his worst ever mistake. ‘But I can find one. There.’
After a short media search he held out his phone.
Ally took it gingerly and he heard her indrawn breath.
‘She’s stunning!’
Angelo leaned over to look again at the photo, snapped by a press photographer as he and Alexa entered a red-carpet event in Rome. She wore a shiny sheath dress of deep purple that hung from one shoulder. It hugged her body and the long slit up the side of the skirt revealed most of one slim leg.
‘She looks exactly like you.’
‘I don’t look like that!’
Something in Ally’s voice made him look up from the phone. ‘Your hair is a few shades darker and done differently.’
Ally shook her head. ‘The features are very similar but she’s glamorous and so incredibly poised.’
Angelo stared. ‘Did you look in the mirror tonight? You’re every bit as stunning. More so because it’s all natural, not contrived for effect.’
His voice hit a rocky note as he remembered Ally appearing at the head of the stairs looking utterly gorgeous. She’d stolen his breath and set desire pounding through him so hard he’d tried every excuse to make her stay here in the villa.
And didn’t that work out well?
That thought gave him the strength to look away when Ally stared at him wonderingly. Needing distraction, he took the phone and searched for another photo.
‘Do you have wedding photos?’