He closed his arms round her and she felt safe and secure the way only he had ever made her feel. She wanted to tell him that she still loved him, but she held the words back because she felt that it was far too soon to be that honest.
The next day she explored their enormous private wing, amused to discover that it spanned three floors and countless rooms as well as enjoying access to a private garden. Certainly, space was unlikely to be a problem for them. Gaetano had an office in the top of one of the towers, a book-lined refuge. She popped her head round the door, saw Dario was with him and went into instant retreat.
‘No, join us for coffee,’ Gaetano insisted, yanking open the door again before she could escape.
Dario pulled out a chair for her and she sat down, a diminutive figure clad in a green sweater and leggings. Gaetano laughed. ‘You look like an elf in that colour. We have to fill in some forms to apply to have Freddy’s birth certificate altered and brought up to date.’
As the forms were settled in front of her, Lara scrawled her signature, a guilty grimace etched on her face. ‘I wish I had named you on the certificate and owned up to our marriage.’
‘We’ll get it sorted out eventually,’ Gaetano said bracingly, squeezing her shoulder and urging her back into her seat. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘You’ll have a fabulous time in Morocco,’ Dario remarked.
Gaetano frowned at his friend. ‘Thank you, Dario, for breaking the news.’
Lara’s eyes had widened. ‘Morocco?’
‘A belated honeymoon, the least of what I owe you,’ Gaetano told her with a slow smile. ‘We leave at the end of the week.’
‘Freddy—?’
‘He’s my son too. I wasn’t planning to leave him behind.’ Gaetano studied her with amusement as she poured the coffee.
A knock sounded on the door and a tall blond man strode in, greeting Gaetano with enthusiasm. For a couple of minutes they spoke in French and then Gaetano swung him round with a smile and introduced him. ‘Lara, meet Olivier Laurent. He’s a renowned photographer and a good friend from my schooldays. I invited him here to take some photographs of you and Freddy. If we release official photos, it gives the paparazzi less reason to sneak up on us,’ he explained.
Lara stood up to be kissed French fashion on either cheek. Olivier didn’t have a reserved bone in his body, it seemed, as he grabbed her hands, set her back from him and looked her over with a professional eye that had a flirty twinkle. ‘You’ve done very well, Gaetano. I work with models who would kill for that glowing complexion and that combination of hair and eyes.’
‘Thanks.’ Lara straightened her shoulders.
‘You said to make it an informal session,’ Olivier reminded Gaetano. ‘I like your wife dressed just as she is but she may want to gild the lily first.’
‘You want to do this now?’ Lara asked, because as far as gilding the lily went she had already applied make-up from the giant box of cosmetics she had received along with her new and vast wardrobe, which contained outfits to cover every possible occasion. ‘Because I’m fine as I am.’
‘Put on your rings or earrings at least,’ Olivier advised.
‘We’ll be back in a few minutes,’ Gaetano murmured, his high cheekbones scored with colour as he closed a hand to hers and urged her out of the room.
‘Where are we going?’
‘I’ve been very remiss. I haven’t evengivenyou any jewellery!’ Gaetano ground out in a guilt-stricken undertone. ‘What sort of a husband am I?’
‘Well, you were only a husband for six weeks and I wouldn’t let you spend what you had on stuff we didn’t truly need, then we had the break and I’ve only been back in your life for a few days. Luckily, I kept my wedding ring even if I didn’t wear it until this week,’ Lara pointed out soothingly. ‘Let’s not fuss about the little things.’
Gaetano took her into another room and opened a safe, carting out a towering pile of jewellery boxes while Lara looked on in wonderment. ‘The trouble is that all this is antique and family stuff.’
‘I don’t need to wear your family’s jewellery, for goodness’ sake,’ Lara protested in embarrassment.
‘All of this is yours to wear as my wife. I’ll buy you your own pieces when we have the time but Olivier’s right...it would look odd in the photos if you wore no jewellery at all.’
‘I don’t care if I look like a bargain-basement bride,’ Lara told him with a chuckle.
‘ButI do,’ Gaetano shot back at her in a raw undertone. ‘In marrying me, you lost out every step of the way. You had to borrow your wedding dress because you wouldn’t agree to me buying you one. You had no party, no engagement ring, no honeymoon, not one single thing that other brides take for granted!’
‘Things like that are not important to me. It’s feelings that matter. Our wedding was very romantic,’ she reminded him softly. ‘Snow on the ground, just you and me and Dr Beresford and her husband. Ilovedmy borrowed dress. I thought the whole day was magical.’
Gaetano stared back at her in amazement, his stunning dark golden eyes still troubled. ‘Honestly?’
‘Honestly,’ Lara confirmed with a smile. ‘I didn’t have a family to invite and the only close friends I had weren’t available. We were together. That was all that mattered.’