‘You know, I used to be the kingpin around here, but I’m afraid Freddy outshines both of us. However, we’ve got a chef who wants to know how to fatten you up and I told him that there was no chance of doing that. And Dario wants to serve you up first to the Spanish ambassador because you speak Spanish.’
‘Only some. Four years in Spain,’ she reminded him unnecessarily.
‘Your siblings will absolutely love you,’ Gaetano asserted with confidence.
Lara felt as if her heart were cracking inside her, as if he had just put a hand inside her chest and squeezed it, because she loved him and almost every time he spoke he reminded herwhyshe loved him. How could she still be feeling like that after what she had overheard?
Leah and Gio Zanetti and Ari Stefanos and his wife, Cleo, all flew in on the same flight and arrived at the palace together. Alice had been upset that she was unable to attend the party because an aunt had died suddenly, and she was driving up north to visit the family.
Lara was very nervous, but she need not have been because her sister, Leah, chattered away freely, releasing her from tongue-tied reticence. It was Leah’s older brother, Ari, who told Leah to slow down before she frightened Lara off. Leah kept on staring at her and then apologised, digging into her capacious bag to pull out a small photo album. ‘This is all I’ve got, I’m afraid. I went through several foster homes, and I lost stuff. But this is Mum and, although she’s older than you here, you can see how much you resemble her and why I was totally knocked back when I saw that picture of you in the magazine.’
Lara stared down at the image and she too recognised the strong similarity in colouring and facial shape.
‘You’ve got her eyes, absolutely her eyes!’ Leah carolled. ‘They’re a very unusual shade.’
‘Aquamarine,’ Gaetano slotted in. ‘The very first thing I noticed about Lara was her eyes.’
‘Who’s the little boy with you?’ Lara asked her sister as she studied the photos.
And Leah told her about her twin brother, Lucas, who had died from an overdose. Lara’s eyes swam with tears, and she sniffed, only beginning to regain her composure when Ari told her that Lucas and his girlfriend had left behind a baby, whom he and Cleo had adopted, a little girl they called Lucy.
‘My goodness, there’s so much I have to catch up on,’ Lara exclaimed. ‘But that was a wonderful conclusion to a sad story.’
‘Twins run through the family. Ari was a twin. We have twins and Ari has a set too,’ Leah told her. ‘You’ve been warned.’
It wasn’t very long before the three siblings were catching up on family history.
‘Now I want to know how on earth you met and married a king!’ Leah announced as Lara poured her fresh coffee.
‘And why it took two years for Gaetano to bring you and your son back to the palace,’ Ari completed more seriously, taking a seat beside Lara.
For the first time, Lara felt comfortable enough to tell other people that story with all its twists and turns and misunderstandings.
‘Clearly you love him and if he makes you happy, I’m happy for you, but if you have any doubts, I hope you know that you can always come to Leah or me for support,’ Ari completed before going on to tell her about her inheritance from her late father and a few more facts about the paternal half of her background.
Leah was more interested in finding out about Lara’s life after the adoption and that took some time to cover and both women got quite emotional during the discussion.
‘Mum would never ever have given you up if she’d lived and it would have broken her heart if she’d known what happened to you afterwards. I can’t believe that you’re not even still in contact with your adoptive mother.’
‘She had no wish to stay in touch. I’m not part of her life any more. I’m used to it now.’ A rueful smile lit Lara’s face as Leah squeezed her shoulder in comfort.
‘I want you to come to Italy and stay with us so that I can really get to know you. I’ve been longing to find my little sister ever since I lost her,’ Leah told her evocatively. ‘I held you in my arms and helped to feed you when you were only a few days old. But I never expected to find you living in a palace.’
‘And I never expected to marry a royal! I’d love to come to Italy and stay with you,’ Lara declared as she stood up. ‘Now come and meet Freddy. I can’t wait to meet your children.’
‘I’d love you to visit Cleo and me in Greece as well,’ Ari confided quietly.
Gaetano hovered, his lean, darkly handsome features taut and serious. ‘I have a business meeting I can’t cancel,’ he said apologetically. ‘But I’ll see you all at lunch.’
Lunch went well. Leah opted to join Lara when the beauty stylist, organised for her, arrived to do her nails and hair and immediately called in back-up to look after Leah as well. Lara was more than ready for a little personal grooming help in advance of the party that evening. The number of confidences that her siblings had made had helped Lara to keep her mind busy and her spirits up, but once Leah left her to return to her room that overheard conversation between Gaetano and Dario returned to haunt Lara and it hit her mood hard.
Gaetano had only chosen to be with her for Freddy’s sake. She remembered him telling her that his brother’s marriage to Giulia had been one of convenience. Possibly that was one reason why he was willing to accept a similar arrangement for himself. But hehadto feel that he was settling for less than he deserved. Freddy might benefit from having his mother, but Gaetano would be losing out in the personal stakes.
The more she thought about her situation, the angrier Lara became. Lara didn’t care how good his intentions might have been. Gaetano hadn’t given her a choice about whatshewanted and needed. What she had learned had made her feel...less, decimating her pride and her confidence. She didn’t want to be any man’s second-best or convenient bride. She didn’t want to be merely tolerated because she was Freddy’s mother. She wanted to be loved, madly lusted after,valued. She didn’t want to be the one who loved and lusted alone, always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Clad in a pretty lingerie set from her new collection, Lara was tweaking her make-up in the en suite bathroom when Gaetano entered the bedroom to get changed. He paused in the doorway, shooting Lara an appreciative scrutiny. Her high full breasts artfully cradled in a strapless pale blue lace bra matched with bikini knickers made him release a low whistle. ‘You look incredibly sexy in that get-up.’
Lara whirled round to face him. ‘You deceived me!’ she heard herself condemn out of hand, inwardly wincing but unable to suppress the angry swell pushing up inside her when she saw him. ‘You let me think we were having a real reconciliation when all the time it was just a big fatemptyfraud!’