A Ring for Vincenzo's Heir(14)

Ironically, Bianca hadn't needed that income for long. She'd died a few  days later, when, while distracting her current boyfriend with caresses  of an intimate nature-at least that was what the police believed-she'd  caused him to accidentally swerve his convertible off a cliff, killing  them both.

Vin had barely been able to face Giuseppe and Joanne at the funeral a  few days later. They'd tried to hug him, to console him, telling him to  pack up and come home with them. But he'd known if they realized he  wasn't really Giuseppe's child, how quickly they would have given him  up. Especially since they had their own child, an adorable little girl  of four, who actually deserved their love.   





 

He couldn't wait around for them to reject him. Better that he do it  first. So he'd gone to live with his mother's brother in New York, a  lawyer who worked eighty-hour weeks and had little to offer his  grieving, lonely nephew except his example as a workaholic.

Now Vin stared at Giuseppe in the doorway of the villa. The man he'd  once believed to be his father, whose hair had since gone gray. They'd  both changed so much over twenty years. Would Giuseppe even recognize  him now?

"Good evening," Vin said haltingly in his native Italian. The language  tasted rusty on his lips. "I apologize for the interruption. I'm not  sure you'll recognize me-"

Giuseppe's lips parted. Then his eyes suddenly shone with tears.

"Vincenzo," he choked out. "My boy, my boy-you've come home at last!"

The old man's arms went around him, and he felt the force of his  father's sobs. A stab went through Vin's frozen heart, as if it had  painfully started beating again.

Giuseppe pulled back, wiping his eyes, and called out loudly in Italian.  Suddenly there were more people at the door, including two dark-haired  women, one young, the other older, both pretty and smiling.

His stepmother, Joanne, and...could that be his sister, Maria, now a  young woman of twenty-four? They both hugged him with cries of joy, and  Giuseppe, weeping openly, hugged all three of them in his vast arms.

Vin blinked fast, feeling like his soul was peeling.

His father. His family. He longed to love them again. But he didn't have  the right. And if they ever knew the truth, their love would evaporate.

"But who's this?" Giuseppe said in Italian, looking past Vin's ear. He  saw Scarlett fidgeting shyly behind him in the gravel driveway. Heavily  pregnant and still in the same casual khakis and jacket she'd worn in  Gstaad, she looked incredibly beautiful, with her red hair, chewing her  pink lower lip, her green eyes uncertain.

Vin took her hand.

"This is Scarlett, Papà," he said quietly in the same language. "She's carrying my child and we're going to be wed."

His father gasped, and all the new people now flooding around them-only a  few of whom he confusedly recognized-immediately began crying out their  welcome and approbation.

"You brought her home to meet us?" Reaching out, Giuseppe patted her cheek.

Vin said drily, "She insisted."

"Then she is already beloved by me," the old man said.

"Scarlett doesn't speak Italian."

He smiled. "She understands." And indeed, she had a bright, joyful smile  as she looked between him and Giuseppe. She thought she'd brought Vin  and his father back together.

If only it was the truth. If only it were even possible.

But in this moment, surrounded on all sides by love, Vin could not fight  it. He pushed away his shame about the lie. As the Borgias whisked them  into the villa, it was easier to just pretend, for just a short while,  that he really was their long-lost son, their long-lost brother. Easier  to pretend he was actually deserving of their love and care.

"You came to my engagement party!" His dark-haired young sister said  happily, slipping her arm around his as she led him through the grand  hall toward the courtyard outside. "You have made this a party to  remember!"

"You are engaged, Maria?" he said incredulously. "You were a toddler last time I saw you! Do you even remember me?"

Her smile broadened. "I confess my memory is not perfect, but I know you  from your picture." Her smile faded. "Our father often cried over it."

"Maria..."

"But all is forgiven now you are here." Brightening, she motioned across  the decorated courtyard, her eyes sparkling. "That is my fiancé, Luca."

Luca barely looked old enough to be out of college, Vin thought. Or  maybe he himself was just old. Outside of Manhattan most people did not  wait until they were thirty-five to be wed. And even in New York, no one  waited that long to fall in love.

"Forgive me for interrupting your party. If I'd known-"

"Vincenzo, having you here is the best engagement present in the world!  Did you see Papà's face? He's prayed for this. When we sent you the  invitation, we never dreamed you would accept."

Vin hadn't gotten the invitation, because he'd instructed his assistant  to toss anything from the Borgia family straight into the trash. "Um..."

"And now you are engaged as well, and expecting a child," Maria said, her eyes shining. "Our family is growing!"

Beneath the fairy lights of the large courtyard, guests were dancing to  the music of a small band. It didn't even feel cold, with the heat  lamps. A beautiful evening party, with a panoramic view of the  moon-swept Tuscan countryside.   





 

He looked back at Scarlett, already sitting at a table near the dinner  buffet, a plate of food in front of her as she talked to Giuseppe and  Joanne. Amid all the elegant suits and gowns, she was still wearing the  same casual clothes she'd worn on her morning walk in Gstaad. But it  didn't matter. Just looking at her, Vin felt a flash of heat that  blocked out all other thoughts and feelings. A welcome distraction.

As if she felt his stare, Scarlett turned. Their eyes locked across the  crowd, and electricity thrummed through him, as if they were the only  two people in the world.

Then his stepmother rose from the table, gesturing her to follow.  Finishing a last bite of dinner, Scarlett rose. Lifting her eyebrow at  him with a mysterious smile, she turned and disappeared inside the  villa.

It was as if clouds suddenly covered the moonlight. Clearing his throat,  Vin turned back to Maria, trying to remember what they'd been saying.  "Ah...I hope you'll both be very happy."

"You, too, brother." Her smile broadened. "But since you're in love,  getting married and having a baby, something tells me you're about to be  happier than you can even imagine."



Ten minutes later, Scarlett was staring at herself in the full-length mirror.

"Thank you," she breathed, looking at herself in the borrowed floaty  knee-length dress with charming bell sleeves. "Oh, thank you so much!"

Vin's stepmother, Joanne, beamed back at her. "It's vintage, darling.  Haven't worn it in years. I'm just glad I had a dress with an empire  waist!" She glanced fondly at Scarlett's belly. "How wonderful it will  be-" she sighed happily "-to have a new baby in the family. Now I don't  even have to pressure Maria about children for a while, because you're  making me a grandmother!"

From the moment Scarlett had met Vin's parents, they'd treated her like  family. While talking with them in the courtyard, Scarlett had shyly  mentioned she felt woefully underdressed for the party, in wrinkled  khakis.

"Your bodyguards just brought in your suitcase," Joanne had said  helpfully, but Scarlett shook her head, looking down at her casual  clothes with regret.

"All my clothes look like this."

"Don't worry!" Joanne had said suddenly. "I know just the thing!"

Scarlett had immediately liked the dark-haired British woman, with her  obviously kind heart. Now, blinking back tears, she reached out and  impulsively hugged her. "I'm so glad we're going to be family."

"Me, too, darling." Joanne smiled as she drew back, her eyes glistening  with tears. "I can't remember the last time I saw Giuseppe so happy.  You've put our family back together and added years to my husband's  life. Now-" she shook her head briskly, wiping her eyes "-we just need  to find you better shoes. I think Maria has some sparkly sandals about  your size..."

After Scarlett was dressed, she brushed out her red hair and put on a  bit of lipstick. Feeling nervous as Cinderella, Scarlett went back out  to the noisy courtyard to join the party.

She'd hoped for a family reconciliation, but she'd never imagined a  family like Vin's-so loving, so warm, so ready to welcome Scarlett and  their coming baby with open arms!

Vin's father, Giuseppe, smiled at her as she returned to the festive  tables on the edge of the courtyard. He said in accented English, "I'm  glad you're here. I can see the love between you and my son."

Scarlett blushed and let the remark pass. She could hardly tell Giuseppe  that she and Vin had gotten pregnant by accident. They didn't love each  other.