The Italian Boss's Secret Child(26)

She watched as Marjorie handed her mother a cool drink. Damien had even  managed to track down the nurse and retain her as her full-time  companion. She stole a glance up at the man at her side, still confused  by the person he was. For someone who 'didn't do family', he'd done all  he could to make Daphne's life more comfortable. That would have been  enough for Philly, she couldn't have expected more. Yet beyond that the  two seemed to share an easy relationship, a genuine relationship, and  she could tell there was a warmth and sincerity from Damien that went  further than mere obligation.

Had he changed? Was there a chance his warmth would extend to her too?  In the past few weeks he'd been distant, focused on work, while wedding  arrangements had been drawn up around him, almost as if now that she'd  agreed to become his wife he had no further need of her. But was there a  chance her love might one day be reciprocated? Was there a chance that  this marriage might mean more to him than the means of controlling his  child's upbringing?

Damien's hand brushed against hers, snaring it in his grip and interrupting her thoughts. She looked up at him.                       
       
           



       

'Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?'

She felt herself colour under his sudden scrutiny. The ivory silk gown  was indeed a triumph of design and needlework, the line complementing  her body as it moulded to her shape before spilling into an  extravagantly full skirt. It was enough to wear it to feel beautiful.  Having Damien tell her it was true was something else entirely.

He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her as the last of the guests  drifted away. 'I have something for you,' he said. 'Come with me.'

Dusk was falling, the light changing by the minute as the night  inexorably clawed out to claim the day. Marjorie had taken her mother  indoors as the summer heat tempered into warm evening and the wind  picked up, bringing dark clouds and the promise of a summer storm.

She smiled back at him as he tugged on her hand. 'Come on,' he said.

He led the way around the house, their steps crunching on the white  gravel leading to the garage. She frowned. There was a  champagne-coloured sports car parked alongside-someone had left their  car here, though why anyone would leave a car like that …  Hang on, there  was something else- It was tied with a wide ribbon and bow.

She looked up at Damien, confused, but he only met her stare with an inscrutably questioning look of his own.

'Do you like it?'

'Do I like it?' He had to be kidding. 'You mean … ?' She looked from Damien to the car and back again. 'You mean, it's mine?'

He dipped his head in the briefest affirmation. 'Consider it a wedding gift.'

She thought about her mother's ageing sedan that she used for the  shopping and their infrequent trips, as different from this vehicle as a  wooden dinghy to a top of the line ski boat. 'I'm not sure I'll be able  to handle it.'

'I'll give you lessons. Starting tomorrow.'

He pulled something from his pocket-a loop of satin ribbon tied with a  key. He lifted it over her head, placing it around her neck, his hands  lingering at her shoulders.

She looked up at him, one hand cradling the key, stunned by his gesture and guilty that she hadn't thought to make him a gift.

'But I have nothing for you.'

He pulled her close, so that his fierce heartbeat was linked to her own  but for fine layers of fabric in between. 'I will collect mine … ' his  head dipped and his mouth brushed over hers-a gentle touch that belied  the heat and passion below, the heat she could feel in the look he gave  her ' … later tonight. But for now, it's time we said goodnight to your  mother. It's time she learned our news.'





Daphne was resting in the large Victorian sitting room inside, sipping  on a rare sherry. She beamed up at them as they entered the room, the  delight on her face further reinforcing in Philly's mind that for her  mother's sake at least she had done the right thing today.

'That was a perfect day,' she said as they both leaned down to kiss her.  'Just a beautiful wedding. Thank you for making me so happy.'

Damien smiled. 'We have more news if you're not too tired already.'

She shook her head. 'It's been a long day and I'll need to turn in soon  but I don't want it to end just yet. Though I don't know what you could  tell me that would top today's excitement.'

He looked across at Philly and nodded, letting her give the news. Philly  sat down alongside her mother and took her hands in her own. 'Mum,' she  said, watching her mother's face intently. 'This might come as a bit of  a surprise, but we're going to have a baby. I'm pregnant.'

Daphne snatched her hands out from between Philly's and slapped them up against her open mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

'Oh!'

A second later tears welled up in those wide eyes until they brimmed over. 'But this is wonderful. Just wonderful.'

Damien leaned closer. 'You're not disappointed? We jumped the gun a bit on the wedding.'

She pulled her hands away, brushing away the tears which were still  falling. 'How could I be disappointed? And don't you think I know what  it's like to love someone so much you can't wait until the wedding?  Remember I was young and in love myself once.'

He would have argued-he knew nothing of love, and love had nothing to do  with how their baby had been conceived, but this was no time for  argument. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't feel something for Philly.  He wanted her, in bed and out of it, and knowing he had her now, knowing  she was tied to him, was more satisfying than he could have imagined.                       
       
           



       

But that was hardly the same as love …

He watched Daphne's eyes settle on her daughter, suddenly more alive and  alight with possibilities than he had ever seen them, before she pulled  her into an embrace, Philly laughing out loud with the reception to  their news and the delight taken in it by her mother. Laughter merged  with tears as they rocked together and, watching them, mother and  daughter, his breath caught in his chest as if something had swung free,  something hard-edged and heavy, that rammed against his lungs, winding  him, before breaking off and plunging deep into his gut.

Philly's eyes landed on his and her smile broadened as their hazel  lights shone warm and real into his, setting the space inside him  strangely aglow.

He felt a deep satisfaction and a good deal of pride, together with a  whole plethora of unfamiliar emotions he couldn't even begin to put a  name to.

'I can't believe it,' Daphne said, releasing her daughter from her arms  only enough to take her hands in hers. 'Remember that promise you made  to me? That you even cared enough to make that promise meant so much but  I never once thought it might actually happen.'

'Promise?' Damien shifted, noticing Philly's back stiffen. 'What are you talking about?'

'Oh, that,' Philly replied, shakily trying to laugh it off, her eyes evading his. 'It seems nothing now.'

'Nothing?' said her mother. 'How can it be nothing, when your daughter  promises you something you think only a miracle can deliver and yet she  makes it happen? It's truly a miracle.'

'What did she promise you?'

'Damien,' said Philly, grabbing his hand. 'Mum looks tired. I'll tell you later.'

'But Philly sounds such a wonderful daughter,' he said, ignoring her  attempts to stop him. 'Tell me, Daphne, about how special my new bride  is. What did she promise you?'

Daphne patted Damien on the hand, fresh tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

'Well, it was after Monty, Annelise and baby Thomas died in that  terrible accident. I was so upset about the family, and about my  grandson. It was so unfair-he was just so young. And I felt cheated. I  was a grandmother and yet I'd never had the chance to be one. I never  even got to hold him or to kiss his soft cheek or feel his tiny hand  cling to my finger … '

Damien reached for her hand then and squeezed it, even though dread was  seeping inside him, settling into dank, stagnant pools that banished the  sensations of contentment and goodwill he'd been feeling just moments  earlier.

She stared ahead, her vacant eyes fixed on a point in the middle  distance. 'Not a day goes by that I don't wonder what he would be doing  now or how he would be growing. Not a day goes by that I don't feel the  pain of his loss.'

She swallowed and turned her face back to Damien's. 'When they  discovered my cancer was terminal I thought I'd never have the chance of  holding a grandchild at all. But Philadelphia knew what it meant to me.  She knew how much I yearned for another grandchild and she made me a  promise.'

She blinked rapidly, clearing the tears from her eyes as she took a deep breath. He held his.

'It seems quite mad now yet it meant so much to me at the time-and now?  Well, maybe it wasn't so mad, after all. I remember it was my birthday  and I was feeling particularly sad and she promised me then that she  would do anything she could to make me happy and that I wasn't going  anywhere without holding her baby first.'