'We're leaving tomorrow?'
'The bursar of your school wants to meet with me. He spoke of a project you had proposed to the board for young single mothers on parenting practices and counselling, especially for those with children with special needs. I'd like to look at it a little more closely. It sounds like a good idea.'
Eliza had trouble containing her surprise. 'I don't know what to say … '
His eyes were hard as they held hers. 'Don't go attaching anything sentimental to my interest. I have a lot of money and, like a lot of wealthy people, I want to make a difference where it counts. There are other schools and charities that are in just as much, if not more, need of funds. I have to choose the ones I think are most productive in the long run.'
'This means so much to me,' she said. 'It's been a dream of mine for so long to do something like this. I don't know how to thank you.'
'I don't want or need your thanks.' He moved to the suite where Alessandra was sleeping. 'Meet me at the car. The paparazzi guy should have left by now.'
CHAPTER TWELVE
ELIZA DIDN'T SEE Leo until the following morning, just as they were about to leave for London. She had waited for him last night but he hadn't come to her.
She was still so deeply touched that he was considering doing more for her school. She wasn't sure what was behind his motivation, she was just grateful that he was contemplating supporting the project that was so very dear to her heart.
Had he softened in his attitude towards her? Dare she hope that he would no longer hate her for how she had rejected him all those years ago? Was this the time to tell him about Ewan? He had expressly forbidden her to speak of her fiancé, but maybe during this trip to London she could find a quiet moment to explain to him her circumstances. He came across as such a hard-nosed businessman, but she knew he had a heart. She had seen it time and time again when he was with his tiny daughter. She caught faint glimpses of it when she found his gaze on her, as if he was studying her, trying to put things together in his head. She desperately wanted him to understand her situation. As each day passed she felt more and more that he had a right to know. She could not leave him without telling him why she had made the choice she had.
'Signor Valente wants a quick word with you in the study,' Marella said as she bundled Alessandra into her arms. 'I'll get Alessandra settled in the car. Giuseppe will take the bags.'
Eliza went through to the study, where she found Leo standing behind his desk looking out at the garden. He turned as he heard her footfall and picked up a newspaper off his desk and handed it to her with an unreadable expression. 'The press have identified you as my new mistress.'
She took the paper and looked at the photo of her, standing on the deck of his boat with Alessandra asleep against her shoulder. The caption read: New stepmother for tragic toddler heiress Alessandra Valente? London primary schoolteacher Eliza Lincoln has been identified as the mystery woman in Leo Valente's life.
Eliza swallowed thickly. What if Samantha saw this? Would it hit the press back in Britain? What would Samantha think of her? She had told her a version of the truth rather than tell her an outright lie. She'd said she was visiting an old friend in Italy to fill in for the regular nanny who was taking a little break. She hadn't said the old friend was actually the man she had met and fallen in love with four years ago. Now it would be splashed over every newspaper in the country that she had gone off and had a clandestine affair. Samantha would be so dreadfully hurt. She would feel so betrayed.
'You might want to warn your fiancé in case this gets picked up by the British tabloids,' Leo said as if he had read her thoughts.
She chewed at her lower lip. 'Yes … '
'I suspect there will be quite a lot of press attention when we arrive in London,' he said. 'It will blow over after a day or two. Remember you are forbidden to comment on anything to do with your time with us here.'
Eliza straightened her shoulders as she handed him back the paper. 'I haven't forgotten.'
The flight to London went without a hitch but, as Leo had predicted, there was a cluster of photographers waiting outside for a glimpse of the young Englishwoman who had been spotted on his boat with his little girl the day before. The click, click, click of camera shutters going off sounded like a heavy round of bullets being discharged.
'Miss Lincoln, what does your fiancé Ewan Brockman think of you spending the last couple of weeks with billionaire Leo Valente in his luxury villa on the Amalfi coast in Italy?'
Eliza totally froze. How on earth did these people find out this stuff? What else did they know? For all these years Samantha had been adamant Ewan's condition should be kept out of the press. She had done everything she could to keep Ewan's dignity intact and Eliza had loved and respected her for it. Who had released his name? Someone at school? Only Georgie knew of the extent of Ewan's condition. Had a journalist pressed her for details? That was another phone call Eliza should have made. She should have warned Georgie to keep quiet if anyone approached her to comment on her private life.
'Miss Lincoln is my daughter's fill-in nanny,' Leo said before Eliza could get her mouth to work. 'She will be returning to her fiancé in a matter of days. Please give us room. My daughter is becoming upset.'
It was true-Alessandra was starting to whimper in distress, but Eliza had a feeling it had more to do with Leo's statement that she was leaving them to go back to her old life rather than the surge of the press. She cuddled the little girl close to her chest and, keeping her head down against the flashing cameras, she walked into the hotel with Leo until they were finally safe in their suite.
It didn't take long to settle Alessandra, who was tired after the journey. Marella, who had travelled with them, offered to babysit while Leo and Eliza went out for a meal.
'Are you sure this is wise?' Eliza asked as Leo closed his phone after booking a table at a restaurant.
'We need to eat, don't we?'
'Yes, but surely a meal in our suite would be perfectly fine?' She fiddled with the chain around her neck with agitated fingers. 'What's the point in deliberately entering the fray? They'll just hound us all over again.'
He gave her an ironic lift of his brow. 'You were the one who said I shouldn't hide Alessandra away.'
'We're not talking about Alessandra,' she said stiffly. 'We're talking about me, about my reputation. People are going to get hurt by all that stuff they're saying about me.'
'I take it you mean your fiancé?' His eyes were hard as stone as they held hers.
Eliza still hadn't had either the time or the privacy to call Samantha. Any moment now she expected her phone to ring, with Samantha asking her what the hell was going on. It was making her nervy and jumpy. A headache was pounding at her temples and a pit of nausea was corroding the lining of her stomach like flesh-eating acid. 'I don't like being called your mistress.'
'It's the truth, isn't it?'
'Not for much longer.' She scooped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. 'Let's get this over with. I want to get back as quickly as possible and go to bed.'
He gave her a smouldering look as he held the door open for her. 'I couldn't have put it better myself.'
They were halfway through dinner at an exclusive restaurant in Mayfair when Eliza's phone audibly vibrated from inside her bag. She had set it to silent but hadn't thought to turn off the vibration and illumination component. She tried to ignore it, hoping that Leo hadn't heard, but the glow every time it vibrated was visible through the top of her bag.
'Aren't you going to answer it?' he asked.
'Um … it can wait.' She picked up her glass of wine and took a little sip to settle her nerves.
The phone vibrated again.
'Sounds like someone really wants to talk to you,' he said.
Eliza knew it was pathetic of her to keep putting off the inevitable. It was a lifetime habit of hers to procrastinate, hoping that things would go away or be resolved on their own, but it was only prolonging the agony. Wasn't that why she was in this mess? She should have been honest right from the word go with Ewan. She shouldn't have waited for months and months without saying anything, letting him believe everything was fine when it wasn't. Hadn't she learned her lesson by now? She had to face things, not hide from them. 'Um … will you excuse me?' She rose to her feet. 'I won't be long.'
There was no one in the lipstick lounge adjacent to the restroom, so Eliza sat on a chintz-covered chair and pressed Samantha's number. 'Hi, it's me.'