She paused in the doorway, feeling strangely awkward and excluded. Usually when she met Nico at nursery he would hurtle into her arms and she would cuddle him. But, although he glanced at her again, he remained on the floor with Sergio.
‘Mummy, I’ve got lots of cars.’
‘So I see.’ Telling herself to stop being so stupid, she smiled and walked over to kneel down next to him. Immediately she was conscious of Sergio’s cool scrutiny. ‘Anyone would think it’s Christmas,’ she murmured drily. ‘You must have bought an entire toy shop.’
‘I have three Christmases to make up for.’ He didn’t try to hide the bitterness in his voice. Kristen flushed and quickly focused her attention on Nico.
‘It looks like you’re having fun.’
‘You didn’t come.’ Nico lifted his chocolate button eyes to her. ‘I looked and looked for you, Mummy.’
Kristen swallowed. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. The train broke down and got stuck in a tunnel. It wasn’t very nice.’ Her voice shook. She felt claustrophobic on the Tube at the best of times, and she had felt panicky and terrified while she had been trapped underground.
‘My daddy came.’
Sweet heaven! She shot Sergio a startled look and met his bland gaze. Forcing a smile for Nico, she said lightly, ‘Yes, it was very kind of him to collect you from nursery, wasn’t it?’
Nico nodded. ‘I went in my daddy’s big car.’
Kristen knew she shouldn’t be surprised by Nico’s uncomplicated acceptance of the situation. He was aware that his friends at nursery had daddies and he was bound to be fascinated by Sergio. But she was angry that Sergio had revealed his identity without checking with her first.
Leaving Nico to his game, she walked across the room and sank down on the sofa before her legs gave way. Today had been one unpleasant shock after another.
Sergio followed her and gave an impatient frown as he correctly read her mind. ‘What did you expect me to do? Surely it’s better for him to know that I’m his father rather than a stranger?’
She bit her lip. ‘I guess so.’
‘Santa Madre! It would be nice if you could help to make this easier for his sake.’
Sergio’s jaw clenched as he sought to control his temper. He had been furious when Kristen had failed to show up to collect Nico, and also disappointed. She had sounded so genuine when she had told him that Nico meant the world to her. He had almost been taken in by her and believed that she was more caring than his own mother had been.
At the nursery he had watched Nico become increasingly upset as he had waited for Kristen, and Sergio’s heart had ached for the little boy. It had brought back memories of how his mother had regularly been late to pick him up from the after-school club she had sent him to every day. On several occasions she had forgotten him completely, until one of the staff had phoned her to remind her about her son. Sergio remembered the cramping fear in his gut that one day his mother simply would not show up. What would happen to him then? he had wondered. Who would take care of him? He had given up hoping that his father would come and take him back to Sicily.
He had brought Nico back to the hotel, convinced that Kristen was irresponsible and did not deserve to have custody of their son. But, glancing at her pale face, he recalled how her voice had trembled when she had explained how she had been trapped on a Tube train, and his anger lessened. Her physiotherapist’s uniform of navy trousers and white jacket gave her a professional air but she still looked heartbreakingly young with her long golden hair falling around her shoulders. The purple smudges beneath her eyes indicated that she had slept as badly as he had for the past three nights.