His Unexpected Legacy(33)

                He shrugged. ‘I did not grow up with Salvatore, and when we met again after being separated for many years we did not have a close relationship.’

                She gave him a startled look. ‘Why didn’t you grow up together?’

                ‘My parents split up when Salvatore and I were five years old. My mother returned to her native New York and she took me with her.’

                Kristen frowned. ‘It seems a strange decision to have separated you from your brother. You told me that your parents had divorced when you were young, but I assumed that you and Salvatore grew up in Sicily with your father.’

                ‘I did not discover until I was much older that my father had been awarded custody of both of us,’ he told her emotionlessly. ‘My mother snatched me and took me to America. My father tried to get me back but...’ He broke off and shrugged.

                How hard had Tito really fought for his return? Sergio brooded. Surely in the ten years that he had lived in the US his father could have done more to force his mother to allow him to return to Sicily? The thought was a poison that continually festered in his mind. The only answer as far as he could see was that Tito had not loved him as much as he had loved Salvatore.

                ‘I suppose she couldn’t bear to lose both of her children.’ Privately, Kristen wondered how Sergio’s mother could have taken him away from his brother and broken the special bond between the twin boys.

                Sergio’s expression became sardonic. ‘The only reason she took me was to get at my father. Their relationship was a constant power struggle both before and after they divorced. Patti didn’t actually want me. She was busy pursuing an acting career and having a child around was hugely inconvenient.’

                Kristen was startled by the bitterness in his voice. ‘I’m sure she didn’t think that,’ she murmured, not knowing what else to say. The coldness in his eyes sent a shiver through her. Four years ago she had thought she had known him, but clearly there were secrets in his past that might explain why he kept such a tight rein on his emotions.

                She glanced at her watch and jumped to her feet. ‘I must take Nico home. He needs his dinner and a bath before bed.’

                ‘He’s already eaten. I asked the chef to prepare him grilled chicken and vegetables and he ate most of his dinner.’ Sergio gave her a piercing glance. ‘He looks too thin and I am concerned that he is underweight. I think he should be checked over by a doctor.’

                ‘He has been off his food recently,’ Kristen admitted, ‘but he’s perfectly healthy.’

                ‘Nevertheless, I have made an appointment for him to see a top paediatrician in Harley Street tomorrow morning.’

                ‘There’s no need.’ Her temper simmered at his implication that she didn’t take enough care of her son but, faced with Sergio’s implacable expression, Kristen swallowed her irritation. It was pointless to argue over a minor issue when the vital question of who would have custody of Nico was yet to be resolved.

                ‘As for tonight,’ Sergio continued, ‘he can stay here at the hotel. I have already had the second bedroom in my suite prepared for him.’

                A tight knot of tension formed in Kristen’s stomach when she realised that she was not included in the invitation. ‘I’m not going to leave Nico with you.’

                ‘Why not? I am his father.’ His eyes glittered. ‘Dio, is one night, when you have had him to yourself for the past three years, too much to ask for?’