His Unexpected Legacy(56)
Sergio shot her a glance. ‘Adriana is dead. She was killed in a car accident when Rosa was a year old.’
‘Oh...how terrible! No wonder Salvatore looks so haggard.’ What a cruel twist of fate that both the brothers’ wives had died tragically young, Kristen mused. ‘I noticed that he walks with a limp. Was he in the car when the accident happened?’
‘Salvatore was driving them home from a dinner party. No one knows why he lost control of the car but it plunged over the edge of the mountain road they were travelling on. Adriana died instantly and Salvatore was seriously injured. My brother has no memory of the accident.’ Sergio hesitated. ‘He is wracked with guilt that it was his fault Adriana died, but I can’t help wondering if his amnesia is an emotional response to the accident and the events leading up to it.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kristen asked curiously.
Sergio shrugged. ‘I suspect that Salvatore’s marriage was not as happy as everyone believed. He did not confide in me, but I sensed tension between him and Adriana, mainly over her decision to return to modelling and the fact that she left Rosa behind when she went to Rome for work. Perhaps they argued in the car that night and Salvatore was distracted. He is usually a careful driver. But he can’t remember what happened and he blames himself that because of him his daughter is growing up without her mother.
‘To make matters worse, it was confirmed when Rosa was eighteen months old that she is profoundly deaf.’ Sergio sighed. ‘I know Salvatore loves his little girl, but he seems unable to connect with Rosa, and I fear that she is becoming more and more introverted.’
He glanced over his shoulder to Nico, who was loudly singing one of his nursery songs. ‘It will be good for Rosa to play with Nico. Salvatore rarely leaves his castle, and Rosa has few chances to meet other children.’
* * *
When they arrived at La Casa Bianca, a butler escorted them to the dining room where Tito was waiting. Kristen was shocked when she met Sergio’s father, although she managed to hide her reaction. Four years ago Tito Castellano had been a formidable man, but a series of strokes had left him looking older and frail. His black eyes were still sharply assessing, though, and Kristen let out her pent-up breath when he finally turned his gaze from her to his son.
‘Sergio, I cannot deny I was shocked when Salvatore told me I have a grandson. I understand that the boy is three years old, so why did I not learn about him until today?’
‘It is a private matter between me and Kristen,’ Sergio explained in a cool voice.
The slight frostiness between the two men that Kristen had noticed four years ago was still there, she realised. There was no expression in Sergio’s eyes, but she was so attuned to him that she could sense his tension. Perhaps the fact that he had spent most of his childhood in America with his mother had made it hard for him to bond with his father. The thought made her wonder if the reason Sergio was determined to keep Nico in Sicily was so that he would have a closer relationship with his son than he had with Tito.
Tito’s frown cleared as Nico stepped out from behind Kristen. ‘So this is the boy. There is no doubt he is your son, Sergio—he is the image of you.’ The old man’s eyes gleamed. ‘I had almost given up hope that you would do your duty to the family and the company—but finally you have pleased me by providing the next Castellano heir.’ His gaze darted to Kristen. ‘Now, all that is to be done is to organise the wedding.’
Struggling to hide her shock, Kristen waited for Sergio to tell his father that they had absolutely no plans to marry, but to her confusion he made no response to Tito’s statement and instead held out a chair for her to sit down at the dining table.