Lauren dropped her gaze, growing more remorseful and devastated by the second. Her fingers went limp in Carlotta’s delicate grip. She tried telling herself the responsibility was split equally between them, but family was family. The Donatellis would point their fingers toward Lauren as the instigator. Whatever acrimony they directed at Paolo would only be deflected by him onto the woman who had caused him to be seen badly by his family.
Strong hands gripped her shoulders and Paolo’s warm breath stirred the air near her cheek.
“Can I leave Lauren with you while I greet the children, Mama? They’re waiting for me.”
Lauren turned her head in alarm, but he wasn’t looking at his mother as she half expected. He was waiting for her gaze. He didn’t glare in blame or censure. He was conveying reassurance, letting her know she shouldn’t be nervous. At the same time, his expression was one of such unabashed possessiveness, Lauren’s heart flipped and her stomach swooped. Warmth flooded her and she was so aware of his hard hands on her that when he slowly released her, she felt a pang of loss.#p#分页标题#e#
She must look like the worst widow on earth, blushing with sensual awareness and following Paolo’s departure with puppy eyes.
If Carlotta judged her, she didn’t let on. Her gaze followed her son, only coming back to Lauren when he was gone. By then her deep brown eyes were sharp with a mother’s ability to sense without being told.
Had Paolo’s significant stare been purely to plant a seed? Lauren wondered. She writhed inside, wanting that look to have been genuine, not a one-act play for his mother’s sake.
With a reassuring smile, Carlotta said, “Can I ask you to put this bouquet in a vase while I stir these pots, Lauren? I rarely make the effort to cook anymore and now I remember why. I always get carried away and don’t spend enough time with my guests. But if you’ll keep me company, I won’t feel left out. Tell me about yourself. I’ve always regretted not attending your wedding, but my husband had just passed. How did you and Ryan meet?”
Trembling inwardly, feeling on trial, Lauren went through the motions of trimming the ends of the flowers and arranging them in a vase while chatting with Carlotta. Paolo’s mother was the niece of an Italian count and daughter of a diplomat, Lauren learned in return. Carlotta’s excessively good breeding was in each of her eloquently-worded questions. None were so personal as to overstep, but she gently extracted what she wanted to know.
What had brought Lauren to Italy? Looking up family. Where was she staying? In a rented house out of the city. How long had she known Paolo? As long as she’d known Ryan.
If Carlotta had been anything but affably curious, Lauren might have been more cagey with her answers, but she found herself relaxing and wanting to confide as if they were longtime friends. It took all Lauren’s concentration to keep from opening up more about her reasons for being here with Paolo today.
“I think his friendship with Ryan makes him feel responsible for me,” Lauren hazarded as an excuse for her presence, heart panging at how true that was. Sexual desire aside, duty had brought him to Charleston and was the reason he had proposed.
She had to fight letting the corners of her mouth be tugged down by the thought.
“Paolo was devastated by Ryan’s death. I’d never seen him like that except perhaps after my husband’s death,” Carlotta said with a pang.
Lauren left her nose in a freesia for a moment, thinking of how tortured Paolo had been in Charleston. That night hadn’t been all sex. First Paolo had railed at God and war and his good friend while Lauren had silently wished she had been enough for Ryan so he would have been home with her and wouldn’t have sent Paolo pacing and cursing and shaking his fists at the fates.
“He took Ryan’s death very personally,” she confided, needing to clear a catch from her throat. “He resents any kind of loss.”
“You know him well.” Carlotta cut her a swift, measuring look.
“I know his type,” Lauren responded wryly.
Carlotta turned from stirring a rich, red sauce to cock her head at Lauren. “He and Ryan weren’t as alike as most believe. They were both headstrong, high-energy boys, I’ll admit, but Paolo was always testing himself, not us or our love. Elenore is my friend and I adore her, but Chris was hard on all of them. Paolo was driven by goals, but for Ryan, if his father said he couldn’t, Ryan had to prove he could. He was like that with Paolo at times, straining Paolo’s allegiance he was so stubbornly single-minded.”
Like his determination to marry her when Lauren had said she was waiting for marriage. She hadn’t been trying to manipulate him. Even Mamie had urged her, Just have an affair, chou, but Lauren had been such a good girl, so determined to keep her mother’s love and approval, she had stuck by her price. Ryan had insisted on paying it rather than walk away. Because he was pigheaded? Or something else?#p#分页标题#e#