The Italian Billionaire's Pregnant Bride(37)

In the background, the wedding arrangements had been handled by experts who worked in tandem with Sergio’s staff. Italy had been chosen as the ideal location and every detail had been kept under wraps. Kathy only had Bridget and Nola on her guest list, and her friends were over the moon at the prospect of a luxury weekend in the sunshine. The one item that Kathy had chosen for herself was her wedding gown.

Forty-eight hours before the wedding, the hotel reception called Kathy’s suite to inform her that Mr Torrente was on his way up to see her. Surprised because she had not expected to see Sergio before she flew out to Italy with her friends the next day, Kathy stopped packing Ella’s clothes and rushed to check her hair instead. She was astonished when she opened the door to a stranger, because the stringent security precautions Sergio insisted on meant that nobody she didn’t know should even get as far as the lift.

A portly man with receding hair and rather sad brown eyes smiled at her. ‘I’m Abramo Torrente, Sergio’s brother.’

‘My goodness…’ Kathy had the tact not to say that she had quite forgotten that her bridegroom even had a brother. ‘Please come in.’

‘You should check my credentials first.’ Abramo extended his passport as evidence of his identity. ‘You can’t be too careful nowadays.’

Certainly the brothers bore little resemblance to each other. Abramo looked more cuddly than sexy and, where Sergio was in the physical peak of condition the younger man had a grey indoor pallor. She had to strain her memory to recall that Sergio was the child of his father’s first marriage and Abramo the child of the second.

‘My brother hasn’t told you anything about me, has he?’

Abramo, Kathy registered, was shrewder than he seemed at first glance. ‘I’m afraid not.’

‘It’s eight years since Sergio spoke to me. He refuses to see me. He’s an old-world Torrente in the style of our late father—stubborn and hard as iron,’ Abramo commented heavily. ‘But we are still brothers.’

‘Eight years is a long time. It must have been some family feud.’

‘Sergio was the innocent victim of my mother’s lies,’ Abramo admitted ruefully. ‘My father favoured him and she resented that. I loved my brother but I envied him too. Once I saw how Sergio’s fall might give me a chance with Grazia, I was no better than my mother. I stood by and did nothing to help him regain what was rightfully his.’

‘Grazia?’ Kathy prompted in fascination. ‘Who’s Grazia?’

‘Surely Sergio has mentioned her to you?’

‘No.’

Abramo contrived to look stunned by that oversight. ‘When Sergio was twenty-one he got engaged to Grazia. I too loved her,’ he confided with a grimace. ‘When Sergio was deposed as heir to the Azzarini wine empire and I took his place, Grazia panicked and changed her mind about marrying him. I didn’t waste the opportunity. I married her before she could change her mind.’

Kathy marvelled at his honesty and at his evident hope that Sergio would absolve him from what must have been a devastating double betrayal. ‘I’m not sure I understand why you’re telling me all this.’

‘Sergio is about to marry you. You have a child. All our lives are in a different place now. I want to offer my good wishes for your future. I have a great need to make peace with my brother.’ Abramo gave her a look of unashamed appeal. ‘Will you speak to him?’

Ella wakened in the room next door and her cries created a welcome diversion. Kathy lifted her tiny precious daughter from her cradle and hugged her gently close. Family ties were important, she reflected helplessly. Although Abramo’s sincerity had impressed her, she was reluctant to interfere in a situation about which she knew so little. She took Ella out to meet her uncle. He was one of those men who absolutely adored babies and was enchanted with his niece. Kathy was surprised to learn that he had no children of his own.

‘I’ll have a word with Sergio after the wedding,’ Kathy said finally. ‘But that’s all I can promise.’

Abramo gripped her hands in a warmly enthusiastic expression of gratitude and swore she would not regret it. As soon as he had left, Kathy made use of the internet and did a search for Grazia Torrente. A startling number of websites came up: Grazia was a celebrity in mainland Europe, the fashionista daughter of an Italian marquis with an alarmingly long name. Up came a picture of an ethereal blonde with the face of a Madonna and a figure that would make even a sack look trendy. As couples went, Abramo and Grazia matched like oil and water, whereas Sergio and…Her face tight with discomfiture, Kathy closed the page and scolded herself for snooping. After all, it was eight years since he had been engaged to the woman who was now married to his brother.