The Italian Billionaire's Pregnant Bride(50)

‘Can I look yet?’ Kathy demanded.

‘Go ahead.’

Kathy blinked: he had taken her out of bright sunlight and it took a while for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. What she saw sitting on a table in front of her was a dolls’ house that appeared to be the identical twin of the one she had owned in her childhood, but that she had believed she would never see again. Disconcerted, she simply stared, unable to fathom the coincidence, for she could not believe that it could actually be hers.

‘Say something,’ Sergio urged.

‘It can’t be mine…’ But she discovered that she was wrong. When she put out a hesitant hand and opened the front of the miniature house, she found all the little bits and pieces of furniture lined up in tidy ranks for inspection. She lifted the familiar little plastic doll with one leg and dressed in an overlarge knitted frock that her late adoptive mother had made for it.

‘It is yours,’ Sergio confirmed.

Her attention expanded to encompass the other things on the table-top. She set down the doll to study the collection of cat ornaments, one or two of which had had tails glued back on after getting broken in house moves. There was a bag of girlish keepsakes from her teen years and a little box of jewellery. Beside that sat a collection of photo albums and she leafed through them, suddenly frantic to reach the most important one and there they were—her adoptive parents’ photos intact and even spruced up from the faded pictures she recalled. Tears were running down her face without her even realising it.

‘Where did you get all this stuff from?’ she prompted chokily.

‘Your ex-boyfriend still had them—’

‘Gareth?’ she exclaimed.

‘Although his mother sent him to the dump with your possessions, he managed to hide this stuff in the attic. Hey…’ Sergio ran a knuckle lightly down her tear stained cheek. ‘I wanted to make you smile, not cry!’

‘I’m just overwhelmed!’ she sobbed, breaking down altogether. ‘You don’t know what this stuff m-means to me.’

Sergio eased her up against him and stroked a hand through her hair until she had calmed down again. ‘But I do. When my father changed his will and deprived me of most of what was to be my inheritance I lost everything below this roof but my clothes. Cecilia and Umberto liquidated the paintings, sculpture and furniture collected by my ancestors, as well as quite a few personal items that I wasn’t able to prove belonged to me.’

‘You can hardly compare my cat ornaments to a world-renowned art collection—’

‘But it was only when I listened to your story that I appreciated how fortunate I was to be in a position to trace and buy back so much of what I lost.’

‘If Gareth still had my things, why didn’t he answer the letter I sent him after I got out of prison?’

There was a slight hesitation before he responded to her question. ‘His mother probably got to it first.’

Kathy paled and looked away from him, conscious that he was uncomfortable with anything that reminded him of her criminal record. ‘Did you actually meet Gareth? When?’

Her question acted as a useful distraction because an unholy grin curved Sergio’s mobile mouth. ‘Last week when I went to London on business. Gareth’s mother slammed doors and ranted at him throughout my visit. He leads a dog’s life, but at least he had the courage to admit that he still had your possessions and hand them over.’

Kathy was incredibly touched that he had gone to so much trouble on her behalf. ‘I can’t tell you what this means to me. It’s like getting my roots back. When your family’s gone, sentimental things mean a lot.’ She drew in a deep breath, her green eyes suddenly filling with determination. ‘I honestly believe that you should at least talk to your brother and hear what he has to say—’

‘I’m not the sentimental type.’ His tone was impatient, for it was not the first time she had tried to open the controversial subject.

‘You haven’t even asked me what Abramo said when he came to see me in London—’

‘I’m not interested.’

‘He feels really bad about the past and he wants to make peace with you—’

‘He almost bankrupted this estate and he’s down on his luck. Of course he wants my forgiveness in terms of financial support.’

His cynicism provoked a reproachful look from Kathy. ‘He seemed sincere and unhappy and he didn’t look at all well,’ she sighed. ‘All right, I won’t say anything more, especially when you gave me such a great surprise.’

‘It was nothing.’ Sergio curved lean hands to the feminine swell of her slim hips to tug her closer to him. ‘Besides, I like it when you think about other people. You have a tender heart, bella mia.’