The Italian's Christmas Child(25)

‘What on earth does a guy like Vito see in a woman like her?’ Jenna was demanding thinly. ‘She’s like a little brown sparrow beside him.’

Angry resentment hurtled through Holly and in the strangest way it set her free to be herself.

‘Jeremy thinks Vito must have had a pre-nup written up by another lawyer,’ Celia commented. ‘There’s no way Vito hasn’t safeguarded himself.’

Emerging, Holly washed her hands and glanced at the aghast pair of women frozen by the sinks. ‘At least I’ve got a wedding ring on my finger,’ she pointed out to Jenna. ‘You have to be at least number one hundred in Apollo’s long line of companions.’

‘We had no idea you were in here,’ Celia began sharply, defensively.

‘Ah, Celia,’ Holly pronounced gently, flicking the tall redhead a calm appraisal in turn. ‘I can assure you that there is no pre-nup. My husband trusts me.’

And with that ringing assurance, Holly turned on her heel, head held high, and walked back out to the table. And she might resemble a little brown sparrow, she thought with spirit, but she was married to a guy who found little brown sparrows the ultimate in sex appeal. Amused by the level of her own annoyance, Holly returned to her seat and in a break in the conversation addressed Apollo. ‘So where’s the best place for me to learn to ski?’ she asked playfully.

Vito dealt her a bemused look and watched her begin to smile at Apollo’s very detailed response because Apollo took his sports very seriously.

A deep sense of calm had settled over Holly. She was still furious with Vito for subjecting her to such an evening with very little warning but, having stood up for herself and spoken up in her own defence, she felt much more comfortable. After all, she could be herself anywhere and in any company. The only person able to make her feel out of her depth was herself and she was determined not to let those insecurities control her reactions again. So, she was more accustomed to stacking shelves in a shop and occasional trips to the cinema but she could do spa days and skiing and yachting trips if she wanted to. It was Vito’s world but that wedding ring on her finger confirmed that now it was her world as well and she needed to remember that.

She would have to adapt. But Vito had to learn to adapt too, she reflected grimly. He had told her over the breakfast table that she had to trust him, but so far he had done little to earn that trust. And so far, Holly had been the one to make all the changes. She had given up her home, her country, her friends, and her entire life to come to Italy and make a family with Vito. True, it was a gilded life but that didn’t lessen the sacrifices she had made on her son’s behalf. When was Vito planning to become a family man, who put his wife and his child first?

* * *

‘You’ve been very quiet,’ Vito remarked as Holly started up the stairs.

‘I want to check on Angelo.’

‘There is no need.’

‘There is every need. I’m his mother,’ Holly declared shortly. ‘It’s immaterial how efficient or kind your staff are, Vito. At the end of the day they are only employees and none of them will ever love Angelo the way I do. Don’t ever try to come between me and my son!’

In silence, Holly went up to the nursery, tiptoeing across the floor to gaze down at the slumbering shape of her little boy lying snug in his cot. Smiling, she left the nursery again.

‘I wouldn’t try to come between you,’ Vito swore.

Holly ignored him and went down to their bedroom, kicking off her shoes before stalking into the bathroom.

‘Holly...’ Vito breathed warningly from the doorway.

‘I’m not speaking to you. You have a choice,’ Holly cautioned him thinly. ‘Either we have silence or we have it out. Choose.’

Vito groaned. ‘That’s not much of a choice.’

‘It’s the only one you’re going to get and probably more than you deserve.’ Holly dabbed impatiently at her eyes with a cotton pad and eye-make-up remover.

‘Have it out, I suppose,’ Vito pronounced very drily.

Holly tilted her chin. ‘You had no business forcing me out to that dinner tonight because I wasn’t ready for it. I was uncomfortable, of course I was. Two days ago I was living in an ordinary world with ordinary jobs and meeting ordinary people and now I’m in this weird new environment,’ she framed between compressed lips. ‘And I know everyone seems to think I’m in clover and it is wonderful not to have to worry about money any more, but it’s strange and it’s going to take me time to get used to it. You haven’t given me any time. You expect me to make all the changes...’

Vito had paled. ‘You’re making valid points. I’m not a patient man.’

‘And you don’t always live up to your promises either. You said you’d do everything within your power to make me happy,’ Holly reminded him doggedly. ‘Then you go back to work within a day of the wedding even though you have a son you barely know and a wife you don’t know much better. If you want me to trust you, you have to show me that you value me and Angelo, that we’re not just new possessions to be slotted into your busy life and expected not to make any waves. You have to give us your time, Vito, take us places, show us around our new home.’

Holly was challenging him and he hadn’t expected that from her. She had thrown his words about trust back at him. And she was also telling him that he was already failing dismally in the successful husband stakes. He had married her one day and walked away the next, acting as though a wedding ring were more than sufficient proof of his commitment.

And had Holly been Marzia it would have been sufficient. Marzia had wanted that ring and his lifestyle. She would have thrown a party to show off the castello and she would have invited all the most important socially connected people to act as her admiring audience. She would have spent half the day at a beauty salon and the other half shopping for couture garments designed to impress. Vito had lost count of the number of times he had returned to the town house he had once shared with Marzia only to discover that they were hosting a dinner when he was longing for a quiet evening. Marzia had been easily bored and had needed others to keep her entertained. Holly, in comparison, asked for and expected very little. In fact she was asking for something she shouldn’t have had to ask for, he acknowledged with a grim look in his dark, unusually thoughtful gaze.

Family came first...always. Even his workaholic grandfather had never put the bank before his family. What had he been thinking of when he’d left Holly and Angelo to amuse themselves? They needed him and he hadn’t spared them a thought.

‘And tonight?’ Vito prompted.

‘It was bearable. I heard Celia and Jenna bitching about me but I stood up for myself and I couldn’t care less about their opinions. But I would’ve been more equipped to enjoy myself and relax if I’d had more time to prepare.’

‘I screwed up,’ Vito acknowledged broodingly.

‘Yes,’ Holly agreed, sliding into bed while he still hovered. ‘And sometimes I’ll screw up. That’s life.’

‘I’m not used to screwing up,’ Vito told her.

‘Then you’ll try harder not to make the same mistakes again,’ Holly riposted sleepily.

* * *

Holly slept in the following morning. She woke with a start, showered and pulled on jeans to pelt upstairs and spend some time with Angelo. In surprise she stilled in the doorway of the nursery bathroom when she saw Vito kneeling down by the side of the bath and engaged in dive-bombing plastic boats for Angelo’s amusement. She had simply assumed that Vito had gone into the bank as usual but it was clear that at some stage, even though he had dressed for work, he had changed his mind. His jacket and tie were hooked on the radiator, his shirtsleeves rolled up.

‘Vito...’

Raking damp, tousled black hair off his brow, Vito turned his head and flashed her a heart-stopping grin. ‘Angelo emptied his cereal bowl over his head at breakfast and I decided I should stay home.’

Holly moved forward. ‘I can see that...’

‘I’m very set in my ways but I believe I can adapt,’ he told her, laughing as Angelo smacked the water with a tiny fist and splashed both of them.

‘He’ll grow up so fast your head will spin. You won’t ever get this time back with him.’ She sighed. ‘I didn’t want you to miss out and then live to regret it.’

‘You spoke up and that was the right thing to do. I respect your honesty. Parenting is a whole new ball game and I still have to get my head around it,’ Vito confided, snatching down a towel and spreading it on the floor before lifting Angelo’s squirming little body out of the bath and laying him down.

‘How to get yourself soaked!’ Holly groaned.

‘I’m already drenched to the skin,’ Vito riposted with quiet pride. ‘Angelo and I have had a lot of fun.’

The nursery was empty and Holly rustled around gathering the necessities. ‘What have you done with the nanny posse?’ she asked curiously.

‘I told them to take a few hours off. Being so new to this I didn’t want an audience.’

Holly dried Angelo and deftly dressed him. Vito unbuttoned his wet shirt, the parted edges revealing a bronzed sliver of muscular torso. Together they walked downstairs.