THE MIST WAS a thick blanket over Bodmin Moor, and the rain which had been fairly light when Leah had left the village lashed her face, driven by a vicious wind that felt no pity for anyone unwise enough to walk out on the moors without a coat. She had not taken account of the autumn storms that blew in off the sea around the Cornish coast.
When she had boarded a plane bound for the UK a week ago it had been warm and sunny in Naples. Now Leah doubted she would ever feel warm again. Or that the sun would ever shine.
The sullen sky reflected her mood as she bowed her head against the relentless wind and huddled into the woollen wrap that the landlady at the Sailor’s Arms had lent her.
‘Be careful up on the moor,’ she’d warned. ‘It’s easy to lose your way.’
Nancarrow Hall rose out of the mist, grim and forbidding. Like its owner, Leah thought. At least that had been her first opinion of Marco. But that had been before she’d realised that he’d buried his heart with his first wife.
Grief took a terrible toll. Look at her mum after Sammy had died.
If anything good had come from her crazy decision to force Marco into marriage, it was the fact that Tori was stronger and more positive than Leah had ever known her to be. She did not suppose that her mother was completely free from her reliance on alcohol. There was no magic pill that would cure that kind of dependency. But ongoing therapy was helping Tori come to terms with the past.
Leah now understood the desperation to escape the pain of a broken heart. For the first two days after she’d arrived in England she’d shut herself in her flat, crawled under the duvet and cried a river of tears. She understood the temptation to anaesthetise agony with drink or drugs. But she hadn’t. She’d discovered a steeliness in herself that would not allow her to wallow in self-pity or rush back to Capri and accept Marco’s flawed idea of marriage.
She deserved to be loved. And she had to believe that one day she’d meet someone who would give her his heart.
If only she could rescue her own bruised heart from a life sentence as Marco De Valle’s prisoner...
She brushed her hand over her wet face and told herself it was rain, not tears, running down her cheeks. Pulling the wrap tighter around her, she began to walk back towards the village. The sound of footsteps behind her made her glance over her shoulder, and her heart stopped as a figure strode out of the mist.
‘Madre di Dio!’
Marco’s expression was thunderous as he scowled at her, his eyes gleaming like tensile steel.
‘Why are you standing out in the rain looking like a waif and stray from a historical melodrama? Do you see yourself as Cathy and me as Heathcliff?’ he asked sardonically. ‘Perhaps you have come to haunt me?’ His mouth tugged into a crooked smile that did not warm his cold, cold eyes and he touched his scarred face. ‘God knows I’m an ugly enough brute to play Heathcliff.’
‘You are not a brute—and you are certainly not ugly,’ Leah snapped.
She was still reeling from his materialising in front of her when she’d believed she would never see him again. His mockery had stirred her temper. She felt alive for the first time since she’d left Villa Rosa—but that was the effect Marco had on her, she thought bleakly.
‘It’s not me who haunts you,’ she said in a low voice.
‘What does that mean?’
She shook her head. ‘What are you doing here? Is Nicky with you?’
‘He has stayed in Capri with my aunt. As to why I am here...’ Marco shrugged. ‘You are in Cornwall so of course I followed you.’ While Leah was still trying to assimilate this astounding statement, he murmured, ‘I have just come back to the house after visiting your mother at The Haven.’
‘What? How did you know...?’
‘I first looked for you at your flat in London. Obviously you were not there. But your neighbour—Gloria, I think she said her name was—told me that your mother was having treatment at a private clinic in Cornwall. You told me your mother has an alcohol dependency, and my housekeeper remembered that you had asked her for directions to The Haven earlier in the summer.’
‘Quite the sleuth, aren’t you?’ Leah muttered.
‘I was surprised that you hadn’t told your mother you are married to me. She offered us her congratulations, by the way.’
She gasped. ‘You had no right to tell her. I didn’t want Mum to know that I’d had to marry a stranger so that I could claim my inheritance and pay for her treatment.’
‘I assured her that we had married for conventional reasons.’
‘Wanting me to be a mother to your son is not a conventional reason—nor a good enough reason for us to stay married.’ Leah couldn’t disguise the raw emotion in her voice.
Marco stared at her. ‘Why did you rush away like that, without a word?’
‘Didn’t you see my note?’
He swore and shoved his wet hair off his brow. It was only then that Leah realised how heavy the rain had become. Marco’s jacket was plastered to his body, and her curls were flattened against her head.
‘What is the only reason you would agree to stay married to me?’ he asked.
‘The fact that you don’t know says everything,’ she said thickly.
‘I think I do know. You have fallen in love with me—haven’t you, cara?’
Heat scorched her face. ‘I don’t have to stand here and listen to you. It’s over between us.’ She swung away from him, and would have tripped on a grass tussock had his arm not shot out to steady her.
‘Like hell it is,’ he growled. ‘You are my wife and I want you back.’
‘Why?’ Leah tried to pull her arm free, but he tightened his grasp. ‘You don’t want me!’ she cried.
‘This is what I want, beauty.’
He hauled her against him, one hand in her hair, the other caressing her jaw as he bent his head and covered her mouth with his own. He kissed her with a barely controlled passion that fired Leah’s blood and made her heart sing. If this was the last time that she was to be in his arms she wanted to leave her mark on him, so that every time he kissed another woman he would remember her mouth softening beneath his and would taste her on his lips.
She tipped her head back to allow him better access to her mouth and wound her arms around his neck. He groaned and pulled her hard against him, so that her breasts were crushed against his chest and she could feel his powerful thigh muscles through the thin skirt that was clinging to her legs.
His hand on her jaw gentled and he stroked his finger down her cheek, brushing away the raindrops and the tears.
‘This is what I want, Leah,’ he said roughly, when he lifted his head at last. He stared down at her, his eyes glittering beneath heavy lids. ‘Your fire, your beauty, your unique mix of innocence and sensuality that drives me crazy with wanting you. Always.’
‘But what you are offering is not enough for me.’ She stepped away from him and it was the hardest thing she had ever done. ‘You have my heart, Marco.’ She could no longer deny her love. ‘But I don’t have yours because it belongs to your first wife. I know you are still in love with Karin.’
He jerked his head back as if she’d slapped him. ‘I didn’t love her. I hated her.’
‘Don’t lie.’ She dashed her hand over her eyes. ‘You keep pictures of her in every room at your house in Capri. She was so beautiful... I can’t compete, but I won’t be an afterthought in your life, always knowing I’m second-best. I can never replace Karin.’
‘No, you damn well can’t!’
Marco was staring at her, and the dangerous look in his eyes made Leah shrink from him.
He frowned and held out his hand. ‘Come,’ he said tersely. ‘Before we both drown.’
She put her hand in his because she did not have the willpower to walk away from him. She was weak, she told herself as he led her through the gate on the boundary of Nancarrow Hall and across the garden.
As they neared the house she hesitated. ‘I can’t see your mother and stepfather looking like this.’
‘They’re not here. They’re staying in Northumberland to be near James and Davina and the baby, when it arrives in a few months.’ He gave her a wry look. ‘My brother was always my mother’s favoured son. The house has been shut up since they left and the central heating has packed up,’ he explained when they entered the chilly sitting room.
The embers of a fire were in the grate and he rebuilt it with logs and kindling. He struck a match, and soon yellow flames were dancing.
Leah drew nearer to the fire while Marco disappeared. He returned minutes later, wearing dry clothes, and handed her a towel and one of his shirts.
‘Get out of your wet things and maybe you won’t look so goddamned fragile,’ he muttered, in a rough tone that curled around her foolish heart.
Ignoring his sardonic look, she stepped behind a big winged armchair while she stripped off her sodden skirt and top and put on his shirt, fastening the buttons. When she returned to the fire he had brought a tray with steaming cups of coffee. She wrapped her cold hands around the warm mug and stared at the flames, conscious of the erratic thud of her heart.
Marco did not join her on the sofa. Instead he leaned against the stone fireplace. He looked devastatingly handsome in faded jeans and a grey wool sweater, his damp hair curling at his nape. Leah stared at his bare feet and wondered how she was ever going to get over him.
‘I met Karin soon after my uncle died,’ he said sombrely. ‘Federico had been like father to me and I missed him badly. Karin was beautiful, and vivacious, and I was lonely.’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘It’s strange how you can have a full social life and plenty of friends but still feel alone.’
Leah nodded but did not speak, afraid to interrupt Marco now that he was finally opening up.
When it’s too late, she thought, biting her lip.
‘Soon after we started our affair Karin told me she was pregnant. I wanted my child so I married her. But cracks had already appeared in our relationship,’ he said.
Leah gave him a startled look.
‘De Valle Caffè was going through a difficult period and I often worked eighteen-hour days. Karin was bored, and after Nicky was born she left him with the nanny much of the time while she went out with her friends.’
He paused to stoke the fire until it blazed.
‘She had ambitions to be an actress, and when Nicky was a few months old she started sleeping with a film producer. We decided to divorce, and I agreed to her extortionate settlement in return for shared custody of our son. A week after I’d paid her the money she disappeared and took Nicky with her.’
His jaw clenched.
‘I employed private detectives to find her. The trail led to Mexico, where her lover came from, but they were never found. I’d given up hope of seeing my son again when Karin contacted me four years later and said I could visit Nicky.’
Leah put her coffee cup down and waited tensely for Marco to continue.
‘They were living on a rundown ranch,’ he said. ‘Her lover had turned out not to be a hotshot film producer after all, and Karin had spent all her divorce settlement. She told me that I could have custody of Nicky, and take him to live in Italy, but only if I paid her ten million dollars.’
He grimaced when Leah gasped.
‘I was incensed that Karin was prepared to sell Nicky to me.’ Marco stared at the fire and when he spoke again his voice was strained. ‘I lost my temper and told her I was going to fight her for custody of my son and she could rot in hell. I refused to give her any more money.’
He raked his hand through his hair.
‘I went outside and walked around the ranch while I tried to bring my temper under control. When I returned to the house I discovered that Karin had driven away with Nicky. I couldn’t bear to lose him again. I jumped into my car, praying I would be able to catch up with her so we could have a reasonable discussion about Nicky’s future.’
A haunted look crossed his face.
‘I drove round a sharp bend and saw Karin’s car on its roof at the side of the road. She must have taken the corner too fast. There was a strong smell of fuel...’ He swallowed. ‘All I could think of was getting Nicky out of the car before it caught fire. I didn’t make it back in time for Karin.’
‘Marco!’ Leah jumped up and went over to him, her soft heart aching at the agony in his eyes. ‘You were not to blame.’
‘I know—but I didn’t know it then. It was only later that an inquest confirmed that Karin had died on impact. I hated Karin for depriving me of my son, but she was Nicky’s mother and I still wish I’d been able to save her.’
Leah touched the scar on his cheek. ‘You risked your life to save Nicky from that burning car.’
He captured her hand and linked his fingers through hers. ‘I keep those pictures of Karin to show Nicky. I tell him that his mother was wonderful and she loved him. He must never know that she was willing to give him up for money.’
His eyes narrowed and Leah attempted to ease her hand out of his.
‘I had no intention of marrying a second time. Yes, I wanted to take you to bed, but I had no need of a wife—especially one who seemed as money-orientated as my ex.’
‘No wonder you were so furious when I proposed a marriage deal,’ Leah mumbled.
‘But I quickly realised that you are kind and caring, and you established a connection with my son that I had been unable to do.’
‘You were right when you guessed that I love Nicky,’ she said in a choked voice. ‘But even for him I can’t accept a loveless marriage.’
‘I didn’t want to fall in love with you.’
Marco slid his hand beneath her chin and gently forced her to look at him. The expression blazing in his eyes robbed her of her breath.
‘I don’t have much experience of love,’ he said huskily.
Leah’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
‘Even when I suggested making our marriage permanent I was arrogant enough to believe that you were no threat to my barren heart. But then you left.’
‘I had to,’ she whispered. ‘You offered me everything except the one thing I truly wanted. Living with you, knowing that you would never love me, seemed worse than leaving and hoping that I’d get over you.’ Her mouth crumpled.
‘Ah, Leah, my love,’ Marco said quietly. ‘When I read your note I realised what a fool I had been. I’d kidded myself that I was in control of my feelings, but you had gone, and the truth hit me. I wanted you to be my wife for ever because I will love you for eternity.’
He brushed away her tears with fingers that shook, and Leah’s heart turned over when she saw that his eyelashes were damp.
‘You have my heart and my soul, tesoro mia. All I ask in return is that you promise to love me and stay with me for the rest of time.’
‘I will,’ she said simply.
‘Why are you crying, amore? I intend to spend every day of my life making you happy.’
‘I am happy. But I’m scared this won’t last.’
Marco nodded, and there was a wealth of understanding in his tender expression. ‘It will. We have it all, my angel. Passion, friendship, trust and love. Always love.’
He drew her down onto the rug and they undressed each other with trembling hands. When he took possession of her mouth there was such beauty and promise in his kiss that the last of Leah’s doubts disappeared. And when he made love to her it felt new and wondrous, because there was honesty in every caress and love beyond measure.
‘Tu sei la mia amata rosa,’ Marco whispered as he held her against his heart. ‘You are my beloved rose. Ti amo.’