a feeling of complete disorientation, taking a few seconds to realise where she was—in a bedroom in Cesare’s suite—let alone the reason she had woken so suddenly.
It was still dark outside, and it was obviously still the middle of the night, so she couldn’t understand what—
And then she heard it again—that faint, totally unfamiliar sound of a baby.
Marco!
Robin lay in the bed for several minutes longer, hearing the sound twice more and wondering if Catriona had woken and gone in to Marco, or if he was alone. It wouldn’t hurt to at least check, now, would it?
She pulled on her panties and dress, not bothering with her stockings or her shoes, padding along the hallway in her bare feet to listen outside Marco’s bedroom door.
He seemed to be talking softly to himself now, rather than actually crying, which was something—although Robin still wasn’t sure whether or not he was alone. She couldn’t hear another voice, but perhaps Catriona was being quiet in an effort to get the little boy to go back to sleep.
Robin opened the nursery door quietly before peering inside and noticing that the room was lit by a single night-light plugged into the wall. Marco was alone, clearly visible in his cot, those dark brown eyes so like his uncle’s, lighting up excitedly as he spotted Robin in the doorway, and at once launched into the garbled chatter that only he understood.
‘Shh, baby, or you’ll wake everyone else,’ Robin crooned softly as she hastily entered the nursery and closed the door behind her, before moving to the side of Marco’s cot. ‘Can’t you sleep, little man?’ She smiled down at him, her heart turning a somersault in her chest as he beamed warmly back at her, falling down onto his bottom onto the cot’s mattress as he held up his arms to be picked up.
Robin didn’t quite know whether she should pick him up or not. Marco seemed to be wide awake, and she doubted he would simply lie down and go back to sleep now that he knew he wasn’t alone. But Cesare might not approve of her taking Marco out of his cot in the middle of the night …
When she married Cesare, Marco would be her son too, and if she wanted to pick him up in the middle of the night then she would, damn it!
And she did want to pick him up—so much wanted to hold his warm little body against her again, to hold and cuddle him as she would never be able to hold and cuddle a baby of her own.
Oh, he felt so good, she acknowledged achingly as she lifted him up to walk across to a chair and sit down with him still cradled in her arms. She nuzzled her face into his neck, his skin so soft and pliant, smelling of soap and talcum powder.
Marco giggled as her warm breath tickled his neck, his laugh one of pure enjoyment as his arms moved about her neck and he held on tight.
Robin’s heart melted inside her, unbidden tears springing into her eyes as she fell more in love with this adorable baby than ever.
And if—when—she married Cesare, Marco was going to be hers. Her own beloved baby. Her son!
Marco was touching her hair again now, seeming fascinated by its honey blondeness as he curled it about his fingers, quite at ease as he sat on her knee and talked in his own special language.
Robin had no idea how long she sat with him, playing and talking, making him giggle all over again as she blew gently on his obviously sensitive neck. Time didn’t matter. She never wanted to let Marco go, and was choking with emotion as he eventually grew tired and laid his head down on her shoulder to fall asleep in her arms, his tiny fingers still holding on tightly to her hair.
The tears fell silently down Robin’s cheeks as she sat in the chair just holding him. But they were tears of happiness for the maternal fulfilment she had thought would never be hers. For the gift of this beautiful little boy who already held her heart in the palm of his hand.
She wasn’t aware of falling asleep too, but daylight shone in through the window when she woke for the second time. Marco was still asleep in her arms—arms that had continued to hold him close even as she slept.
She couldn’t be found here, Robin knew—couldn’t allow Cesare to see how she cared for Marco. Cesare already had the upper hand in their dealings by being in possession of the Ingram Publishing shares. How much more dictatorial would he become if he were to realise how she really felt about this adorable baby?
She stood up to carry Marco across to his cot, reluctantly laying him gently down before tucking the covers over him. She lingered in spite of herself, unable to stop looking at him as he lay so angelically beautiful, longing to smooth those dark curls, to touch his creamy cheek, but knowing she didn’t dare be here when he woke again, that she didn’t dare risk giving her feelings away to Cesare.
Too much rested on Cesare not knowing that she already loved Marco, Robin accepted heavily as she reluctantly turned to leave the nursery. Cesare believed her to be immature and selfish, that it had been her choice to put off having children. And until they were married, until she had those shares in Ingram Publishing firmly in her hand, she didn’t dare let him see otherwise. ‘What are you doing?’
Robin’s breath caught in her throat as she turned to look at Cesare striding forcefully down the hallway to where she had just closed the nursery door softly behind her.
He looked thunderous, as if he suspected her reasons for being in Marco’s nursery were less than innocent.
Her chin rose as she frostily met his dark, accusing gaze. ‘I thought I heard Marco cry,’ she defended herself.
Cesare looked down at her searchingly, noting the pallor of her face with no make-up, the defiant glitter in those violet-coloured eyes, the stubborn set of her mouth.
He had woken at his normal seven o’clock, knowing he would have time to shower, shave and dress before Marco woke at seven-thirty. He usually spent half an hour or so having breakfast with his nephew before he had to leave for any business meetings.
He certainly hadn’t expected to leave his bedroom and see Robin emerging from Marco’s nursery!
Considering the reason Robin’s marriage had ended, and her ambivalence towards children, it was the last place Cesare would have expected to find her.
‘And did you?’ he prompted, and moved past her to open the nursery door and glance inside.
Marco was fast asleep in his cot.
Cesare’s gaze was once again accusing as he turned back to Robin after softly reclosing the door. ‘Obviously not,’ he grated.
‘Obviously not,’ she echoed, in an almost defiant tone.
Cesare’s eyes narrowed speculatively. He was not altogether sure he believed Robin’s explanation, but was unable to think of any other. ‘Do not fear, Robin. There will be time enough for you and Marco to become better acquainted once the two of us are married,’ he assured her sardonically.
‘I’m not frightened, Cesare,’ she came back hardly. ‘Of you or your nephew!’
Fear was the last thing Cesare wanted her to feel for him.
Although he was sure he had seen something like fear in her eyes just now, as she’d left Marco’s nursery.
Could
