and reality smacked her in the face all over again.
Bella tried to protect her sisters from the worst of the worries, but they weren’t stupid. They knew, and knowing…hurt them, undermined Bella’s efforts to ensure they felt safe and guarded and comfortable.
A wave of protective anger washed through Bella. And that anger, which had focused solely on her parents for two years, now began to turn towards Luchino as well. He had pursued Bella when he had a wife and baby. Bella had fallen most of the way in love, thought it was the real thing. It hurt so much when his wife turned up and Bella realised Luc had simply been toying with her.
Bella learned from that, built walls to protect her heart. But even with all of that, she hadn’t imagined Luc could do such a thing as abandon his child.
‘It’s true.’ Lareen’s voice deepened even further as she seemed to tap into Bella’s very thoughts. ‘My cousin, the one who went through Europe on a work visa a while back, got a job in that same village. She went out with the grocery delivery guy, and he told her everything.’
Lareen’s voice lowered even more. ‘The nanny had her friend at the house one day when the guy delivered the groceries. She told her friend Luc just stayed away. He paid the bills, but he wanted nothing to do with the child.’
They went on to talk about how it might feel to be abandoned.
As though they would know anything about it!
Hands shaking, Bella finally got the headphones free of their wrapping, put them over her ears, and plugged into the airline music.
But she didn’t hear it. She only heard the rising tide of her disgust and condemnation of a man she had thought she couldn’t despise any more.
At least the baby had someone’s care. Bella consoled herself with that, but she would never forget what she had learned today.
Not ever.
CHAPTER ONE
HE STALKED into Melbourne’s Maria’s at a minute before closing time on a warm, still summer afternoon, a tall Mediterranean man among the laden shelves of fine Egyptian handbags, Parisian scarves and the feathered and veiled confections that earned the name ‘hat’ within Australia’s haute couture. Racks of designer gowns fluttered in his wake.
‘Good afternoon and welcome to Maria’s. May I help you with anything in particular?’ The words fell from Arabella Gable’s lips, polite, professional. She guarded herself too well to allow any hint of impatience or weariness at the end of a busy day to colour her words.
The man turned his head and Bella suppressed a gasp as a flood of memories stripped time away. Six years ago this man had held her heart in his hands.
Bella’s throat tightened as feelings rushed through her. Fury, hurt, disillusionment. Yet as she looked at him, the barriers around her heart shook. It must be from her anger.
And from shock. You didn’t expect to ever see him again.
Why was he here? Her mind sought answers, but didn’t find them.
‘When I explain matters, you’ll have little choice but to help me.’ The rich, smooth accent of his Italian heritage shivered over her, so familiar, once so dear.
Never again.
‘Luchino.’ His name emerged on a whisper of sound. She had believed him out of her life forever. What brought him to Australia, to Melbourne? Here, to Maria’s? Against her will, Bella’s gaze roved across his features, took them in as she had in Milan all those years ago. Dark hair, dark brows, angular chin, chocolate-brown eyes and a mouth made for seduction, all of it packaged in the sculpted aplomb of Armani, pure black.
From the fitted shirt to the dress trousers and leather belt that encased slim hips and long legs, Luchino Montichelli shouted wealth, power and sensuality.
Banked anger lurked in the backs of his eyes.
‘Yes, it’s Luc—one and the same. It’s been a long time, Arabella.’ His gaze moved over her. Lowered lids hooded his expression, but not before Bella saw the leashed awareness in his eyes. ‘The years seem to have favoured you.’
Her heart skipped a beat in reaction to that examination. Not because she reacted in kind! No. But how dared he look at her like that? Her nerves on edge, Bella lifted a slim hand to the knot of blonde hair secured at her nape, then cursed herself for the movement, which might be interpreted as awareness of his interest.
‘They’ve been good to you, too.’ She made the grudging admission. ‘You look…well.’
Appealing, dangerous, strong and determined and somehow even harder, tougher than the Luc she had known. But then, he’d made some tough moves, hadn’t he? Conscienceless ones. Like taking his child from her mother then ignoring her himself. ‘Why are you here, Luchino? How could I possibly help you with anything?’
Even the sound of his name on her lips battered at a place deep inside her.
‘I never planned to see you again, Arabella.’ Luc’s mouth tightened as he went on. ‘I assure you, I would rather not be here.’
‘You’d rather not see me? I’m afraid I return that sentiment.’ Bella tossed the words at him, yet for a moment she caught a softer expression in his eyes and her heart—that betraying creature—remembered something that had seemed so special, so right, and a soft vulnerability welled up inside her.
Bella stamped down hard on the reaction. Those memories were an illusion! ‘I’m about to close the store so whatever you’re here for…’
Maria would kill her for trying to push a customer out of the place. Bella didn’t doubt that her boss’s Milanese accent would thicken with anger, too. Well, too bad. These were extenuating circumstances, Luchino didn’t appear to be here as a customer, and in any case Maria wasn’t here to say anything. She was at a fashion expo in Queensland.
‘By all means, lock the store.’ A well-shaped hand gestured towards the front door. ‘Better still, give me the key and I’ll do it for you while you put the remainder of the day’s takings into the safe. What I have to say to you is best said in private.’
‘What would you know about closing procedures?’ But his family owned jewellery stores dotted all over Europe and various other parts of the world. Those stores would all follow the same basic closing actions as here.
Luchino had learned his jewellery-design skills in one of the family’s stores, or so he had once said. She pushed the thought aside. His career didn’t matter to her. Luchino no longer mattered to her, except to act as a warning not to allow anyone to hurt her again. ‘Anyway, I’m not sure I want to speak with you alone. We didn’t exactly part as friends, in case you’ve forgotten.’
‘I’ve forgotten none of it.’ The words sounded like a threat as his gaze moved over her.
What did he see aside from pale, smooth skin, eyes a lighter shade of brown than his, and bone structure that Bella frankly thought too strong and angular to be truly appealing? Why should she care what he thought, anyway?
‘And I run a store a mere few city blocks from here.’ His gaze drifted away from her, to the racks of
