gave her an apologetic grin, followed by a little wave, which turned into a dismissive gesture to get on with it.
Harper turned back to the front. ‘Your doing, I take it?’ she whispered under her breath, her eyes fixed straight ahead, but there was a smile in her voice.
Vieri shrugged in admission. It was true he had ignored Harper’s instructions not to invite her sister, going behind her back and sending Leah the money for her flight here. He wasn’t even sure why he’d done it, except that he had strongly felt that it was time Harper’s family supported her, instead of it always being the other way round. It was time they realised just how lucky they were to have her.
When Leah hadn’t shown this morning he had written her off, assumed she had just taken the money, ripped him off again. But it seemed he had been wrong.
‘There are two of them?’ To his right he heard Jaco utter his astonishment but Vieri wasn’t going to start explaining now. He would, however, put his friend right about that young woman the first chance he got. If ever anyone had trouble written through them like a stick of rock, she did.
* * *
As Harper took her seat at the head of the table she hardly recognised the ancient dining room that had been transformed for the wedding breakfast. The draughty, echoing room had had a serious makeover: colourful antique rugs covered the cold flagstone floor, red velvet chairs replaced the uncomfortable carved wooden ones, and the table had been beautifully laid with a white damask tablecloth set with silver gilt cutlery and sparkling crystal. Arrangements of winter flowers, interspersed with cream candles in gilt candlesticks, ran the length of the table. In fact there were candles everywhere, positioned on the polished wood furniture at the sides of the room and in the heavy iron candelabra above their heads. A roaring fire blazed in the enormous grate.
‘The wedding planners have done a good job.’ Vieri eased himself into the seat beside her. ‘I’ll have to remember to use them again.’
‘For your next wedding, do you mean?’ Avoiding his eyes, Harper smiled sweetly at the assembled guests as she shook out her napkin and placed it on her lap.
‘I actually meant commercially—my hotels host a lot of weddings.’ Vieri gave her a dark stare. ‘I have no intention of marrying again.’
‘Oh, my mistake.’ Accepting a glass of wine from the waiter, Harper let her shoulders drop from where they had been hovering up around her ears. They were married now, deed was done, there was no point in being all prickly with Vieri. That would solve nothing. She might just as well relax and enjoy the meal as best she could.
She cast her eyes down the long table. Leah was sitting about halfway down, next to Vieri’s friend, Jaco. Harper had to admit it was lovely to have her here, and secretly she was touched that Vieri had gone to the trouble of arranging it. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but under Jaco’s instruction Leah was swilling the wine around in her glass, then holding it to her nose to inhale the bouquet. Jaco was laughing.
At the far end of the table, Alfonso was holding court with a couple of elderly friends. Feeling Harper’s eyes on him, he looked up and smiled, raising his glass.
‘Look at him.’ Vieri leant in closer and immediately Harper’s senses leapt about in response. ‘I can’t remember the last time I saw him so happy.’ Raising his own glass in return, he waited for Harper to do the same. ‘We did the right thing, you know.’
Harper nodded. For the first time this whole crazy venture made sense. For the first time she could see why they had done it. To give pleasure to a kind and generous man who deserved happiness at the very end of his life. For the first time it felt as if they had done something good.
‘Yes, we did, didn’t we?’ She turned and smiled at Vieri, clinking her glass against his, and as their eyes met Harper felt her stomach somersault inside her.
‘I’m glad you agree.’ Holding her gaze, Vieri studied her face intently before covering her hand with his own. ‘You have a lovely smile, by the way. You should use it more often.’
Harper quickly looked away, battling against the crippling effect of the unexpected compliment. Gripping the stem of her glass, she took a sip of the velvety wine. If her smile was lovely, his was deadly, used for the sole purpose of killing his prey.
She had been fighting his devastating attraction all day, since the moment she had come to stand beside him in the chapel. Dressed in an immaculate grey suit, with matching waistcoat, and a blue silk tie that mirrored his ultramarine eyes, Vieri was the embodiment of sheer masculine perfection. His dark hair was pushed back from his forehead, curling behind his ears. When he was clean-shaven, his thick sideburns appeared more obvious, as did his square jaw and that oh-so-sensuous pink mouth. A mouth that brought back the memory of how it had felt against her own. That begged to be felt there again.
Setting down her glass, Harper took a shaky breath. Today, more than any day, she needed to be careful. She had to be on her guard, protect herself from the deadly onslaught of Vieri’s charm. And step one was to try and steady the traitorous thump of her heart right now.
In true Sicilian style, the meal went on for hours. Course after course of delicious food was served, accompanied by freely flowing wine that ensured all the guests had a good time. Day soon turned to night, and as the more elderly guests started to leave Alfonso eventually announced that he was going to retire. Calling Vieri and Harper over, he embraced them warmly as they bent to kiss his cheek, taking hold of Harper’s hand as she straightened up and patting it affectionately.
‘Thank you so much, both of you. This has been wonderful.’ He smiled up at them but as the smile faded a seriousness crept into his eyes. ‘I hope you know how much it means to me.’
‘We do, padrino.’ Vieri squeezed his shoulder. ‘And we are very glad that you have enjoyed the day.’
‘I don’t just mean the day.’ A hint of impatience crept in as Alfonso gripped Harper’s hand with surprising force. ‘I’m talking about the two of you being officially married.’ He paused and Harper could see just how tired he was. ‘I must admit, I had my doubts. You might even call them suspicions.’ His bushy eyebrows lowered over eyes that flicked between Harper and Vieri. ‘In fact I did wonder at first if the two of you had cooked this up between you. A well-intentioned but misguided plan to fool an old man.’ Harper froze, her gaze locked on Alfonso’s hand so that she wouldn’t have to meet Vieri’s eye.
‘But then I saw the two of you together and my mind was put at rest. Because I could see it in your eyes, feel it here, in my heart.’ He banged his chest with his fist. ‘I could see that you loved each other. And that was all that mattered. Which was why I hurried things along a bit.’ He gave a low chuckle.
‘You mean it wasn’t because you are dying!’ With a leap of hope, Harper blurted out the words.
‘Oh, bless you, my dear. I’m dying all right.’ Alfonso kissed her hand. ‘But now, I can die in peace, safe in the knowledge that my godson has finally found the happiness he deserves.’
Harper forced down the lump in her throat, fighting the tears that pricked the backs of her eyes.
‘Anyway, enough of my old-man ramblings. I hope that you young people will continue to celebrate long into the night. Oh, I nearly forgot.’ Reaching into his inside jacket pocket, he withdrew an envelope and passed it to Vieri. ‘A wedding present. Open it later.’
‘Thank you, padrino.’ Vieri
