basement my niece and nephew used when they were a similar age.’
‘That’s a bonus. Aimee will be safer in a cot than on a bed with pillows tucked around her. She’s a restless sleeper.’
‘Shall I put it in the same room as you?’
‘Please. So far she’s doing okay, but being in an unfamiliar room without me on hand could exacerbate her mood.’ The last thing Aimee was about to do was go to sleep; not after the hours she’d put in getting here, while the only thing Elene wanted to do was pull bedcovers over her head and succumb to the lethargy tugging at every cell and not reappear for twenty-four hours. But, hey, that was never going to happen. Not now she was a parent.
‘Let’s get this sorted so you can relax.’ Once again Mattia was striding away and she scurried to keep up.
How long this unusual politeness would last was anyone’s guess. Elene looked around the bedroom he led her into. It was huge and even this late in the day still warm from the sun. A bonus was the attached bathroom. ‘Perfect.’ She’d better not get too comfortable. This was a short-term fix.
‘Glad you’re happy with it.’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ No clues in that inscrutable face staring at her. ‘I’ll start phoning around hotels tomorrow so we can get out of your way as soon as possible.’
‘Leave it for a day or two.’
So he wasn’t inviting her to stay for the whole time she was here, but then he didn’t know how long that was, or if she even intended returning to New Zealand. ‘We’re heading home in three weeks.’
His tense stance appeared to relax a fraction, but that could’ve been the play of light from the overhead lamp causing her to think so. Of course he didn’t want her here, had yet to come to terms with Aimee—if he accepted his role in her life. There were many hours ahead for him to come up with lots of questions, demands and denials. The questions she was prepared for. The demands not so much; they worried her enough to make her shake in her shoes, but until she heard them she couldn’t fight them. As for the denials, she’d wait and see.
‘Are you intending staying in Sorrento the whole time?’ He spoke as though holding his breath—as if her answer was important.
‘That depends on you and how things go. I have family outside Florence I might catch up with.’ The trains were reliable and fast, and would make travelling with Aimee a doddle. ‘But this trip isn’t about them.’
‘I’ll arrange transport if you decide to head up there.’
Typical. ‘I am perfectly capable of organising a couple of train tickets, thanks all the same.’ Take it easy. He mightn’t be on the ward now, but there was no need to antagonise him when he was offering help. She wasn’t thinking straight, there was so much fog in her head. Why else did she keep noticing that flat belly and wide chest? Presumably he’d had them when she knew him before and they hadn’t impacted on her in any way then. Oh, yeah? Who do you think you’re fooling?
‘I wasn’t thinking trains.’
They’d be beneath him. Stop it. ‘Let’s leave it until I’ve caught up on sleep and can think straight.’
‘Done. I’ll get the cot.’ Within minutes Mattia returned with a large square bag which he emptied onto the carpet before assembling the cot like a pro.
‘You’ve done that more than once.’ Elene aimed for friendly as she plugged in the nightlight disguised as a plastic teddy. ‘How many nieces and nephews have you got?’
‘One of each, both aged two and a half, and there’re two more bambini on the way.’ He glanced sideways down to Aimee, now crawling towards her bed. ‘She doesn’t look much like her mother.’
‘Except for the curls.’ Those were definitely Danielle’s.
‘Danielle always complained about hers.’ His tone was wistful. ‘Despite what you thought, I liked her a lot. We got on well, but the friendship was never going further than those few weeks.’
Time to fess up. ‘I know.’ When his eyebrows lifted she hastened to explain. ‘I didn’t at the time. I truly thought you’d hurt her, but later Danielle explained she’d only wanted a fling, same as you.’
‘She’d had a few flings. Why was it any different with me?’
Elene struggled to come up with an answer. She’d just always been anti about Danielle and Mattia. Shrugging, she admitted, ‘I don’t know. She was happy, especially when you stood up to that drunk for her.’
Mattia nodded. ‘He’d been ogling her all night in the pub, making her very uncomfortable. When he came across and made lewd comments I’d had enough and suggested we go out the back for a discussion.’ Flicking his forefingers in the air, he emphasised ‘discussion.’ ‘He declined.’
‘Go you.’ So chivalry wasn’t dead. But she wouldn’t expect it to be with a man like Mattia. One thing she couldn’t dispute: he was a gentleman and treated women as they deserved. Except they’d always rubbed each other up the wrong way. Was she in denial? Had there been sparks at other times than that one night she’d tamped down hard because he was seeing her friend? He was tall, good-looking in a dark and dangerous way, intelligent, funny, and—No. She was not noticing anything like that about him. No way. She looked around for something else to focus on.
Aimee was using the cot to pull herself up onto her feet. She slipped and banged down on her bottom.
Elene waited for the indignant shriek that usually accompanied a fail. Instead Aimee turned on her toothless grin and reached for the cot to start over. ‘She’s happy to be free of constraints.’
Mattia was watching his daughter, disbelief and something else on his face. Longing? He hadn’t touched Aimee yet. Not even a finger on her arm. Holding himself back until he’d thought through all the connotations? Afraid of where this might go? Still in denial? Who knew? She certainly didn’t, and right now working it out was beyond her.
For her own sake Elene felt a little bit glad he wasn’t rushing to fall in love with his daughter, if he accepted who she was. Being here was about deciding where Aimee should live and with who, though she was determined that would be her, but denying Mattia fatherhood wasn’t happening either. Bending down, she swung Aimee up to hold her out to her father. ‘Here. You look after her. I need to shower.’
* * *
Mattia automatically caught Aimee in his steady hands. Not that Elene would’ve let her drop, but he hadn’t even thought about not taking her. Holding his daughter out, he watched her kicking her legs and banging her hands on his arms, her face split in a gummy smile as she eyed him up. Hope I pass the test. Gulp. Really? Of course really. He was her father. He didn’t need a DNA test to prove that. Gut instinct brought about by the family likeness and Elene’s honest demeanour, even without putting it into words, told him all he needed—or didn’t need—to know.
‘Hello,’ he croaked around a tennis ball lodged in his throat.
‘Ma-ma-ma-ma.’
‘Is that right?’ A smile was stretching his mouth without any input from his brain. ‘You’re beautiful.’
