after much discussion about the various delights on offer Rose settled on a mixed grill of fish with spinach. ‘I don’t cook fish much at home, so this is a treat for me. What are you having?’
‘I like your choice. I will have the same.’ Dante nodded in approval as he studied the bottle of wine a waiter offered for his inspection. ‘Grazie. Try the wine, cara, and give me your opinion.’
‘Mmm,’ she said with relish. ‘Gorgeous. What is it?’
‘A Fortinari Classico,’ he said with pride. ‘I am impressed that they keep this range here.’
‘Which means it’s very pricey.’ Rose drank a little more. ‘I can see why.’ She raised embarrassed eyes to his. ‘I’m putting you to so much expense, Dante. Please let—’
‘No!’ he said flatly. ‘To see you enjoy your dinner is reward enough.’
‘I’m enjoying everything.’ She looked round the packed, noisy dining room with pleasure. ‘I love it here.’ Her eyes sparkled as plates were set in front of them. ‘Grazie,’ she said to the waiter.
Dante laughed indulgently as she sniffed in rapture. ‘Enjoy, carina.’
‘I will! It’s a long time since that gelato.’
‘So tell me about this house you live in,’ Dante said later, after Rose had refused a dolce in favour of coffee.
‘It’s my own family home. Mum signed it over to me when she moved in with Tom. He wants them to get married,’ she added, ‘but Mum is happy the way things are, afraid that formalising the arrangement might change it. She believes in the saying “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.’
Dante’s eyes darkened. ‘She is wise.’
Rose looked at him questioningly. ‘Were you heartbroken when your wife left you?’
He gave a mirthless laugh. ‘Dio, no! My brother, as always, was right. I had a fortunate escape—forgive me, Rose. You cannot want to hear this.’
How wrong could a man be? ‘Is Elsa still with the new man she left you for?’
‘Yes, though new is not the right word.’ Dante’s expressive mouth turned down. ‘Enrico Calvi is old enough to be her father, but so wealthy Elsa is now enjoying a life of idle luxury.’
‘She wanted to do that?’
‘Oh, yes.’ He smiled sardonically. ‘Younger faces—and bodies—were winning the top jobs. She was glad to abandon her career while still known as a supermodel. Allora, I no longer see her face on magazine covers everywhere to remind me of my folly.’
‘Is she very beautiful still?’
He nodded carelessly. ‘I have not seen her since she left, but Elsa was obsessed with her looks and I doubt she has changed much. Calvi has children from a former marriage and does not demand the babies that would ruin his trophy wife’s perfect body. I, fool that I was, wanted children very much.’
Rose drank some water, suddenly sorry she’d eaten so much as her stomach lurched at Dante’s heartfelt admission.
His mouth tightened. ‘She waited until our wedding night to tell me she had no intention of having babies. Ever. But no more talk of Elsa.’ Dante looked at Rose in silence for a while, his blue eyes intent. ‘Now I must take you back. I wish you could stay longer, Rose.’
‘Not possible, I’m afraid.’
‘Que peccato! In the morning I will drive you to the airport in Pisa—unless you would prefer the train journey?’ He beckoned to a waiter to bring the bill.
‘No, indeed. But won’t that take up too much of your time?’
‘It is not far out of my way home,’ he assured her, ‘and will give me the pleasure of more time with you before you leave. But this will not be goodbye, Rose. I shall see you when I come to England again next.’
Her heart lurched. If Dante still wanted babies no way was she letting him anywhere near Bea. He took her arm to steer her past an approaching entwined couple as they walked back, the contact raising her pulse rate even higher.
Rose paused when they reached the foot of the hotel steps, her eyes raised to the handsome, intent face. ‘This has been a lovely evening, Dante. Not the kind of thing that features much in my life as a rule.’
‘Yet Charlotte told me you have someone in your life.’
‘He’s a friend from my college days.’
‘But surely you will marry one day, Rose?’
She shrugged. ‘I doubt it.’
Dante held the door open for her. ‘When you see Charlotte so happy with Fabio, do you not wish for a relationship like theirs?’ His eyes darkened as they made for the lift. ‘I have always envied them their marriage.’
‘They’re very lucky.’
Dante halted when they reached her room. ‘Ascolta, it is early yet, Rose. I would so much like to sit with you on your balcony and talk for a while longer like old friends. I can order tea. You would like that?’
She looked at him in silence for a moment. ‘All right, Dante.’ She gave him a wry smile. ‘But only because you said the magic word.’
His smile mirrored hers. ‘Friends?’
‘No—tea!’
Dante laughed and rang room service. After a waiter arrived with a tray Dante tipped him and closed the door behind him then pulled up two of the chairs to the metal table on the balcony overlooking the moonlit Arno. Rose poured tea and the coffee Dante had ordered for himself, and sat back in her chair, eyeing him warily.
‘So what shall we talk about?’
‘You, Rose. Tell me why you started your own business.’
‘I applied for accountancy jobs but didn’t get the ones I wanted, so I decided to use my training for something else and eventually hit on bookkeeping.’
‘Ah,’ said Dante, nodding. ‘You went to college again for this?’
‘No. I did an eighteen-month home study course accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, and managed to complete it in just over three months.’ Rose drained her cup and refilled it. ‘My mother was a huge help. So was Tom. He found a web designer for me and made sure I informed HM Revenue and Customs, and took out indemnity insurance to cover me while working in clients’ offices. I also got a practising licence...’ She paused, biting her lip. ‘This is probably boring you rigid, Dante.’
He shook his head decisively. ‘I am enthralled. You were so young to achieve all this, Rose. I am impressed.’
‘I had a lot of things going for me,’ she reminded him. ‘With such wonderful support from my mother and Tom, a home of my own with a room I can use for an office—and with my brain still in gear from my finals—I managed to get the new qualification quickly. I now divide my
