his youthful curiosity gradually reasserted itself. ‘Wow, that scanner thing is amazing,’ he breathed as Stefano gently urged them across the gleaming marble floor towards the lift. ‘Like something out of a spy movie.’
‘I smell of smoke.’ Liv wrinkled her nose in distaste and Stefano flicked some debris from his long coat.
‘It clings, doesn’t it? As soon as we get upstairs, you can take a bath.’
And then what? She didn’t have any clothes to change into but Liv didn’t say anything. Presumably the insurance would eventually cover most of what they’d lost, but in the short term it was going to cost her a fortune.
A fortune that she didn’t have.
Perhaps she would have to work Christmas Day after all, she thought miserably. Just for the money.
Suddenly it all seemed like too much.
She’d been holding it together for Max, but the sheer size of the problem she was facing made her want to curl into a ball and give up.
How was she going to cope?
The lift purred soundlessly upwards and when the doors finally opened Liv gave a gasp.
Max spoke first. ‘Which bit is your house?’ He spoke in a soft, awed voice and Stefano smiled and took his hand.
‘All of it. It’s not a house, it’s an apartment. I own the whole of this floor. Come on, I’ll show you your bedroom.’
‘All of it? All of this is yours?’ Max tilted his head back and stared up at the endless glass and spacious elegance. ‘It’s bigger than the hospital.’
Stefano picked him up and lifted him onto his shoulders. ‘There—now it doesn’t seem so big.’
‘Wow, this is terrific!’ Max whooped with excitement and dug his fingers into Stefano’s hair. Liv winced but part of her was overwhelmed with gratitude because he’d made her little boy smile.
With her son on his shoulders, his bronzed hands holding the child steady, Stefano seemed nothing like the intimidating consultant she worked with in the emergency department.
‘I’ll show you the bedroom I think you’ll like, but you can choose a different one if you prefer.’ He strode across the pale wooden floor, opened a door and lifted the boy off his shoulders in an easy movement. ‘What do you think?’
‘It’s like mine,’ Max said in wonder. ‘Only bigger. It’s a space capsule, Mum.’
‘Yes. Aren’t you lucky?’
‘I have twin nephews the same age as Max.’ Stefano strolled across to the window. ‘They chose the décor.’
‘They like the same things as me.’ Max clambered onto the cabin bed and vanished under a canopy of moons and stars. ‘This is so cool. It’s just like being at home only better.’ His little head peeped round the side of the canopy. ‘Is it OK to say that Mum? That doesn’t make you sad, does it?’
‘You never make me sad,’ Liv said quickly. ‘I’m pleased you like it. It’s very kind of Stefano to have us.’
Stefano steered her out of the bedroom and back into the glorious living room that overlooked the park.
Beneath them she could see horses cantering sedately along a track, their breath forming clouds in the freezing air. Mothers wrapped up in scarves and long elegant coats pushed buggies and watched toddlers romping in the snow.
‘It’s a fabulous place.’
‘You make it sound like a problem.’
She gave a wry smile, her eyes still on the view. ‘I’m hoping that it won’t be too much of a wrench for Max to go back to his real life after this.’
‘Don’t think about that and anyway, you’re his real life. You’re his security. As long as you’re all right, so is he.’ Stefano put his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him, a frown in his eyes as he studied her face. ‘You’re exhausted. Can you stop thinking and worrying for just five minutes and let me sort things out? Max and I are going to buy a Christmas tree and you are going to lie in a hot bubble bath for an hour.’
‘An hour?’ She was horribly aware of him, her heart thudding in a crazy rhythm against her chest. ‘I wouldn’t know what to do in a bath for an hour.’
‘That’s the point.’ Amusement gleamed in his eyes. ‘You do nothing.’ He gave a slow smile and then his gaze slid to her mouth and lingered.
‘Mum?’
Liv jumped backwards. ‘Yes?’ Flustered, she licked her lips, as if Stefano’s gaze had left a mark she had to remove. ‘You’re going to buy a Christmas tree. Don’t buy a big one.’ Reaching for her bag, she pulled out her purse. ‘This is our budget. Don’t argue.’ She stuffed the money into Stefano’s hand. ‘Thank you.’
For a moment he didn’t respond. He simply looked at the money in his hand and then glanced at her face. Then he smiled and slid the money into a soft billfold, as if he knew that to refuse would make her uncomfortable.
‘Grazie. Now go and relax and leave everything to us boys.’
‘Do you like that one?’ Stefano watched as Max gazed at the huge, glittering Christmas tree in the window of the exclusive Knightsbridge store.
‘It’s amazing,’ Max breathed, his head tilted backwards as he scanned it all the way to the top. ‘Like something out of a Christmas movie.’
‘Good.’ Wishing all decisions were as easy, Stefano strode through the doors and into the store, Max by his side.
Within seconds he found an assistant, briefed her on what he wanted and then looked down at Max who was tugging at his sleeve. ‘What’s the matter? You’ve decided that you want a different one?’
‘No, but—you can’t buy the one in the window,’ Max whispered. ‘It isn’t for sale.’
Stefano smiled. ‘It is now.’
‘Really?’ Max glanced over his shoulder, as if checking that his imagination hadn’t been playing tricks. ‘What about the decorations?’
‘Those too.’
‘But what about the decorations you already have at home? Aren’t you going to use those?’
‘I don’t have any decorations at home.’
Max looked startled. ‘But what do you usually put on your tree?’
‘Nothing.’ Stefano handed his credit card to the assistant. ‘I don’t usually have a tree.’
‘You don’t have a tree?’ Max looked shocked. ‘Not even a small one?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
