“I’ll come straight to the point. Unless you got secretly married like Pietra, and she didn’t choose to tell me you have a wife, then you’re going to need help with Nicky for a while.”
“Naturalmente. I’ve already made the arrangements.”
“So fast?” she fired angrily.
His gaze turned wintry. “I’m in a hurry, Ms. Marchant.”
“I’ll just bet you are,” she said through grated teeth. “It must have been quite an inconvenience to leave your precious dig and fly here to deal with a nephew you didn’t even bother to see after Pietra had the baby.”
Her comment produced a slight chiseling of his jaw. She realized she’d gone too far, but she couldn’t help it. Her pain was acute.
“I think you’d better explain yourself,” his voice rasped.
“I don’t owe you anything.”
Julie was so incensed, she had to get out of there before she said something unconscionable.
Though she was closer to the door, he reached it ahead of her with effortless male agility, blocking her exit.
“You came over here for a reason. I’d like to know what it is.” His deceptively civil tone didn’t fool her. Beneath those words lurked a demand.
The man was furious, and wouldn’t allow her to leave without hearing an explanation first. If all the Di Rocches were as arrogant as her brother, it was no wonder Pietra had left Italy.
Heat stormed into her cheeks. “Would it do any good?” she challenged him.
“Try me,” he mocked with unbearable hauteur.
“I was going to ask if you would hire me to be Nicky’s nanny through this initial period of adjustment, however long it takes. That way I won’t feel like I’ve lost him completely.”
His dark brows elevated. She could hear his mind working. “I understand you have an excellent job in San Francisco.”
“I do. But even before I heard the terms of the will, I’d planned to give it up to take care of Nicky.”
He cocked his head. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re involved with someone who works at the same company.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised Pietra had confided all that to her brother. They’d clearly been in closer touch than she’d thought.
“I was. It didn’t work out,” she muttered. “At this point nothing means more to me than Nicky. He needs constant love and security right now. He’s missing his parents terribly.”
His grim expression intensified. “Of course.”
“When it comes to taking care of Nicky, not just any woman will do,” she pointed out heatedly.
“This one has been a mother.”
“Then that means she’s an older woman. How will she fare in the jungle?” Julie cried. “I’m young and willing to live wherever you live. Nicky and I would adapt. Because of my job, which requires some travel, I have a passport. I’ll get the necessary vaccinations.”
His eyes played over her features. “What kind of work have you done?”
“It’s a software company. On occasion I give presentations of the product to their foreign distributors. But to get back to Nicky, it’s important for you to know that since he was born, I’ve tended him once a month on the weekends. We’ve started getting acquainted.”
She was talking too fast, but she couldn’t help it. The thought of him taking Nicky away was tearing her apart.
“As soon as I arrived here yesterday morning, I sent the babysitter home and have taken care of him myself. The poor little thing’s sick.”
He frowned. “How sick?”
“He’s used to Pietra’s milk. Last night he fought me on the bottle because he doesn’t like formula. It upset him so much that he’s developed a bad rash. This morning I had to call the doctor about it and get a prescription for him. Another day or two and it ought to clear up.
“But that isn’t all that’s wrong. He keeps looking for his parents. Introducing him to another stranger this soon will only frustrate him further. No other woman will ever love him the way I do. I’m beginning to gain his trust. Soon he’ll learn to accept me.”
Her eyes glazed with tears. “Even if Shawn and Pietra didn’t consider me a proper guardian when they made out their will, I’d do anything for them. I loved them, and I adore Nicky. He’s my brother’s son. How could I not?”
With everything said, the last breath of air left her lungs. She waited, expecting him to say something. Anything! When he didn’t, she felt like she was going to explode.
“That’s what I came to say! But pleading my case to you is a lost cause isn’t it? Mother was afraid Pietra’s uncle would come for him and try to take him away from us. I thought she was being hysterical, but it turns out she was right! You’re as awful as the rest of the Di Rocche clan.”
His body stiffened, but she was too far gone to care.
“You’re all in this together. The Italian big-boy network using all your money and position to close ranks on Shawn’s son and turn him into a Di Rocche.”
“Have you finished?” came the voice of ice.
Her hands formed fists. “No, I haven’t even started. All this time you were in Central America you never had any use for Pietra, and you don’t care a fig about Nicky. No doubt you’ll have him dropped off at your uncle’s where some built-in maid will change his diapers and give him bottles.
“In the walls of that prison he’ll be taught to conform like the rest of the Di Rocche men, leaving you free to feed your addiction in Guatemala.
“You know what? You’re the worst of them because Pietra trusted you—” Her voice rang out, but she didn’t care.
“Your sister thought the world of you, even after you deserted her and left for Central America. She told me you only came to see her once before the baby was born. That’s how much interest you had in their lives. And now you show up to do your uncle’s dirty work. I think it’s abominable.”
“Are you quite through?” His eyes glittered dangerously.
“What’s the matter? Can’t you take the truth?” she said, baiting him. “If I’ve shocked you, I meant to, and I’ll never apologize for the way I feel about Nicky.”
She started for the door, then paused. “In case you’re wondering, my parents have no idea I drove over here to see you. I don’t intend for them to know I came. They’re so devastated right now, if they knew how hard-hearted you really are it would destroy them.”
Massimo let Shawn’s grief-stricken sister charge out the door without trying to stop her. She’d obviously been in Pietra’s
