Sideswiped by what felt like a full-frontal attack without the courtesy of a preamble, Ella felt her body stiffen with tension. ‘It was the last thingIexpected, Señor and Señora Mancini. Believe it or not, my plans at this stage in my life didn’t involve getting pregnant. But it’s happened, and Rocco and I are both finding a way of dealing with it.’
‘Our experience of women like you,’ his mother said, ‘Has been unfortunate, and you will excuse us if we are blunt on this matter.’
‘Women like me?’ Ella’s head swivelled from left to right as she was besieged on both sides by the couple.
‘Of course it is to be expected that our son would be targeted for his money. That has always been our fear.’
‘I didn’ttargetyour son for his money! I didn’t even know who Rocco was when I met him!’ She looked at the door in desperation.
They were worried, she told herself, and that was to be expected. Yes, they came from stupid wealth; and yes, they would be on guard for people wanting to get a foot through the door so that they could get some of that money for themselves. They were naturally scared that she might be a gold-digger. It made perfect sense, really, when she thought about it. They didn’t know just how much she loved their son, and they didn’t know that he loved her as well, whether he could admit it or not. They were primed to be suspicious. Rocco had told her about his uncle. How else could they be expected to react to her except with suspicion and fear?
She took a few deep breaths to calm the rising tide of her anger. ‘You don’t have to fear that I’m after your son for his money,’ she said coolly. She looked around at the lavish, funereal surroundings. ‘I’m much more at home in simpler surroundings. I wouldn’t dream of wanting any of this.’
‘But this is where my son belongs,’ his mother said with a stiff smile. ‘You will be entering a great family house. You may say you are not interested in everything that comes with the Mancini name, but you will still have to do your duty as my son’s wife, as you will likewise have to raise his heir to be the man who carries on the family name. I trust that all pre-nuptial agreements are signed and in order?’
‘I think it’s best if we move on from this, Señor and Señora Mancini. I can’t say any more than I already have. You’ll just have to trust that I’m not out to fleece your son and I haven’t contrived to get pregnant so that I could pin him down.’
‘In which case, arrangements for the wedding will have to be discussed.’
Rocco’s father finally stood to offer her something to drink and rang a bell to summon one of their staff when she opted for a glass of water.
‘I realise you’ve only just found out… You probably haven’t had time to think of anything…er…’ Ella stumbled over her words while wondering whether Rocco intended to show up any time soon. Having said she could rely on him to be a protective wall between his parents and her, he had instead thrown her to the wolves and left her to fend for herself.
‘I have already, naturally, been in touch with various people and given basic instructions on the sort of ceremony we have in mind.’
‘You have?’
‘This will be an illustrious event. Naturally, the sooner plans are put in motion, the better. What we cannot change, we must unfortunately accept. Rocco told us a week or so ago that he would be marrying. It does not afford us much time with a baby on the way so I have already begun to put things in place. At the very least, I have made a list of attendees. I would calculate that in the region ofquinientos invitados…five hundred guests…’
‘You’ve made a list…?’
The ground seemed to be opening up under her feet as she did the maths. His mother had known that they would be getting married a week ago? That was when Rocco had shown up out of the blue, when she had first broken the news to him. Yet he’d given her the impression that he had only just told his parents, as they were packing their bags to leave for Spain. Which meant…
Solid ground began to turn to quicksand and she licked her lips while her mind went blank, fighting against the very obvious conclusion that she had been deceived by Rocco yet again. She’d thought that he’d taken his time to win her over, to prove to her that he could be the man she wanted, even if he wasn’t inlove with her. That, whatever the outcome, he would respect her decision.
But he hadn’t, had he? He’d gone right ahead and assumed that she would marry him, and had been so confident that he would get exactly what he wanted that he’d briefed his parents from the start. Had all that thoughtful, caring stuff just been an act to get her where he wanted her?
She felt sick at the thought of it, at the thought that she’d let stupid feelings, disingenuous love, hope and optimism get in the way of the common sense that had guided her at the very start.
There was no way on earth she would marry him now. She spun away and muttered that she was suddenly feeling queasy. Maybe the trip over…stress…perhaps she hadn’t eaten enough…a ragtag jumble of nonsense… She left eyes down, not wanting to see those cold, disapproving faces for a second longer.
Tears blurred her eyes and every muscle in her body was rigid with tension as she moved stiffly towards the door, that was pulled open before she could get to it. And there he was, taking a few seconds to register that something was wrong, then glancing behind her to his parents before returning his dark gaze to her stricken face.
‘What the hell is going on here?’
Chapter Ten
‘I asked what’sgoing on.’
The atmosphere was electric with tension. Instinct told Rocco that Ella was desperate to leave the room but he stayed her with one hand because he wanted to find out what the hell had just happened. No one was going to run away until he found out, and that included his parents, who had risen to their feet and were looking at him with thin lipped defiance.
His parents were punctual to the point of pathological. His father had dispatched him to check over something with one of the subsidiary companies, but he had made sure to head straight to the sitting room so that she didn’t end up facing his parents without his reassuring presence.
He ushered Ella back into the room and dismissed the man who had appeared with a jug of water and a glass.
‘What have you said to Ella?’ He addressed his mother but included his father in his grim, unsmiling, narrow-eyed stare.
‘We simply made it clear, Rocco, that we are not people to be taken in by anyone entering this family who might wish us harm.’
