Rachele moved to her bedside and patted her hand. “It’s all taken care of. Dante has organized your grandmother’s flight here.”
She moved the tray aside. “There is still my business to check on.” Her friend Colin had agreed to manage the store; he might even be able to buy it... However, with a permanent manager in the shop, she could run the business from Italy.
Rachele pushed her back down. “Sit. Eat. Dante has arranged for one of his bookstore managers to help out.”
Abby slowly slid her legs back under the sheets. Her stomach began churning again, in anxiety and dismay. The Lombardi Group owned one of the largest bookstore chains in England, Books 4 Less. This had been her motivation to set up her own bookshop, to hit back at him and prove she was capable of more than breeding children. It was also so that she could still feel part of his world.
She toyed with her eggs. What would his loyal, professional manager report back to Dante? She hoped he would be impressed with what she had built. That Dante would be impressed. She scoffed. Why should it matter?Business relationship—remember.
On the Shelf Books made a modest profit and provided her with a good income. Not good enough to pay for an expensive heart operation, especially after her accountant embezzled the money she’d put aside to pay her business taxes.
The door flew open, and a little body hurtled across the room to pounce on the bed. The coffee slopped over the side of her cup andonto the tray.
“Lorenzo, get off that bed at once,” Rachele said.
Huge dark eyes gazed at Rachele as Lorenzo dutifully slithered off the bed and came to stand beside her. He gave Abby a tentative smile. He looked so much like Dante, it took her breath away.
“Good morning, Lorenzo. I’m your Auntie Abby.” She smiled at him. “Does he understand English?”
Rachele nodded.
He stood silently, twisting his feet and shyly looking at her from under lowered eyelids. Finally, he reached out and touched one finger to her hair.
“Pretty hair.”
Abby laughed. Everyone in the Lombardi family had dark hair and olive skin. She was like a piece of chalk among them.
“Lorenzo’s fascinated by fair-haired women. I hate to think what he’ll be like when he’s older. Blondes will be his preference.”
Abby looked up to see Dante’s sister Salice standing in the doorway with a toddler riding her hip. Rachele tapped the little girl’s nose as she squeezed past mother and daughter on her way out.
“Welcome home, Abby. It’s been too long. I’m sorry for this intrusion, but the children are eager to meet their Aunt Abby. I tried to keep them away, but Lorenzo here is impatient.”
Salice didn’t appear to be judging her, but Abby sensed wariness in her approach. “Gosh, he’s grown.” Abby sighed.
“A lot has changed in your long absence.”
Perhaps not totally without censure. Abby felt her face heat at the subtle accusation.
“Pretty hair!” Lorenzo’s pudgy hand grabbed a fistful and pulled, breaking the awkward silence.
“How’d you like to brush it once I’m showered and dressed?” Abby asked with a smile.
Lorenzo hugged his mother’s leg and grinned. His black curls bobbed in agreement.
Salice smiled at her. “It’s quite a surprise to have you home. Dante kept it very quiet. We had no idea you were returning.” She started to pull Lorenzo from the room. “Come to the sunporch by the pool when you’re ready. Mama, Marcia, and the children are waiting to see you.”
Abby’s face must have betrayed her apprehension.
Salice grinned. “It won’t be so bad. We all know our brother is not easy to live with. You’re back. That is all that matters.”
With that, Salice left her in peace.
Being back wasn’t all that mattered to Abby. As she stood under the shower, Abby knew that keeping a check on her heart while fulfilling her obligations was the key to, if not happiness, her sanity.
The sceneof easy domesticity on the patio under the pergola brought a small smile to Abby’s lips, and the stifling heat was forgotten.
She’d missed the joyous contentment of Dante’s large family. Her younger brother, only eight years old, had perished with her parents in the car accident. Her grandmother was her only living relative, and it had been the two of them ever since.
