Her Sicilian Baby Revelation / The Greek's One-Night Heir. Natalie Anderson

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      Tonino Valente stood by the huge entrance doors and waited for the last guests to file into the baroque cathedral.

      The groom, Dante, was at the altar mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

      He could laugh to see his old friend acting like this, but propriety forced him to bite his cheeks and smother it.

      Who would have thought Dante Moncada, the biggest player of them all, would be standing at the altar sweating with nerves as he awaited his bride? Out of their gang, which decades before had ridden round Palermo on scooters desperately trying to look cool and impress the girls, Dante had always been the one who’d vowed never to settle down. Tonino had been the only one to assume he would one day marry and yet here he was, the last bachelor of their gang left on the shelf.

      He’d almost married once. He’d even gone as far as to book this same cathedral before fate had stepped in in the form of an Irish temptress and turned his life inside out with one locking of eyes.

      Strangely, Dante was himself marrying an Irishwoman. Tonino had only met her the once, fleetingly, a stunning redhead who had transformed his old friend into a smitten lovesick fool.

      What was it with Irishwomen, he ruminated, that they could turn a Sicilian man’s head so completely?

      His own Irishwoman… Well, that had been an extremely short romance. But intense. Incredibly intense. And then she’d left without saying goodbye. Not a word. Just packed her bags and left. When he’d called, he’d found himself unable to get through—she’d blocked his number.

      Her cruelty in the manner she’d ended things had been breathtaking.

      He could hardly believe that four years on he still thought about her.

      A commotion outside the entrance had him striding outside to help a young couple struggling to manoeuvre a wheelchair-cum-pushchair that had a small child in it up the cathedral steps.

      ‘You’re with the bride?’ he asked in Sicilian then repeated in English once they were inside and out of the late-afternoon heat. The ushers had all been warned the bride’s nephew had mobility issues. A special place at the front of the cathedral had been set aside for him so he could have an unrestricted view of the ceremony. An usher would be required to wait with the child until the bridal party arrived and his mother, the chief bridesmaid, could take over. Tonino guessed the job had become his.

      ‘We are,’ the young woman confirmed proudly, her Irish accent strong. ‘I’m Aislin’s cousin Carmel, and this is my husband Danny. This young man here is Finn.’

      ‘He’s Aislin’s nephew?’ he clarified, just in case there was another wheelchair-bound small boy coming.

      ‘Yes. Aislin and the others left the hotel right behind us so will be here any minute.’

      Figuring he should introduce himself so as not to scare the child, he got down on his haunches and looked at him.

      Dressed in a miniature suit that matched the groom’s, the boy couldn’t be much older than a toddler. He had a shock of thick black hair and equally dark eyes…

      There was something about his eyes that made the words Tonino was about to say stick in his throat.

      After a drawn-out beat, he conjured a smile. ‘Hello, Finn. I’m Tonino. I’m going to take you to the front of the cathedral to wait for your mummy.’

      He was rewarded with a wide smile that displayed a row of tiny white teeth.

      Straightening, Tonino took the handles of what was clearly a specially made wheelchair and pushed the child down the wide aisle to his designated space. Finn immediately spotted Dante at the altar and flung his arms out as if reaching for him.

      Dante grinned and hurried over to crouch on his haunches before him just as Tonino had done. Finn’s skinny arms wrapped around his uncle’s neck. ‘Carry,’ Finn demanded in a strong Irish accent.

      ‘Soon,’ Dante promised. ‘I need to marry Aunty Aislin first.’

      ‘Then carry?’

      ‘You bet. Now be a good boy and wait for your mummy. Tonino will look after you until she gets here.’ Dante kissed his nephew’s cheek and ruffled his hair then made his way back to his place at the altar.

      Tonino was used to small children. His brother СКАЧАТЬ