Modern Romance February 2020 Books 5-8. Natalie Anderson

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       CHAPTER EIGHT

      WHEN ORLA TASTED her starter of cured salmon, crab and smoked roe all wrapped in the most delicate pancake, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. When she took her first bite of her main course of aged fillet of Irish beef and the shiitake tart accompanying it, she decided that if this was heaven, she wanted to stay. If reaching heaven would allow her to drink Tonino’s wine without conking out, then even better. She hadn’t been joking when she called it beautiful. It was easily the most delicious wine she’d ever tasted, and she wished with all her heart that she could have more of it.

      ‘Were you not tempted to make the menu more Sicilian?’ she asked.

      ‘This hotel could not be more Irish,’ he said dryly. ‘I don’t think a Sicilian theme would work, do you?’

      She shrugged. ‘I know nothing of hotels and restaurants. I was just curious. How many hotels do you own?’

      ‘Eighteen. I’m in the process of buying another on the Greek island of Agon. I’m flying there tomorrow to deal with some paperwork.’

      ‘You’re leaving tomorrow?’ That was not disappointment she felt.

      ‘First thing in the morning.’ He grinned. ‘Are you going to miss me?’

      ‘Like a migraine.’

      His laughter filled her ears and sent a warm feeling trickling through her veins. ‘I was going to discuss this with you. I will be away for two days. That will give my staff enough time to set up a bedroom for Finn—when I return to Sicily I want Finn to come—’

      ‘That’s not possible,’ she interrupted. In less than a second, all the warmth in her veins had solidified into ice.

      ‘Why not?’ He asked it pleasantly enough, but she detected the underlying warning in his tone.

      ‘It’s too soon. He has medication and…’

      ‘There is nothing he has here that he cannot have in Sicily provided we prepare well for it. It will only be for a week.’

      ‘Only a week?’ she echoed faintly. Was it her imagination or were the restaurant’s stone walls starting to blur and spin? As much as she was enjoying this meal, being apart from Finn for an evening felt as if she’d had a limb removed. How was she supposed to cope for a whole week without him?

      ‘Sì. I can clear my schedule for a week so Finn and I can get to know each other but then my schedule is packed with appointments that cannot be rearranged,’ he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘The weekend after that my parents are hosting a party for all the family to meet my sister’s new baby—’

      ‘Giulia had another baby?’ Orla interrupted again, startled, remembering that four years ago Tonino had been excited for the forthcoming birth of Giulia’s first child.

      ‘She had a baby girl last week.’

      ‘You never said.’

      He shrugged. ‘We have had other things to talk about, dolcezza.’

      ‘I know, but a new baby is something to celebrate.’ Orla had nearly hit the roof in excitement when Aislin told her she was pregnant.

      ‘And it will be. The party is a good opportunity to introduce Finn to everyone. There will be lots of small children for him to play with including my other nieces and nephews.’

      ‘How many do you have now?’ she asked faintly. He’d spun her on the dance floor to face his family while he rebuked her for keeping Finn from them, but that had been the only time since their lives had collided back together that he’d mentioned them.

      ‘Five in total.’

      Feeling another headache starting to form, Orla rubbed her temples. ‘I don’t know if the nurses will be able to travel at such short notice.’

      ‘There are private nurses in Sicily. It will be easy to arrange. Which brings me to my next point—the funding of Finn’s medical care.’

      ‘Dante pays for anything not covered by our healthcare system.’

      ‘I thought as much.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘How did you fund it before you found him?’

      ‘We didn’t. It’s what made us seek Dante out in the first place.’ She took a deep breath and tried to get the panic under control. How could she let Tonino take Finn to Sicily? It was too soon. She wasn’t ready to let him go. ‘When his father—my father—died, Aislin and I were skint. The insurance company was fighting over any pay-out from the accident. Aislin convinced me I was entitled to some of my father’s estate. Neither of us knew he’d gambled most of his wealth away. Once Dante learned about me and Finn he became our knight in shining armour. Before he stepped in, Aislin and I were basically on our own.’

      Thinking about the large number of Irish guests at Aislin and Dante’s wedding, Tonino found this hard to believe. ‘What about the rest of your family?’

      ‘Spectacularly useless.’ She rolled СКАЧАТЬ