Captivated by Her Innocence

But that would mean putting his own comfort ahead of Jasmine’s well-being. He needed to stay vigilant; he had to be there to step in if needed. This was not about his personal comfort.

Noble Cesare, mocked the voice in his head.

‘I’ve never seen you like this,’ Louise decided, studying his face. ‘I can look at her contract if that’s the problem?’

‘I doubt very much she has one.’

Louise looked shocked by the admission. ‘Then legally—’

Cesare took a deep breath. ‘I appreciate the offer, Louise, but I have it under control.’ If only.

Louise suddenly let out a startled laugh. ‘It’s her, isn’t it? The nanny. There’s something going on between you two.’

‘Of course there isn’t something going on.’

But Louise had her litigator’s hat on and she wasn’t letting go. ‘I wondered why you invited me here, but you wanted to make this girl jealous, didn’t you?’ She released a husky laugh.

Cesare scowled. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

‘Well, well. For once in your life you’re doing the running, aren’t you, Cesare?’

CHAPTER SEVEN

LEAVING JAS SITTING in front of the computer screen chatting excitedly to her mother, Anna walked through to the adjoining room to take her call.

It was her aunt Jane with the news that Rosie had started getting pains the previous night. They had all gone to hospital but it had turned out to be a false alarm. Anna laughed when her aunt described the journey there, sent her sympathy to Rosie, who had lost sight of her feet, and wished she too could be there.

Anna, who had smiled all the way through the phone conversation, felt strangely flat after she put the phone down. She realised the heaviness in her chest was homesickness—not for a place but for her family. Rosie was not just her cousin, she was her best friend, and if she had been here Anna would have been at the birth and later she’d have been toasting the baby with the proud grandparents, who had decided to stay on an extra few weeks in Canada before they flew back home.

She took a deep breath, told herself not to be stupid—things didn’t stay the same. Having Rosie safe and happy with her gorgeous husband, Scott, in another country was a lot better than an unhappy Rosie living within walking distance.

She would visit next Christmas as they’d planned and she’d be a doting aunt.

When she walked back into Jasmine’s bedroom a few minutes later the little girl was blowing kisses at the screen.

‘You go clean your teeth, there’s a good girl, and Mummy will give you another story tomorrow.’

Watching Jasmine skip from the room, Anna bent down to see the computer screen, her smile fading as she saw the tears running down Angel’s face.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, slipping into the seat the child had just vacated.

Angel shook her head and gave a sniff before wiping the moisture from her face. ‘I miss her so much. I just wish...’ She gave a sigh and produced a tremulous smile that just about broke Anna’s heart. ‘Ignore me, I’m just having a bad day—you know, sunshine, sand, palm trees.’ She shook her head gave a wry grimace and drawled ironically, ‘It’s a tough life. You have no idea how exhausting it is to be forced to live in the lap of luxury in a five-star hotel and then to top it all be asked to wear beautiful clothes and have your face painted by experts.’

Anna was not fooled by the self-mocking grin. She knew that Angel would have given every glamorous trapping of her life to be able to hold her daughter on her lap while she read the bedtime story.

‘So ignore me, how are you and is that big bad brother of mine behaving himself?’

Anna hadn’t intended mentioning the house guest but she found herself blurting, ‘He’s brought a woman home.’

Angel’s jaw dropped. ‘Now that I didn’t see coming. So what’s she like?’

Anna struggled to be scrupulously fair in her assessment, though Angel’s verdict of, ‘She sounds terrible,’ suggested she might not have succeeded.

* * *

Anna glanced at the illuminated clock on her bedside table, and groaned as she read the time. Three a.m. It had been two before she had finally dropped off.

She had lifted her pillow, intending to cover her head with it, when a muffled cry made her sit up straight, her head tilted to one side in an alert listening attitude, almost immediately the cry...no, sob...came again.