Brunetti's Secret Son

She had been admiring the stunning architecture of the resort when her eyes had grown heavy. Jerking awake, she’d found her shoes had been taken off, her seat reclined and a pillow tucked under her head. She’d looked up from the soft cashmere throw keeping her warm to find Lucca and Romeo at the dining table, tucking into a meal. Or rather, Lucca had been eating and chattering away, with his father watching him with that silent intensity and awe that had struck a peculiar ache in Maisie’s chest.

Romeo had looked up then, locked gazes with her before being diverted by their son. Unlike in the car when his emotions had bubbled just beneath his skin, he’d looked cool and remote, very much the powerful, in-control billionaire. He’d looked untouchable, and Maisie believed he meant for the moment in the car never to happen again. Whatever had prompted him to reveal a horrific chapter of his past had been resealed in an impenetrable fortress, never to be revisited again.

She’d berated herself for feeling mournful, for experiencing his pain as acutely as if it were her own. She had no right to it, no right to pry or feel strangely bereft when he’d shut her out and refocused his attention on Lucca.

Her parents had tried to drill into her that her brain was her most valuable asset, but Maisie had known that wasn’t true. With the birth of her child, she’d known love was the greatest gift she could give, and receive. Same as she knew that Romeo, like her parents, didn’t have a need for it. He believed in protecting his son, much as her own parents had provided a roof over her head and put clothes on her back. But, like them, he had nothing more to give.

And while she couldn’t turn her compassion off at will, she needed to guard against overexposure of the emotion that had drawn her to Romeo in the first place. His grief and misery that night had been like a beacon. She’d wanted to comfort him, grant him reprieve from the shackles that bound him.

The result had been waking up alone, and returning home weeks later, pregnant. She would do well to remember that.

‘Are you coming?’

She jumped at Romeo’s prompt and realised she’d stopped at the bottom of the stone steps leading up from the beach.

‘Yes, of course.’ She smiled at the six white-uniformed staff ready to unload their luggage and followed Romeo up to the buggy parked on the pavement. He lowered an excited Lucca onto the seat and fastened his seat belt before turning to her.

‘Would you like a quick tour now or later?’ he asked coolly.

‘Now would be great, thanks.’

He nodded and started the buggy. When Lucca wriggled excitedly, Romeo slowed down and touched his son’s arm. ‘Sit still, bambino, or you’ll have to walk all the way back to the house.’

Lucca looked round. ‘Where’s the house?’ he asked.

Romeo pointed up the hill to a large villa whose glass cathedral-like dome dominated the hilltop. ‘All the way up there.’

Lucca immediately stilled, his eyes rounding as he stared up at Romeo. ‘I’ll be still.’

Romeo looked over at her, a small smile playing on his lips before he tentatively ruffled Lucca’s hair. ‘Bene...that means good in Italian.’

‘Bene,’ Lucca repeated, intoning the syllables in near perfect match of his father’s accent.

Maisie looked around and realised two things. That the brochure hadn’t done enough justice to the description of Hana Island. And also that only two of the mansions that Romeo drove past looked occupied.

‘But I thought this place was fully booked for years in advance?’

‘It was...until yesterday when I cancelled half of the bookings.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I wanted to guarantee our privacy. The two families who are staying here have been fully vetted and have signed confidentiality agreements. The others were a little more testy, so I compensated them for their trouble and sent them to another resort. Complimentary, of course.’

Maisie looked around as they headed up the hill. The whole place was the very epitome of paradise. But then paradise had contained a poisonous snake.

‘Surely you don’t think...’

He sent her a warning look. She bit her lip and waited until he’d stopped the buggy in front of a large set of double doors made of polished koa wood and released Lucca’s seat belt. When Lucca scampered off towards the house, he turned to her.

‘No, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble here, but I took the necessary precautions nevertheless.’

She looked around the lush paradise. ‘But we can’t stay here for ever, Romeo.’