Rafaello's Mistress

‘That was Archie’s decision. He adored your mother. He felt he’d come off all right.’

‘I’ve been so slow to catch on,’ Glory mumbled, momentarily closing her eyes as if willing herself to get a grip on a brain that was shooting in too many directions at once and throwing up far too many different thoughts. ‘Rafaello knows Sam is his brother—’

‘Sam knows too, Glory. When Archie realised that Mr Benito had told his son, he decided that he had to tell Sam the truth as well—’

‘Everybody knew but me,’ Glory whispered thickly. ‘I think Rafaello found out that night I was at the Park. His father came to see him—’

‘He wouldn’t have had much choice. When Rafaello told his dad that Sam Little had been charged with theft it must’ve put Mr Benito in quite a sweat. So he finally owned up.’

The more the ramifications of what she had learned sank in, the more distraught Glory could feel herself becoming. Parting from the older woman with an embarrassed apology, she left the hospital.

Everything was falling into place for Glory but she shrank from the picture that was emerging. In all likelihood, Rafaello had had a flaming row with his father that evening. He must have been as shocked by the revelation as she was now but he hadn’t breathed a word to her, had he? No, he had packed her off back to Birmingham, ensuring that she remained ignorant of that secret connection between her family and his own. Then he had gone down to the gardener’s cottage to take a closer look at the brother he had never known he had and had stayed until after midnight…

In fact, the sole point Rafaello had in his favour was that he evidently did want to acknowledge and form a family connection with Sam. Or did he? Perhaps events had got out of his control and her own father had accidentally forced that issue by finally telling Sam the truth about his parentage. Once that cat had come out of the bag, there had been no putting it back. No wonder Sam was in such a volatile frame of mind. Yet Sam had also been showing every sign of being delighted by the discovery that he had an older half-brother. As opposed to a sister? A half-sister, Glory acknowledged reluctantly, liking even less a distinction that diminished the blood ties between herself and the brother she loved. Was that why Sam had more or less treated Glory like the invisible woman since her return? Stung by that hurtful reality, which she had tried to ignore until that moment, Glory splurged on taking a cab ride back to Rafaello’s apartment.

What seemed like the ultimate betrayal finally struck her. Even knowing that there was no way on earth that he could possibly prosecute his own brother, Rafaello had still held Glory to the deal they had made. He had still swept her off to Corfu to become his mistress. Not once had he been tempted or even shamed into telling her that her little brother was also his little brother!

But only as Glory made it into the lift in Rafaello’s apartment block did she make what was for her the most distressing connection of all. No longer did she need to wonder why Rafaello had been so quick to offer marriage even in advance of discovering that she was pregnant! Regardless of his own feelings, there was a family dimension to be considered now. It was bad enough that their respective parents had had an affair and that Sam should have been the result, but the fallout from Rafaello’s getting Glory into the same condition would be all the greater precisely because of that background. Sam had been quick to think the worst and Archie Little would be equally sensitive. The mere suggestion that Rafaello was treating an expectant Glory with anything less than respect would be sufficient to create an all-out war of loathing and resentment where the men in her family was concerned.

As Glory entered the penthouse Rafaello strode out into the hall to greet her. The sheer effect of his stunning dark good looks combined with his lithe, powerful physique hit Glory really hard. He was just so gorgeous. She was out of her league, way out of her league and always had been with him. The instant he had mentioned marriage she should’ve realised that there was something strange going on. Entrapment? He hadn’t been joking. A terrible sense of pain and rejection filled her and she blanked him out, fighting to retain control of her seething emotions, but all the time the anger inside her was rocketing.

‘Where’s Sam?’ she demanded, stalking past him into the contemporary lounge. ‘I want to talk to him in private.’

‘I’m afraid he’s gone—’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Taken aback, Glory spun round.

‘Sam has opted to go and stay with his friend Joe’s family for the next few days—’

‘And you just let him walk out of here in the mood he was in?’ Glory prompted in disbelief.

‘Sam’s already missed the first week of the new school term,’ Rafaello pointed out levelly. ‘He discussed his plans with your father this morning. Sam will be fine, Glory.’

‘I just bet you wanted him gone before I got back!’ Glory launched at him furiously.

‘Now, what has put you in this mood?’ Rafaello mused, shrugging back his wide shoulders and viewing her with enquiring dark golden eyes.

‘Can’t you guess?’ Glory flung him a livid look and she was so mad, so worked up, she couldn’t stay still and she walked all the way over to the window before spinning back again. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that your lousy father seduced my mother and just about wrecked my parents’ marriage?’

Rafaello stilled, spiky black lashes semi-screening his keen gaze. ‘So you know—’

‘No thanks to you!’ Glory snapped, outraged by that almost calm reaction to a revelation that had virtually torn her apart. ‘Just when were you planning to tell me that Sam has rotten Grazzini genes in him?’

Rafaello’s gaze shimmered and then flashed. ‘Cut it out, bella mia…or I might just hit back.’

‘I’m not afraid of anything you could have to say. In every way possible your father has caused enormous distress to my family!’ Glory condemned.

‘My mother had a nervous breakdown when I was thirteen. I never knew why until I found out about Sam three months ago,’ Rafaello admitted, shocking Glory into silence. ‘She was a very reserved woman. She tried to pretend the affair wasn’t happening, but when my father confessed that there was going to be a child she fell apart. Did you imagine that wealth and position protected my mother from being as hurt as your father was?’

‘I never thought about her…maybe because I don’t ever remember seeing her.’ A hectic flush on her cheeks, Glory was momentarily ashamed of the way she had tried to hurl blame without appreciating that, one way or another, everybody involved had suffered. But conceding that point in no way lessened the bitter sense of betrayal she felt.

‘My mother never returned to Montague Park and Benito admitted that, but for Sam’s existence, he would have sold the estate. Let’s face it, between them, my father and your mother made a hellish mess but the only real victim now is Sam,’ Rafaello murmured flatly. ‘My father always knew that Sam was his son. However, he had no idea that Archie knew as well, so he had no choice but to keep his distance.’

‘I guess not,’ Glory was forced to admit.

‘Now that the truth is out, Benito very much wants to get to know Sam,’ Rafaello admitted. ‘But Sam needs time to adjust to that idea.’

Rafaello had given Glory another shock and one she could have done without. Benito Grazzini wanted to get to know his illegitimate son? Why did the obvious always have to be spelt out to her? For here was yet another powerful reason why Rafaello had to marry her. If Rafaello didn’t marry her, his father could kiss goodbye to any hope of Sam’s warming to him in the foreseeable future. Devastated by that further realisation, Glory tried to shut it out again because she shrank from the challenge of speaking such humiliating thoughts out loud.