The Italian's Wife

why he had hired a nanny to take care of Timothy. And, if their marriage

did fall apart, she would be better off if she was already employed.

Rio phoned her every day, often twice a day. She lived for his calls,

woke up every time she turned over in bed and found him missing and just

counted the hours until he was due back. But, wanting to surprise him

with actual results, she told him nothing about the Italian lessons she

was already taking and kept her plans to find a job to herself. After

signing up with a couple of office recruitment agencies, she devoted the

remainder of the week to Timothy.

The evening of Rio's return, Holly went to the airport to meet him off

his flight. It was a last-minute decision and the limousine had already

left to pick him up, so she had to call a cab. The cab got caught up in

traffic and, fearing that she had missed him, Holly had a frantic rush

through the airport. Her heart leapt at first sight of Rio's lean, dark,

devastating features as he strode into view with Ezio in his wake, and

then, out of nowhere, it seemed, came

Christabel.

Holly fell to a stricken halt as the beautiful blonde surged forward to

intercept Rio and engage his attention. Holly stood there unnoticed,

shattered by Christabel's sudden appearance and the suspicion that such

an encounter could only have been prearranged.

With equal abruptness, Holly turned and walked away

148

again. Still in shock, she went into a cafe, bought herself a cup of

coffee and sat over it, determined not to go home until she had calmed

down. Why had Christabel come to meet Rio off his flight? How had the

other woman known where he would be? Furious anger welled up in Holly

and festered into a rage like nothing she had ever known. Who was the

wife? Who was the 'other woman'? All Holly knew as she finally set off

home again was that throughout the week she had been made to feel more

like Rio's mistress than his wife!

By the time that Holly finally arrived back at the town house it was

getting late. As she crossed the hall Rio appeared in the doorway of the

library. Shorn of his jacket and tie, his black hair tousled, he looked

rather less smooth and self-assured than he had when she had seen him

earlier that evening. His lean, strong face was taut. His dark golden

eyes scorched over her like a flame thrower's.

'Where the hell have you been all evening?' Rio's opening demand

disconcerted her, for she had lost track of time while she had seethed

at the airport.

'Out...' Awarding him the most minimal glance, Holly threw her head

high, her gaze feverishly bright.

'Sarah told me that you went to meet me at the airport.'

'Well, I won't be making that mistake again,' Holly informed him from

between gritted teeth. 'Tell me, is this house a Christabel-free zone or

can I expect to trip over her here as well? After all, she appears to be

welcome everywhere else, certainly more welcome than I am!'

Rio tensed. 'So you did see Christabel with me at the airport.'

'My goodness...you are so quick on the uptake!' Holly fired back at him.

Rio straightened to his full commanding height, narrowed golden eyes

pinned to her furious and flushed face.

'Do you realise how worried I've been about you?' he condemned,

sidestepping the issue of Christabel with infuriating dexterity. 'I got

in at seven. It's now eleven!'

'You're lucky I came home at all!' Frustrated rage was climbing so high

inside Holly that she could hardly get the words out.

'Am I? I'm not going to stand here and argue with you in the hall,' Rio

breathed glacially, throwing wide the door of the library in invitation.

'Is the room soundproof?' Holly enquired sarcastically.

As Rio thrust the door closed he reached for her hand. 'What on earth

has got into you?'

Holly yanked her fingers free. 'I've had about all I can take for one

week. At your request I went to visit your mother, and do you know who

she had staying with her?'

'I haven't a clue,' Winged ebony brows pleated as he lounged in an

attitude of outrageous cool against the edge of his desk, Rio surveyed

her in expectation of receiving the answer.

'Your ex-fiancée, although there's not a lot of the "ex" about her this

week!' Holly snapped angrily. 'I don't feel like your wife. Your

mother's been entertaining Christabel as an honoured guest but I got the

frozen mitt, not to mention a lot of embarrassing questions that you

should have

foreseen-'

'Dio mio...Christabel was down at the Priory?' Rio queried in surprise.

'I want to know what she was doing at the airport tonight!' Holly

informed him.

'It was my fault that Christabel had to ambush me like that,' Rio stated

with flat emphasis, his beautiful mouth compressing. 'I refused to

accept her calls. But certain matters did have to be resolved.'

'Like what?' Holly could have done without knowing

150

that Christabel had been bombarding him with phone calls as well.

'She's living in an apartment I own and hasn't yet found other

accommodation-'

'She's living in an apartment you own...?' Holly was aghast at that

news. 'But you broke up with her weeks ago. She's famous. She must earn

a fortune as a model and you're trying to tell me she can't find

somewhere to rent?'

'She hasn't had the time. She's been in Paris.'

'She should have been out flat-hunting, then, not sucking up to your

mother for sympathy! I'll be in one of your guest rooms until you've

thought up a better story!' Holly told him fierily, wrenching the door

open. 'And you still haven't explained how she knew where and when to

find you tonight.'

Rio released his breath in a long-suffering masculine hiss that set her

teeth on edge even more. 'It's common knowledge that I was in New York

this week...and I usually fly home on Fridays at that hour.'

Holly's usually generous mouth closed tight as a coffin lid and she set

off upstairs regardless, her slender back rigid. Of course, Christabel

would know his movements better than she did. The blonde had been in

Rio's life a lot longer. But Holly was fed up with being wrongfooted by

Christabel, first with Rio's mother, who had made it quite clear where

her loyalty lay, and then with Rio himself. Rio was acting as if she was

being unreasonable, but worst of all he had taken the blame for that

encounter at the airport himself. Holly would have been much happier had

he bestowed blame on his former girlfriend.

When Rio strode into their bedroom Holly was slamming through drawers in

search of a nightdress.

'You're not sleeping apart from me,' Rio told her.

'Watch me,' Holly advised.

'Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to coming home to

you tonight?' Rio demanded in a roughened undertone.

Her eyes stung with sudden tears and she closed them tight. Could she

believe that? She had devoted the entire afternoon to beautifying

herself and getting all dressed up fo

r his benefit. And then she had

seen Christabel, gorgeous blonde mane trailing and legs as long as a

racetrack on display, and she had known she could not compete. But also

that she should not have to compete.

'Everywhere I turn she's there where she shouldn't be-' 'I'm amazed that

Christabel had the nerve to visit my mother,' Rio confessed, his anger

audible. 'That shouldn't have happened and, believe me, now that I know

it has, it won't happen again, bella mia.' Holly gulped. 'I don't know

what to believe any more-' Slowly Rio eased her round to face him and

scanned her shuttered face. He ran caressing fingers down the taut line

of her cheekbone, laced them gently into her hair and turned her

strained gaze up to his. 'You have to learn to trust me. Christabel's in