Читать книгу Modern Romance August 2016 Books 1-4 - Miranda Lee - Страница 17

CHAPTER EIGHT

Two months later

ALLEGRA HEARD THE slow footsteps and the added click of the walking stick and summoned a smile as her grandfather walked into the sunroom.

Situated on the east wing of the Long Island villa, the shaded coolness of the room was what Giovanni favoured these days, although he spent an hour on his favourite terrace in the mornings, before the mid-July heat became too unbearable.

She turned in her seat as the footsteps halted. ‘Ragazza, I didn’t hear you come in.’

‘I didn’t want to disturb you. Alma said you were resting.’

He waved an impatient hand. ‘She’s very liberal with her guard dog duties, that one. I was merely cataloguing a few things in my study after lunch. She could’ve let me know you were here at any time,’ he grumbled.

Allegra knew it was more than just cataloguing. Ever since she’d returned the Fabergé box to her grandfather, he’d kept it in his study, alongside a necklace whose origin was unknown to her. She knew from the housekeeper that Giovanni had been spending hours in his study with the two pieces lately. ‘It doesn’t matter. You’re here now. It’s good to see you up.’

‘I have my good days and bad days. Today is a good day.’ Her grandfather walked forward, his stride a little slow, but his colour much better than it’d been back in May.

Before he’d sent her to Dar-Aman.

Before her life had changed forever.

The mingled feelings of awe, fear and dread that spiralled through her every time she thought of the secret she carried ate away at her smile. Dragging it back, she met her grandfather halfway and kissed him on both cheeks.

When she drew back, she met his frank gaze, praying he wouldn’t comment on her sallow complexion or the weight she’d lost.

‘Something’s wrong, Allegra mia,’ he said, dashing her hopes. When she opened her mouth, he shook his head. ‘Don’t bother denying it. You’re good at hiding things but you forget that you are my blood, my first granddaughter. Ever since you were a child you cared for everyone else around you. That special trait is why I chose you to head my foundation. You care—a little too much, some might say—but you don’t care enough about yourself.’

Allegra couldn’t help the bitterness in her voice. ‘I disagree. I don’t think my caring was enough.’

Giovanni shuffled to the wide armchair and sank heavily into it. After propping his cane next to the chair, he turned his frown on her. ‘Being exceptionally hard on yourself has always been your problem.’

‘One of many, I’m sure.’

His frown deepened. ‘My dear, what’s happened to resurrect these self-doubting ghosts? I thought you’d put them behind you years ago? Did something happen during your little trip?’

Allegra started in surprise, then shook her head. ‘I... It’s nothing I can’t handle.’

‘So there is something?’ her grandfather probed.

Allegra had to ball her fist to keep from sliding her hand over her stomach. She’d caught herself making that unconscious gesture a lot lately, once she’d finished the book that tracked the growth of her baby in minute detail. Her baby might be the size of a bean, but the very idea that life grew inside her was a phenomenon she hadn’t quite come to terms with six weeks after discovering that, against all odds, she carried Rahim Al-Hadi’s child in her womb.

‘Allegra?’

Everything inside her wanted to spill her secret. But how could she admit to carrying such a responsibility when she didn’t feel worthy of it?

‘I have a lot on my plate, that’s all. The women’s rights conference in Geneva’s coming up and preparations are frantic as usual. You know how making speeches turns me into a blubbering wreck.’ She laughed, and her grandfather cracked a smile, but she saw the lingering speculation in his shrewd eyes.

‘Bianca is assisting you with it, right?’

Allegra nodded, relieved her grandfather had chosen not to pursue the subject. ‘She’s handling publicity through Lucia PR, but the keynote speech is my responsibility.’ A responsibility she’d barely given her full attention to since the severe bouts of morning sickness had hit exactly two weeks after she’d confirmed her pregnancy. It was hard enough to concentrate when thoughts of the many ways she could screw up her child’s life multiplied with each waking hour that passed. Add the terrifying thought of how and when she’d break the news to Rahim, and what his reaction would be, and the task of putting together a rousing speech on empowering women fled from her mind.

With the conference a short seven days away, she’d finally given in and solicited her sister’s help. Bianca had jumped at the chance to add the Di Sione Foundation to her growing high-profile clients and had taken charge of publicising the event.

Now all Allegra had to do was write the speech. And come up with a plan for the future of the child growing inside her.

She felt the blood drain from her face as nausea rose in her belly. Swallowing hard, she looked up to find Giovanni staring intently at her. ‘It’ll be fine, I’m sure.’

He nodded, but his eyes remained serious. ‘Sì, it will be. You’ve never failed in anything you’ve undertaken, nipotina. You will overcome this too. I have faith in you.’

Allegra tried selfishly to hold on to those words, despite knowing that her grandfather hadn’t been in possession of all the facts when he’d made the statement. She hadn’t failed in retrieving his box because she’d stolen it, and shattered any chance of being seen as anything but a common thief in Rahim’s eyes.

By the time she packed her bags to head to Geneva, her grandfather’s reassuring words had dwindled to nothing, annihilated by looming fear and doubt that warned her she was condemning her child to a life of uncertainty and insecurity.

How could she offer her child love when her own experience with it had been a twisted version, often fuelled by bouts of heartbroken wailing on her mother’s part, and volatile cocktails of drugs and booze with a healthy bout of rage thrown in from her father?

How could she trust herself to do the right thing for her child when more than once she’d feared the blood that ran through her was tainted somehow? Alessandro, her oldest brother, had buried himself in the family business from very early on, and her twin brothers had borne all the hallmarks of turning into their father, despite her grandfather’s repeated intervention. As much as it broke her heart to admit it, her failure to adequately sustain her family when they’d needed her most had left flaws entrenched too deep to ever make them whole.

But...the alternative was inconceivable.

She laid her hand over her still-flat stomach, and for the first time, Allegra’s heart leapt, not with fear, but with a tiny geyser of joy. She held on to it through another bout of morning sickness once she got to her hotel. Then through the hours of polishing her speech in preparation for the conference the next day.

It had gone ten p.m. by the time she saved the finalised version on her laptop and called to check on her grandfather. About to turn in, she frowned as her phone buzzed.

Reading the message, she groaned and slid back out of bed.

She opened the door to her sister, eyeing Bianca’s fresh-as-a-daisy look with a tiny bout of envy. In a monochrome dress suit and stylish platform shoes, she looked ready to powwow her way through a power meeting, not wind down for the night.

‘Wow, you look like hell run over by a truck.’

‘Oh, thanks.’ Allegra shut the door and leaned against it with her arms folded.

Bianca grinned, the confidence she radiated so effortlessly lending her a vivacity that turned heads wherever she went. It was the reason she’d become a success in the public relations industry so quickly. ‘Can I order room service? I’m starving!’

‘And I need to sleep. Don’t you have your own suite?’

One of the reasons Bianca remained the sibling she was closest to was because of their similar tastes in a broad range of things, including food. But since Allegra couldn’t stomach foods she’d once loved, she couldn’t risk Bianca guessing her state if she ordered the same turkey sandwich that had disagreed with Allegra earlier this evening.

‘I do, but I wanted to go over a few things with you before things got crazy in the morning. So here I am, killing two birds blah-blah-blah.’

Allegra regarded her sister with one sceptical eyebrow raised.

After a minute, Bianca shrugged. ‘Okay, fine. The last-minute stuff with the conference can wait.’

‘But?’ Allegra prompted.

‘But I spoke to Grandfather half an hour ago. He sounded worried about you. Everything okay? Seriously, you don’t look great. And you’ve lost weight since I last saw you.’

Allegra waved her sister away, moving from the door and from Bianca’s direct gaze, which was so reminiscent of her grandfather’s. When her sister followed her into the living room, Allegra suppressed a weary sigh.

‘I’m fine. I ate something that didn’t agree with me earlier, that’s all.’ That much was true. The cold turkey sandwich had stayed in her stomach less than five minutes before it’d come straight back out.

‘That would explain how you look now, but it doesn’t explain the weight loss.’

Striding to the fridge, Allegra took out a bottle of water, and toyed with it. ‘Enough with the third degree. Did you need something else besides the desire to bug me?’

Bianca pursed her lips, then strode over to face Allegra across the tiny drinks bar in the living room. ‘Grandfather asked to see me last week,’ she blurted.

Thinking her sister was intent on getting to the bottom of her weight loss, Allegra tensed. ‘And?’

‘He asked me to find something for him.’

Allegra’s relief was overlaid with surprise. ‘What?’

‘A bracelet. He sold it years ago, but now he wants it back...’ Her voice trailed off and then she sucked in a quick breath. ‘Matteo was asked to find something too, wasn’t he?’

Allegra nodded. ‘A necklace. Grandfather sent me to find something as well.’

Her sister’s eyes widened. ‘Really? Did you find it?’

‘Yes, it was a box, a Fabergé.’

Bianca’s eyes grew wider. ‘You think they’re all connected somehow?’

‘I don’t know. He wasn’t very forthcoming when I asked.’

‘Same here.’ She frowned. ‘Allegra, these are expensive pieces. And didn’t Grandfather say he landed on Ellis Island with just the clothes on his back?’ Her expression grew wistful. ‘Maybe they belonged to a long-lost love?’

Hearing the longing in her sister’s voice, Allegra allowed herself to be pulled into the world of what if for the briefest moment. What if she had known love, enough to be sure her child would be emotionally secure? What if things had gone differently with Rahim, and she hadn’t burned every single bridge in sight to the ground.

Sharply rousing herself from her futile musing, she opened the bottle of water and poured it into a glass. After taking a careful sip, she glanced at her sister. ‘As far as I know, Grandmother was the only woman Grandfather loved. If there’s any more to these items, I’m sure he’ll let us know when he’s ready.’

Bianca sighed, then grimaced. ‘Practical Allegra, party pooper.’

The nickname rubbed her the wrong way, but Allegra kept her composure. After agreeing to meet her in the conference room an hour before it started, Bianca left.

Sliding back in bed, Allegra placed her hand on her stomach. This time the fissure cracked wider, filling her with a warm and protective emotion that made her heart lurch.

From the moment she’d found out, even not knowing which course she would take, she’d safeguarded her baby’s physical health. But Allegra knew she couldn’t ignore the tougher emotional aspect of her situation. She had to tell Rahim.

If nothing else for the fact that the baby she carried was the heir apparent to a desert kingdom. A kingdom whose ruler, she now knew, had been battling against severe odds to do the right thing for his people.

On her return, Allegra had commissioned a more thorough report on Dar-Aman and confirmed Rahim’s claim that things had ground to a halt the moment his mother had died. And in the almost two decades since, Dar-Aman had slipped into devastating decline. But in the past six months the changes Rahim had put into place were staggering. With the economy in free fall, most of the infrastructure rebuilding had been financed by his personal wealth. Contrary to her accusation that he was draining Dar-Aman’s resources to line his own pockets, he’d been doing the opposite.

No wonder he’d been livid.

Shifting in bed, Allegra hugged her pillow close and squeezed her eyes shut. She owed Rahim an apology, possibly more than one.

Taking a deep breath she formulated a plan. Her doctor had told her she would start showing in a little over eight weeks. Regardless of her personal feelings about it, she was fast running out of time to keep her secret to herself.

She would find a way to deliver the news to Rahim before Mother Nature did the job for her. She may have thoroughly and completely bungled her own life, but she owed her baby every decent chance to grow up with as much emotional security as she could provide. And that included giving him or her a chance to know both parents.

* * *

Allegra woke in a better frame of mind than she had since discovering she was carrying Rahim’s baby. She even managed to eat and keep down a whole slice of toast before Bianca knocked on her door at ten.

Together they headed to the vast conference room. As the keynote speaker, her seat was dead centre in the giant amphitheatre. All around her, seats soared to the ceiling, ready to be filled by men and women from all walks of life whose passion for rights for women burned as fiercely as hers.

For the first time in a long while, Allegra felt pride for what she’d accomplished. When her grandfather’s words whispered across her mind, she smiled and hugged it closer.

‘That’s better. You seem almost human this morning,’ Bianca quipped.

She laughed. ‘As opposed to...?’

‘Dead Barbie Walking?’

Allegra rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, right. I’ve never done anything remotely doll-like in my life, and you know it.’

Bianca smiled. ‘True. Your role has always been more of a fairy godmother stroke sister.’

We’re not fictional characters, Allegra... I prefer to live in reality, no matter how unpalatable it can be...

The stark words Rahim had uttered blazed across her mind. Would he find the reality of impending fatherhood unpalatable? Ice drenched her at the thought of a rejection she couldn’t rule out of her immediate future. As a child she’d bore the brunt of such a rejection from her own father. Was she wise to risk exposing her own child to such a fate?

‘Hey, what did I say?’ Bianca enquired anxiously.

She shook her head. ‘Nothing at all.’ Shaking herself free of the dread closing in on her, she plastered yet another fake smile on her face. ‘Tell me what I need to do.’

After a brief examination of Allegra’s face, her sister shook her head resignedly. ‘There are three cameras trained on you. We’re broadcasting live, but there’s a five-second delay in case anything extraordinary happens—please make sure it doesn’t or I’ll skin you alive. Once you’re done, I’ll feed the coverage to the smaller news channels and social media, then do the same for the guest speakers. I won’t bore you with the smaller details, but I’ve told your assistant to set aside an hour for you to do a few press junkets after lunch. And that’s it. Now go put some colour in those cheeks before everyone arrives.’

Allegra left the stage, conscious of her sister’s worry. Praying that she would hold it together for just a while longer, she went into the restroom, sat on the pedestal and concentrated on breathing.

The knock on the stall door sent her surging to her feet. ‘Yes?’

‘Allegra, are you okay?’ Zara asked. ‘Your sister sent me to find you. The conference is about to start.’

Startled, she glanced at her watch and realised she’d been in there half an hour. ‘Thanks, I’ll be right out.’

Rushing out, Allegra washed her hands and reapplied her lipstick. She didn’t need extra colour in her cheeks because her mortification had taken care of that.

Striding onto the stage, she offered quick smiles to her fellow speakers as she took her seat. In the time she’d been locked in the restroom the conference room had filled to capacity.

Allegra told herself the intense tingling along her spine was because she was the centre of attention. But as the organiser and first guests took the podium, the sensation escalated from a tingle to shivers of awareness that wouldn’t abate.

When her name was announced, Allegra rose on shaky legs and approached the podium. Reaching the lectern she adjusted the mic, and looked up.

Straight into the icily condemning eyes of Rahim Al-Hadi.