The Ferranti’s are still at Lake Como for their Easter break. Nine year old Tonio, and his best pal from his time at the Jesuit boarding school, Michael, are spending time with his Uncle Gregorio Ancelotti sailing on the lake.
When Gregorio, Tonio and Michael return to the Ferranti villa in the grounds of the Ferranti Hotel & Spa, they find the family preparing for lunch. Bronte and Rosie, with help from Sophia and Emily, are setting a vast long narrow table set beneath a pergola…
Sophia and Emily, wearing white sundresses spattered with yellow daisies over white knee length leggings, turned to eye the new arrival. Michael Baccello was as tall and dark as Tonio, but skinny in a way that made Sophia narrow her eyes. He was handsome, and appeared shy and modest when her papa shook his hand. In fact, she decided there and then he was just about perfect, apart from the hair cut.
Bronte returned Tonio’s hug and ran her hand over his back. “I know you must be starving after your morning on the lake. Tonio, go get changed out of that damp top, give Michael a dry T-shirt and then wash your hands.”
When the boys ran off to do her bidding, Sophia and Emily and Luca were hot on their heels.
“Michael seems a nice boy,” Rosie said, lifting a comatose baby Mila from her papa’s arms and settling her in her stroller in the shade.
Gregorio accepted a glass of red wine from Nico and nodded. “He seems to be. Very quiet. Although he couldn’t get a word in with Tonio constantly asking questions.”
Dressed down in knee length ivory shorts and a black T-shirt that fit him like a glove, Nico nodded. “Tonio has an active, thinking brain. It is like a sponge. His teachers wish to place him in a grade ahead. But I am not certain it is a good idea. He has made firm friends and I do not like the behaviour of some of the older boys. They do not come from good families.”
Gregorio raised a brow. “He will need to learn how to deal with hard choices in life. Perhaps it is never too soon to learn.”
Bronte placed a bowl of salad on the table. “He’s had a hard enough start in life, Gregorio. I want him to settle down and find his feet and understand that we have his back through thick and thin.”
Gregorio’s smile rarely reached his dark eyes, but it did now. “He is a lucky boy to find himself in such a family.”
Bronte shifted to pop a kiss on Gregorio’s dark cheek and smelled the lake. “You are part of his family and now this family. There’s no ‘i’ in team. We work together.”
As she strode past the long table and into the house, Gregorio turned to a watchful Nico and a grinning Alexander. “She is a beautiful woman. You are a lucky man.”
“She made me a better man. She is my life.”
***
Meanwhile, Sophia and Emily were sitting cross legged on the floor in the hallway outside the closed door of Tonio’s bedroom. No girls allowed. But that didn’t mean girls couldn’t sit and listen to what was going on inside. Sophia rose to her bare feet and placed her ear to Tonio’s bedroom door. If her mama caught her, she’d be in Big Trouble. “I can’t hear anything. Can you hear anything?” she whispered.
Emily knew better than to earwig, but she placed her ear to the door. “Uh-huh. Nothing.”
Sophia thought for a moment and then her brows rose. “I know where we can go. Come on.”
The girls raced down the hall and out a side door. They crept down a shady path and Sophia pointed to the two open windows, one from Tonio’s bedroom and the other from the bathroom. She hauled herself up on a wide drainpipe and could see the inside of part of the bathroom. Tonio and Luca were washing their hands and discussing what was for lunch. Boy talk. When Emily joined her on the drainpipe, Sophia shushed her. Then they settled down to wait.
Standing in the middle of Tonio’s bedroom Michael rubbed the soft fabric of the Fantastic Four super-hero T-shirt Tonio had handed him. He took a deep inhale of the scent of fabric softener. He gazed around the large room with the fun comforter and pillow on the bed. He’d never seen such luxury or so many interesting books in one place. He had missed sharing a room with his friend Tonio and their conversations long into the night about what they would do in the world when they grew up. He’d wait until Tonio and Luca were finished washing their hands in the attached bathroom and then he’d change. He didn’t want anyone to see the bruises.
He entered the beautifully appointed bathroom with Tonio and gazed in opened-eyed wonder. The bath might fit a football team. Tonio caught his look and grinned. “A bit different from those dark and cold shower rooms at school, isn’t it?”
Michael nodded. “Si.” He studied Tonio’s face. “This family who care for you, they are good to you?”
“Si! Nico is my half-brother, but I call him papa. Gregorio is my mama’s brother.”
Michael frowned. “Sounds complicated.”
“Si. But as papa says, such is life.”
After Tonio left, Michael whipped off his T-shirt and turned to check out his back in the mirror. His bones stuck out from his skin. They only hit him where the injuries couldn’t be seen. In his heart, he understood he needed to tell someone soon, or run away. He didn’t know which was worse. The thought crossed his mind to tell Tonio, he was sure his friend would believe him that he had never stolen any money. But would the priests at school? He washed his hands and pulled on the borrowed T-shirt and inhaled the scent. His eyes stung because he longed to keep the T-shirt and keep the scent, but he knew that miracle would never happen. In the mirror he studied the state of his hair, the gauntness of his face and knew that the time had come for him to run.
A very pale Sophia stared into the shocked eyes of her best friend. “Somebody has hurt him.”
“What are we going to do?” Emily whispered, her freckles stood out like paint splatter on her white face.
“We’ll speak to my papa. He will fix it,” Sophia said with a surety that made Emily nod.
“When?”
“After lunch. Did you see him? He is skin and bone and needs a good meal,” Sophia said, channelling Auntie Rosie.
***
Bronte eyed her daughter and Emily.
They’d been almost silent during lunch, which for them was either a miracle, they were sick, or they’d been up to something.
Her eye caught Rosie’s and she jerked her chin towards the two little girls sitting there as if butter wouldn’t melt.
“What’s going on with you two? You’re too quiet and lloking far too serious. What have you done and don’t think to fib because I’m a witch and I can tell,” Rosie said, her eyes twinkling.
Sophia sent her aunt a who-me? look. “We have been very good girls,” she said, while Emily kept her eyes glued to her empty bowl on the table.
“Hmm,” Rosie studied their little faces. “You have a seeeeekrit.”
When Emily’s head popped up to stare at Rosie in awe and wonder, Bronte nearly burst out laughing. Trust Rosie to guess. Ah, well, little girls always had secrets. They’d been young once and had kept plenty of secrets themselves. “Why don’t you both go and play football with the boys and Alexander?”
Sophia shook her head and sent her mama an are-you-kidding-me look. “I hate football.”
Bronte made a face. “Of course you do. How could I have forgotten. Whatever it is you’re up to—the babies are sleeping and papa and Gregorio are having a meeting in his study—do it outside.”
When the two little girls trooped into the garden holding hands, Rosie watched them go with a frown in her eyes. “Something’s brewing.”
Bronte lifted a bottle of white wine from the cooler on the table to top up their glasses. “Doesn’t seem like five minutes since we were that age.”
Rosie took a sip of her wine. “Good times. Good times.”
***
Thirty minutes later…
Nico reckoned the family holiday at the Lake had been a great success. One of his goals had been to integrate Gregorio into the family to bond with Tonio. The man still held himself back a little, but he could hardly be blamed for that. Gregorio’s late sister had left a huge emotional and financial mess behind her. However, nothing positive ever came from brooding over mistakes made in the past. The key was to move on, together, to guarantee Tonio’s future was secure.
The soft knock at his study door had Gregorio’s brows rise. Nico frowned, because Bronte had made it clear no one was to disturb them. “Come in,” he said, in a tone that made it clear he was Not Pleased.
When Sophia’s blonde head popped around the door, the pleading look in her emerald eyes and the way her bottom lip was caught between her teeth, told him she was well aware she wasn’t supposed to disturb him. And yet she’d done it anyway.
“What is it, Sophia? Can it not wait a few minutes?”
Her eyes flicked to a serious-faced Gregorio and her face paled a little, but she entered the study, dragging a trembling Emily behind her. At once, Nico’s spidey senses tingled. He rose and walked around his desk to crouch before his daughter and her friend.
He took each of their hands, and smiled. “What is wrong, cara mia?”
Sophia’s eyes stayed rock steady on his. “Papa. Something bad has happened to Michael. He has been beaten. His back is covered in bruises. And he is too thin.”
When Emily burst into tears, Nico lifted them in his arms and moved to the couch to sit with one on each knee.
Gregorio moved to lock the door. He went to the built-in fridge and poured two small glasses of fresh orange juice and placed them on the coffee table in front of the couch. He took a seat.
“Why don’t you tell us exactly what you saw.”
When the girls had finished their story and their juice, Emily’s face was still pale, but her tears were gone.
Nico turned to Gregorio. “Is the boy still living at school?”
Gregorio shook his head. “After what happened to Tonio, I have been sponsoring an outreach programme within the community for the boys with no immediate relatives to be placed with good families. Michael was placed with a large family ten days ago.”
“Then you should make sure little children go to a safe place,” Sophia piped up before her papa could open his mouth.
Gregorio’s eyes grew big, but he nodded. “You are quite right.”
Sophia turned emerald eyes on Nico. “Michael must stay with us tonight, papa. Then Uncle Gregorio can find a safe place for him.”
Nico drew her close for a hug and dropped a kiss on her blonde head. When his baby girl grew up she was going to do great things. “Si. Now, I want both of you to say nothing of this to Michael or Tonio or Luca until I have spoken to mama.”
Sophia took a deep breath, nodded and slid from his knee. She took Emily’s hand. Together, they moved towards the door.
She turned to study the serious faces of her papa and Gregorio. “Do you promise to fix this?”
Both men spoke, “Si.”
***
Hours later…
Rosie lay on her back on a couch in the sitting room, her bare feet resting on Alexander’s lap. “Well, they’re all sound asleep, at last. What a day!”
Face hard, mouth hard, Bronte nodded. “That poor boy. What kind of parents bring up children who beat on a boy so much younger than themselves?”
“Apparently, the father does not spare the rod,” Gregorio said, nursing a cognac. “I am meeting with Father Ricardo who is in charge of the programme. We need better safeguards in place.”
“No system is perfect. There is not much you can do against a liar,” Nico growled. “After they held him down and cut his hair, Michael’s plan was to run away.”
Gregorio paled. “He is close to Tonio. I like the boy. I am preparing to settle here and I am prepared to offer him a home. I have a plan.”
Bronte sent him a narrow-eyed look. “I applaud your need to do the right thing by the child, Gregorio. I doubt the priests will allow him to live with a single man.”
“Who said I will remain single?”
“Ooooh,” Rosie sang into the shocked silence. She wiggled her toes. “Seems there’s a lot of seeeeekrits going around.”
Gregorio’s firm mouth curved in a reluctant smile. “Let us just say my future plans have changed.”
“What’s her name?” Rosie wanted to know.
“Clio.”
Cue another silence.
When Rosie opened her mouth, Alexander tweaked her big toe. He stood and lifted his wife in his arms. “None of your business. Leave the man in peace. It’s time for bed. Let’s see if we can get six straight hours before our daughter decides she wants to play.”
As they left, Gregorio’s face was thoughtful as he watched them go. “Rosie reminds me very much of Sophia.”
“There is a very good reason for that,” Bronte told him. “They bonded when she was a baby. They are like two peas in a pod.”
She gave Gregorio a hug goodnight before she left him and Nico to it.
As a companionable silence stretched, Nico poured another cognac for the road and relaxed in a fat chair of soft suede the color of the liquid in his glass. “A child is a big responsibility and not one you can hand back.”
Gregorio nodded. “I let Tonio down—”
“Nonsense!” Nico interrupted. “Neither of us knew he existed.”
“Si,” Gregorio’s deep voice was no more than a growl. “But, she was my sister. I should have—”
Nico sat up, elbows on his knees, and stared into the other man’s eyes and read guilt, shame and a deep regret. “You cannot take responsibility for her behaviour. All we can do is to take care of Tonio. If you want to look after Michael there are other ways to do it. The boy needs a happy home and stability.”
“You think I cannot provide both?”
Nico shrugged. “I have no idea. Who is Clio?”
For a long moment Gregorio didn’t respond, then his gaze met Nico’s and held. “Have you ever made a huge mistake for all the wrong reasons?”
“I did with Bronte. But she loved me and so she forgave me.”
“I doubt very much if Clio could ever bring herself to love me.”
“Ah, but you have feelings for her?”
Gregorio nodded. “I wonder why it took me so long to understand what was happening to me?”
“Love makes fools of us all,” Nico said wisely.
“It is a bit more complicated than that,” Gregorio murmured.
“That, mio amico, is because we are Italian.”
FINE
Oooooooh, who is Clio?
All y’all are gonna LOVE her and that’s all I am saying.
I’m working on Break The Rules and The Rules - and Gregorio’s story is coming after those and will be set in the Ludlow Hall world, but will stand alone. I’m busy and having the best time.
Christine X
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CC MACKENZIE - USA Today Bestselling Author 