CHAPTER EIGHT

      RIO SCOOPED HER out of the helicopter with precision. The flight had taken less than an hour.

      ‘Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?’ Ellie demanded.

      ‘In a few minutes you’ll know exactly where we are—’

      ‘I wouldn’t bet on that. I haven’t travelled much,’ Ellie admitted as he walked her a few steps down a quay and assisted her into a motorboat.

      But as he had forecast, Ellie recognised where she was even though it was a place she had only previously seen in pictures. The view of Venice as the boat sped across the lagoon was breathtakingly beautiful. ‘It’s just like the paintings Beppe showed me,’ she whispered, entranced.

      On the Grand Canal, the boat slowed amidst the busy water traffic and nosed in at a smartly decorated landing stage. Climbing out, she accompanied Rio into a magnificent foyer ornamented with huge Venetian glass chandeliers. ‘Welcome to the Hotel Palazzo Sorrentino,’ Rio murmured. ‘The jewel in the crown of my hotel chain.’

      ‘Sorrentino?’ she queried in surprise.

      ‘Yes, it once belonged to your family but it was last used as a home by your great-grandfather and even he only lived in a tiny corner of it. Beppe was quoted millions for the repairs that were needed and he sold it to me,’ Rio explained. ‘It was being used as a warehouse by then because it wasn’t fit for habitation. Converting it into an exclusive hotel took years but it was a worthwhile investment. Now it’s fully booked years in advance.’

      Recognising that almost every eye in the reception area was on them, Ellie went pink, suddenly conscious of her wedding finery. A little man in a smart suit approached to welcome them and handed her a beautiful bouquet with the compliments of the staff. Rio accepted a key from him and guided her across the foyer and down a corridor.

      ‘We’re staying here?’ she asked.

      ‘Not in the hotel. The palazzo came with a couple of attached buildings and I retained one of them for personal use. Beppe uses it regularly. He loves Venice, particularly in the winter when it’s quiet,’ Rio told her, leading her outside and along a wisteria-clad walled alley to a narrow door flanked by Venetian gothic windows. ‘It’s very private here and the staff service it so we don’t have to worry about housekeeping or cooking.’

      Ellie walked into a charming wood-panelled reception room that overlooked a tiny lush green garden at the rear. Beyond the garden, a gondola sailed past on a narrow waterway. It was a magical scene.

      Rio removed the bouquet from her hold. ‘I’ll stick the flowers in the sink.’

      Ellie knew she should go with him and deal with the flowers but the diverse traffic flowing past on the canal commanded her attention and she stayed where she was.

      ‘I’ll show you round now,’ Rio said lightly, and in a great gilded antique mirror she caught a glimpse of her answering smile that softened her face, and looked away again, dismayed that she could look happy in the company of a man who had implied that she could be a gold-digger.

      ‘I need to tell you about Violet... The lady in the hospice, who changed her will in my favour,’ she said tightly.

      ‘Not now, we’ve had enough stress. Leave it until later,’ Rio urged as he opened the door on a dining room where food already awaited them on the table, fearful that any sudden revelations from Ellie would set them at odds again on a night that he very much wanted to be special and all about ‘them.’ ‘We should eat first. You didn’t have much earlier.’

      ‘I wasn’t hungry,’ she admitted as he pulled out a chair for her. ‘I didn’t think you’d notice—’

      ‘I notice everything about you,’ Rio incised drily.

      ‘If that was true, you’d know I’d never have sought out Beppe simply because he was well off,’ Ellie contended uncomfortably. ‘It didn’t matter who or what he was. I just wanted to fill in the blank I’ve lived with all my life and know what happened between my parents. You couldn’t possibly understand how much it means to me to know who my father is and to actually feel a sense of connection with him. It’s so much more than I ever hoped to have.’

      ‘I understand a lot more than you appreciate,’ Rio countered, his lean dark face setting into grim lines. ‘I will never know who my father is and, frankly, I don’t want to know. I met my mother as an adult and that killed off any sentimental delusions I might have had. My mother and I didn’t have a single thought or feeling in common.’

      Ellie studied him in shock at that revelation.

      ‘You were very lucky to find a man like Beppe waiting at the end of your identity trail,’ Rio remarked wryly.

      He had met his mother and it hadn’t worked out? But he had grown up in an orphanage. Where had his mother been when he was a child? And why didn’t he know who had fathered him? Consternation gripped Ellie and she veiled her eyes. Rio managed to be incredibly sanguine about realities that would have seriously disturbed her and it made her all the more aware of how very little she knew about him and how unwittingly tactless she must have been while she was happily rambling on about what finding Beppe had meant to her. Of course, what had she ever personally shared with Rio? Discomfiture filled her. As a rule, Ellie was reserved and she kept her secrets close. She didn’t share personal stuff except with Polly but that had to change now that she was married. Didn’t it? It wouldn’t be fair to expect more from Rio than she was prepared to give herself.

      ‘Yes, I was incredibly fortunate,’ Ellie agreed ruefully as she took another appreciative bite of her delicious pasta salad. ‘Can I ask you about something?’

      ‘Anything...’

      ‘Earlier when we were together, you...you used a condom,’ Ellie reminded him.

      ‘Isn’t that what you wanted?’ Rio responded, his ebony brows drawing together in a frown. ‘If you are pregnant, we’ll make the best of it but if you’re not, well...it gives us more options.’

      ‘You mean, we wouldn’t have to stay together,’ Ellie framed, her heart suddenly beating with a dulled thunderous thud against her breastbone.

      Rio lounged back in his chair with his wine glass and settled frowning dark golden eyes on her. ‘Don’t put