The Tuscan's Revenge Wedding (20 page)

“Is there no change,” she asked, “no sign that she might
come around soon?”

“I swear she hears me. I can see her eyes moving behind her
lids and sometimes she almost smiles. She squeezed my hand, just a little, last
night."

“That sounds promising.”

“I think she might come around if I could stay longer, or if
Nico or others in her family could come more often to talk to her. She just
needs to know someone is there.”

“Nico is away on business, as I told you—”

“Yeah, he came by a couple of times while he was in the
city, but said he’d be in Naples a few days.”

“Did he?” Her smile was not quite steady. Jonathan had seen
him since she had. “Anyway, possibly Aunt Filomena could sit with her a bit
longer when she’s here.”

“Or Carisa, maybe? Carita is really close to her, you know. It’s
that twin thing, I guess, though Carita has taken care of her all of their
lives. She worries about Carisa, was always trying to make her feel she’s
exactly like her in as many ways as possible. She’d come back if she thought
Carisa needed her. I know she would.”

“You may be right, but they are trying to keep the
seriousness of her condition from Carisa for fear she’ll be too upset. And she
might be.” She went on to tell him of how disturbed Nico’s sister had been at
the idea that she might be leaving, and how unimaginable the scene could be if
she suspected Carita was slipping away.

“Carisa is tougher than they think.” He pressed a fold in
the sheet and used his thumb nail to crease it again and again. “At least
that’s what Carita always said when we talked about her. Nico keeps her so
protected Carisa might as well be rolled up in bubble-wrap and put away. He
acts as if she’ll break at the slightest touch, but it’s really that he can’t
stand the thought of being responsible if she gets hurt. And she becomes upset
at the least little thing because she’s never had to cope. Oh, I don’t mean to
sound hard-hearted, but it seems such a shame.”

“You may be right,” Amanda said with a light touch on his
fidgeting hands to still them, “but that doesn’t mean Nico would consider
letting her come sit with Carita. She might do her a lot of good, but she could
also have a very public and embarrassing meltdown.”

“Embarrassing for him, you mean,” her brother muttered.

“For her, rather. I don’t think Nico is easily embarrassed.”
Amanda felt the rise of heat to her hairline as she recalled his calm assurance
as he’d told her he could handle her climbing into his lap in a public
restaurant.

“You’re defending him! For heaven’s sake, why? He can’t go
around deciding what happens to people, like his warning me I’ll go to prison
if Carita — if she doesn’t make it.”

“It won’t come to that now, surely, if she’s getting
better.”

Her brother’s lips flattened into a thin line and he refused
to meet her gaze. When he made no reply, Amanda gave a tired sigh.

“What you need to keep in mind is that Nico loves Carisa and
has been taking care of her for years, too. As head of his family, he really is
responsible for what happens to her, it’s not just talk for him. Before he even
thinks of bringing her here, he’ll have to weigh the possible benefit to Carita
against the possible damage to Carisa. She is doing better these past few days.
She’s getting out more, doing more. It would be a tragedy if something happened
to set her back.

“Maybe it’s because he’s gone,” Jonathan muttered.

“Don’t say that!” Amanda heard the irritation in her voice,
but couldn’t help it. “Carisa misses him, is beginning to fret now that he’s
been away nearly a week.”

Anger and pain surfaced in Jonathan’s eyes. “Meanwhile,
Carita just lies there. If I could get out of this bed, I’d bring Carisa here
myself.” His face changed abruptly, his eyes zeroing in on her face. “Or — how
much longer do you think Nico will be away?”

“No, really—” she began.

“Yes, Mandy, yes. You could bring Carisa here. What’s to
keep you from it?”

“To start with, I know Nico would hate it.”

“What do you care how he feels? You’ll probably never see
him again once I leave here.”

It was too true to be denied, though hearing it put into
words was like a blow to the heart. “He’s been so helpful, constantly checking
on you, driving me back and forth, letting me stay at the villa—”

“So he sends you packing for daring to do something he
doesn’t like, so what? It’s not as if you intended to be there forever.”

No, she had never, not for an instant, expected forever. She
looked away as she shook her head.

“What?” Jonathan asked, his voice growing harder as she
stared at her. “You didn’t, did you? I mean, you’re not thinking of staying,
don’t have anything going on with his high-and-mightiness, the Conte de
Frenza?”

She could feel the hot burn of color across her cheekbones,
but there was nothing she could do about it. “Don’t call him that, not after
all he’s done.”

“Why not, when it’s the truth? He’s the twentieth or so
count in his family line, as high and mighty as they come. Take it as an
indicator of why you should stay far, far away from him.”

“I don’t know why you’re so concerned.”

“You don’t know these old Italian families. I told you
before, they may look ultramodern on the outside, but inside they’re not too
different from a few hundred years ago. They’re proud as Lucifer, and things
like honor, manners and defending the family name are like a religion. The only
person good enough for one of their own is someone from another family that’s
been around as long as they have.”

“But he said you and Carita can be married if she says yes
when she recovers.”

“Oh, yeah, easy enough to say, especially if he thought it
was what you wanted to hear. Nico doesn’t approve of me, and he hates that his
sister loves me, would probably kill me if he knew she carries my baby inside
her.”

“He does know,” Amanda said shortly.

Jonathan breathed a curse. He closed his eyes tight then
opened them again. “I’m surprised he hasn’t murdered me. But what it comes down
to is this, Amanda. The only reason he’d come on to you so fast is because it
would be the perfect way to pay me back in kind. I seduced his sister, so he
seduces mine. You see?”

Amanda did see. She saw so well that she felt ill with it.

She’d realized from the beginning she wasn’t Nico’s type,
had been surprised he was attracted to her. They’d known each other less than
twenty four hours when he’d first kissed her and issued his challenge. She
accepted it of her own will, cooperating in her own seduction.

More than that, their relationship had been immortalized in
the tabloids for the world to see. Just as the accident with Carita had named
Jonathan as her lover, Nico’s actions had branded Amanda as his. It was all
perfectly clear.

No wonder Nico had left her without saying goodbye. He had
no need for manners or concern about a woman who meant nothing to him except a
means of revenge.

10

Nico heard Carisa’s voice as he reached the
hospital room door. He thought for an instant that Carita must have roused from
her coma; anything else was too incredible. Then he caught the lilting, happy
cadence that was Carisa’s alone, heard her call her twin’s name.

The door swung wide under his hand as he hit it harder than
he intended. The three people gathered around Carita’s bed swung as one to face
him. Carisa’s eyes widened to circles and her small mouth opened wide. Jonathan
straightened where he balanced on one crutch. But Nico saw only one person with
any clarity, the woman who whirled to face him with a hectic flush rising to
her hairline and anger in her face.

“What is this?” he demanded with the pain of betrayal in his
voice, also the fury that his body was betraying him, hardening at the mere
sight of Amanda. “What is Carisa doing here?”

“I’m talking to Carita!” his young sister announced in
high-pitched excitement before Amanda or Jonathan could answer. “And she’s
listening, Nico! She’s asleep, but she’s listening to me.”

He lowered his voice, keeping his tone soothing with great effort.
“Yes, of course, but who explained this to you? Who brought you here, or said
you could see Carita?”

“Mandy did.” Carisa gave a little bounce where she sat on
the far side of the bed, close beside her twin. “She said Carita loves me and
wants to see me more than anybody. That means she’ll wake up for me. She said—”

“I’ve heard more than enough of what Amanda said,” he
interrupted. He had known she had done this thing, he realized as his gaze
settled on her features that had turned pale now, as pale as the dress of
finest white linen she wore, one he had ordered for her with such ridiculous
care. It made no sense any other way.

He hadn’t wanted to believe it, could hardly accept that she
would so disregard his wishes or show so little concern for Carisa’s welfare.
It was so far beyond what he expected that he had required confirmation. Now he
had it.

“I believe it’s time for Amanda to leave. You must go back
to the villa with her,
cara
Carisa.”

“No, Nico, no! Mandy was right, I am good for Carita. I am a
grown woman, and can do more than you think. I didn’t cry when we drove here,
and I’m not afraid of the hospital or doctors or the nurses or the machines or
the beds that go up and down or the tubes with medicine or little TVs that
blink with green lights or the—”

“Carisa!”

“And Carita does want to see me, she does. I know she does!”

Shock that his young sister would talk back to him, much
less support Amanda over him, washed over Nico in a cold wave. He hardly knew
where to begin with an answer for her, much less how to persuade her to leave
without a scene.

“Why not let her stay?” Jonathan asked in harsh appeal as he
glanced from Carisa to Carita before turning his clear gray gaze toward Nico
once more. “What can it hurt, as long as she’s here already?”

“You will keep out of this, please,” Nico told him with a
growl of warning in his voice.

“But she seems to be all right with it, and she might do a
world of good. Carita squeezed my hand yesterday, and she moved her head just a
minute ago.”

Carita looked exactly the same to Nico as every other time
he had seen her. Amanda’s brother was either deluded or lying to put a good
face on this fiasco. “You presume to know better than I what is best?” he asked
in quiet fury.

“Oh, please, Nico, come off it,” Amanda said, stepping
toward him. “You may be the Conte de Frenza, final authority on everything that
comes into your orbit, but you aren’t infallible. It could be Jonathan is
right, and Carisa being here will help.”

The scorn in her voice was like a slap in the face. Still he
was glad to seize on the distraction. “So this was your brother’s idea,” he
said. “I might have known. It isn’t enough that his reckless driving put Carita
in hospital, he must push Carisa to the point where she may need medical
attention.”

Jonathan Davies face turned dark and his mouth set in a hard
line before he spoke. “If you want to talk about harming a sister, then we can
do that. You aren’t exactly innocent yourself, but the damage was no accident.
It was revenge, pure and simple.”

“Jonathan, no,” Amanda breathed.

“
Dio santo
, what are you saying?” Nico demanded.

Derision burned in Jonathan’s eyes, so like Amanda’s, while
his good hand gripped his crutch like a knotted fist. “I seduce your sister, so
you seduce mine. Sound familiar?”

“
No, no, no….
”

The furious pounding of the blood in his ears almost drowned
out that soft whisper. It came not from Amanda, however, or even from Carisa.

It came instead from the bed where Carita lay.

Amazement gripped Nico as he turned in that direction, only
half aware of Jonathan and Amanda doing the same. They eased closer, drawn by
the miracle taking place there.

Carita stared at them with her eyes wide open and a little
wild. She tried to lift her head, stretched out a hand to him as he stepped
within reach. He took it, even as he pressed the control which raised the head
of the bed so she might see them, speak to them in more comfort.

“
Grazie a Dio,
Carita,” he in strained wonder, “how
grand this is, how truly amazing. We had begun to think you would never wake.”

“I knew you would!” Carisa crowed with pleasure shining in
her soft round face as she leaned toward her sister. She flicked him a look of
triumph. “I said so. Yes, I did!”

“So you did,
cara
,” he allowed before he spoke again
to Carita, switching from Italian to English for the sake of her other
visitors. “I regret you were disturbed by our disagreement, though it brought
you back to us. But is there anything I can get you, anything we can do for you
now?”