From Venice With Love (7 page)

‘Good thinking.’ Nico nodded. Thank goodness the topic of conversation was getting back onto safe territory. ‘I’m sure you’ll enjoy every moment.’

‘Oh, I will. Especially now.’

There was something in the gaze from those faded blue eyes that made Nico feel like a small child again. A small child confronted by someone in ultimate authority.

‘Because of the engagement?’ Nico’s smile was a little forced. He should be pleased because this represented exactly what he’d set out to achieve but he had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to get off quite this easily.

‘Exactly,’ Lady Geraldine purred.

Maybe he was. Nico’s smile widened.

‘I can’t think of a better way to celebrate,’ Lady Geraldine continued, ‘Can you?’

‘No. What could possibly be a better way to celebrate
than the very best of food and wine while you travel in ultimate luxury?’

‘I’m so pleased you agree. I’ll let the train manager know that you’ll be joining us.’

‘What?’
Both Nico and Charlotte uttered the horrified exclamation simultaneously.

‘It’s perfect,’ Lady Geraldine said calmly. ‘You don’t have commitments until Christmas Day, Nico, and we’ll be back in London by Christmas Eve. As you said yourself, what better way could there be to celebrate? It sounds as though you and Charlotte are going to have a lot of time apart in the near future and I’m sure we all agree that we should all make the most of every moment we can have together. Who knows how many of them there will be?’

Her voice wobbled just a little as she finished speaking. Charlotte’s jaw had been dropping but now it snapped shut.

‘You can’t do this, Gran,’ she said slowly. ‘You can’t use something like your illness to make people do what you want them to do. It’s…it’s emotional blackmail.’

‘Nonsense.’ Any hint of frailty vanished from Lady Geraldine’s demeanour. ‘It’s common sense, that’s what it is. You’re both important, busy people. You’d never make the time for something like this unless someone pushed you into it. And this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get a booking on this train? And
two
cabins. If it had only been one, I would have given up my place so that you and Nico could have done the trip together.’

‘But this is
your
dream, Gran.’ Charlotte was shaking
her head now, looking bewildered. ‘Why would Nico and I want to do it?’

‘Because it’s the most romantic journey on earth,’ Lady Geraldine said. ‘You’ve found each other in the most romantic city and by astonishing good fortune you now have the chance to build on that by travelling together to the destination you were both heading for anyway. I’m not going to take you away from Nico the day after you’ve just become engaged, Charlotte. This is my engagement gift to you both—some more time together. If he won’t come with us on the train, then you can stay here and I’ll go by myself.’

‘No…you can’t do that. I won’t let you. You’re not well enough.’

It was a stand-off. Nico didn’t need the combined effect of both women looking at him to know he was expected to say something to defuse the tension but, for the life of him, he couldn’t think of anything to say. For heaven’s sake, all he needed was an excuse that would keep him at least somewhere in Europe for the next twenty four hours but his mind was blank. Stunned at the way this…diversion had taken on a life of its own. Moving at a pace that appeared as unstoppable as the train he was now expected to board tomorrow.

Tables were being cleared around them and any moment now the waiters would come and interrupt this awkward silence, but clearly it wouldn’t be soon enough for Charlotte. She made an exasperated sound as she pushed back her chair and got to her feet.

‘I need some air,’ she announced. ‘I’ll leave
you
to talk to Gran, Nico.’

Her tone suggested that he was unlikely to get anywhere
but that it was his problem. He’d got himself into this mess and now he could get himself out of it. Her body language as she headed towards the balcony suggested that she was washing her hands of the whole situation because it was clearly uncontrollable. The slump of her shoulders said that she didn’t believe he could do it without causing harm.

And maybe she was right. Maybe now he was going have to confess his part in this deception. Was there a way he could do that and convince Lady Geraldine at the same time that it had been done with the very best of intentions and that Charlotte had only gone along with his stupid idea because she loved her grandmother so much?

Nico took a deep breath and opened his mouth but Lady Geraldine got there first to fill the silence.

‘Oh, dear…’ she murmured. ‘And there I was, hoping that she’d finally got over it all…’

Nico couldn’t help himself. ‘Over what, Jendi?’

Lady Geraldine looked uncomfortable. ‘That’s the problem, Nico. I’ve never been able to find out.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘I was hoping you might be able to tell
me.’

‘Scusi?’
The Italian word popped out, as they often did in moments of great stress or surprise.

‘There’s only been one other occasion when I’ve thought that Charlotte might have found the right man for her. The person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. To raise her own family with. And it was
years
ago. Back when she was just a baby doctor and everybody could see how brilliant she was.
Is,’
Lady Geraldine corrected herself but she was frowning. ‘I
don’t know what went wrong,’ she continued softly, almost as if she was talking aloud to herself, ‘but Charlotte…changed.’

Yes
. He was getting to the heart of the mystery now.

‘That was the time I first met her,’ he confided to Jendi. ‘When she was the star of the emergency department and nobody could sing her praises highly enough. And she was so happy. There was a sparkle about her that lit up a room. A smile that advertised such confidence…’ His voice trailed off as he realised the extent of how radically Charlotte had changed.

The confidence was still there but it was only professional. Cold. That’s what had hit him this morning—that lack of sparkle for want of a better word. It was only when he had pushed himself beyond any acceptably professional boundaries that he’d seen a hint of a woman capable of
real
emotion. That buttoned-up outward appearance was like a suit of armour around the old Charlotte.

Whatever had happened had killed her personal confidence. Her hopes for a future outside her work ambitions. Had she been brutally dismissed by a man she’d been deeply in love with?

How could the man have been such an idiot to pass up a woman like Charlotte?

And why did the thought of her being passionately in love with another man stir up a nasty sensation in his gut that he couldn’t identify? Was it jealousy? No. That was absurd. He had never felt jealous in his life.

‘I saw her out with that man,’ he told Jendi. ‘At a very exclusive London club. I think we were even introduced. Was he a
prince?’

Lady Geraldine made a dismissive sound. ‘That’s what he called himself. He was a long way down the tree of some obscure European royal family. He was certainly a very charming young man. And very sure of himself.’

‘So what happened?’

‘Charlotte will never talk about it. I didn’t see her for a few weeks. She said she had flu and didn’t want to pass it on. And then she always had an excuse of being too busy at work to come to see me and when she finally did I was…shocked.’

‘Why?’ Nico leaned forward, unconsciously holding his breath.

‘She looked…ill. So thin. And…’ Lady Geraldine shook her head very slowly and when she raised her gaze to Nico’s he could see tears in her eyes. ‘You hit the nail right on the head, my dear. Her sparkle had gone. It was like it had been when she first arrived in my care as an orphaned child. When she was so lost and unhappy that she wouldn’t even speak. For
months.’

‘She wouldn’t speak to you?’

‘Oh, no. She wasn’t a tiny child any more. She would talk but only if we didn’t talk about
him
. Siegfried. All she would say was that the relationship was over and it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was her work.’

Lady Geraldine looked away. ‘I thought if I gave her enough space that she would eventually talk to me about it, but it’s been nearly six years and after the first attempt or two I had to give up. It’s the one thing that’s never discussed but is always there. The elephant in the room, you know?’

‘The elephant?’ How many odd English phrases were going to test him today?

‘The huge thing. You can’t ignore it because you always have to walk around it to get anywhere. But you’re not allowed to mention it because, if you do, the door gets slammed shut and you can’t get anywhere at all.’

‘Hmm…’ Nico was digesting the information. He was silent for a long time and when he spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically grim. ‘He hurt her,’ he said softly. ‘He hurt Charlotte badly, this
Siegfried.’

‘Yes.’ Lady Geraldine dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her napkin.

‘Physically?’

The gasp was shocked. ‘Oh,
no…
If he’d done that, she would have gone to the police, surely?’

‘But you said she looked unwell.’

‘She’d had flu. There was a very bad flu going around that year. One of those bird varieties, I think.’

Nico wasn’t listening. How could anyone have wanted to hurt Charlotte? She had been so beautiful. A girl testing the wings of womanhood. In love and totally trusting. What kind of bastard had he been and what had he
done
to her? Nico didn’t believe the ‘flu’ excuse for a moment. And something was telling him that the pain of the broken relationship had not been simply emotional.

‘I need to talk to Charlotte,’ he said, his chair scraping on the stone-flagged floor as he pushed it back.

Lady Geraldine caught his arm as he turned to leave. Her age and state of health disappeared from Nico’s awareness as he read her expression. It was the look of a mother as well as a grandmother. Ageless. She needed
to protect her child and she wasn’t sure if she should have spoken about her concerns. There was a plea in her eyes that Nico could read only too well.

‘I’m not going to hurt her.’ The words came out like a vow and Nico meant every one of them. ‘I never would. That I can promise you.’

Charlotte was freezing.

An evening dress was entirely inadequate for a winter’s night in Venice but she couldn’t go back inside. She could see that the evening was winding up now and people were leaving.

Good. If she waited a little longer, there would be no audience for when she had to go back in and face her grandmother after Nico had explained why he couldn’t accompany them on the Orient Express.

She could see them through the tall, arched window. Their body language was intense as they leaned towards each other, oblivious to anyone else in the room. The fairy lights made the room seem like another world and Charlotte could see the Christmas images still scrolling against the far wall. Snowmen and sleighs. Christmas trees and prettily wrapped parcels. Happy people. Families. Parents with excited children.

Parents who had once been lovers. Engaged couples.

Charlotte was twisting the ring on her finger without realising it. She gave it a tug. Good grief…it was a tight fit. She was going to need soap to get it off. Maybe she should go into the bathroom and find some.

But then she saw Nico get to his feet abruptly and she saw the way her grandmother caught his arm. For a moment that seemed suspended in time she saw the
way they looked at each other and the light was enough for her to see the expression on Nico’s face. Such a
kind
expression. Loving. Intense. The kind of look someone might have if they were making a promise they intended to keep.

Or maybe he’d been apologising. Was he coming out to tell her it was safe to go back in now?

Charlotte’s heart picked up as Nico came out onto the balcony. He moved with such grace, this man. A calm assurance that he could command his environment and protect anyone within it. Powerful but not intimidating because there was a softness about him. That slow, easy smile. The glint in those dark eyes that advertised the ability to find joy in life. To play.

That’s what they’d been doing tonight and Charlotte couldn’t deny that, for a while, it had been…fun. No. Fun wasn’t the word. What had drawn her in had been the illusion. The need to taste something that was so seductive it was irresistible. The illusion of being in love.

With Nico.

She had to turn her head and stop staring at him as if the charade was still continuing.

‘Did you talk to Gran?’

‘I did.’ Nico was close to her now.

‘Did you tell her the truth? Does she understand why you can’t come on the train with us?’ Charlotte couldn’t repress a shiver. Was it the cold or the disappointment of failure?

‘Not exactly.’ Nico was shrugging off his jacket. He stepped closer and draped it over Charlotte’s shoulders.

Her first instinct was to shrug the garment off with a dismissive shake. She wasn’t a child who needed someone
to take care of her. She could look after herself, thanks very much.

But the gesture had been unexpectedly thoughtful.

Caring
.

And the warmth was astonishingly comforting. Charlotte could feel her fingers creeping to the edges of the jacket to pull it closer around her. The warmth was the warmth of Nico’s body. The slide of the silk lining against the bare skin of her arms and shoulders made it feel as though
he
was touching her.

It was disturbingly intimate now. Charlotte could even catch a whiff of a scent that was pure male. Pure Nico? She had to close her eyes for a heartbeat as she tried to stop herself inhaling deeply.

‘Your grandmother loves you very much,’ Nico said quietly. ‘She does not want you to be hurt…again.’

Again?
Her eyes snapped open. Oh, my God…what had they been talking about in there? But Gran didn’t know the truth so she couldn’t have told Nico. She was safe.