Too Cold To Love (25 page)

Elise had been so nervous; she didn't manage to
get her words out properly. Ms. Holmes had been perfectly amiable and
professional, but her constant scribbling on her notepad had set Elise's teeth
on edge. By the time Marco had managed to come home from work, her nerves had
been shot to pieces. She'd never been more grateful for his quiet strength
behind her when Ms. Holmes tried to quiz her in great detail about Rosie's
accident.

"I fail to see why you have to make my wife
relive this all. You have my solicitor's statement, plus the inquest report
which states all the facts. There really isn't any more to say on it, and as
Elise was completely cleared of all charges this whole thing is
ludicrous."

"There has been a complaint made, Mr.
Giovanni, and we would be failing in our duties if we didn't follow it
up."

"A complaint made by my ex-wife who has
never shown the slightest interest in her daughter. I would suggest you look
into her background and find out why Mimi is afraid of the woman who gave birth
to her, instead of harassing the only true mother my daughter has ever
known."

"I can assure you, Mr. Giovanni, we are
investigating all parties involved."

His hand had tightened on hers, and he'd been
about to say something else when Elise finally found her voice. "It's
okay, Marco. I don't mind, really. Ask whatever you need to, Ms. Holmes, and I
will answer it as best I can."

"
Angelo mio
, you do not have to do
this." Marco's voice had held a fierce edge, the grip on her hand almost
painful. Elise had forced a smile for him.

"Yes, I do, Marco. It’s okay, really."

There had been a small smile on Ms. Holmes face
watching the exchange between them, followed by more furious scribbling. When
Marco had finally escorted the woman out, Elise had barely made it to the
toilet before losing the entire contents of her stomach.

When she'd made it out of the downstairs toilet
on shaky legs Marco had been waiting for her. Every line of his body had
screamed his agitation as his blue eyes searched her face.

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately.
Are you sure you're okay? Perhaps we ought to get you seen by a doctor."

"It's ok, Marco, there's nothing wrong with
me, well nothing that won't sort itself out soon enough. It's just…"

A strangled sound had come from Marco. He'd
grabbed her into a fierce hug, his stunned voice murmuring in Italian in her
ear. Elise winced, remembering that scene, even now.

Oh you stupid, stupid girl!

"Urm Marco, listen to me, let me go. It's
not what you think."

Marco had released her slowly. His expression
had become wary and guarded as he'd crossed his arms over his chest. The
hopeful light in his eyes had died down slowly with every one of her next
words.

"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't
mean to make you think that I was, well, you know…"

Marco had taken a step away from her with a grim
smile.

"Don't worry. I'm not foolish enough to
think that. I'm damaged goods after all."

The barely concealed hurt in his voice had
sliced right through Elise's tender heart. She would never know how she'd
managed to stop herself from reaching out to him, but his whole body language
had screamed
don't!
So she'd made herself smile instead.

"I get like this when I'm stressed, that's
all. I'll be glad when the custody thing is over."

He'd drawn her back into a hug. "So will I,
cara mia
, so will I." He'd kissed her on the nose and walked away
from her. The tight set of his shoulders had made Elise want to cry at the
injustice of it all.

Why could life not be simple? Was that too much
to ask? Apparently it was. At some point they would have to discuss the whole
issue of kids. It clearly weighed heavily on Marco, and Elise had no idea what
to do about it. He was such a complicated man. She hadn't a snowball's chance
in hell of understanding him.

Take the time he caught her reading the Italian
phrase book she bought in an effort to decipher some of the new expressions he
seemed to use for her.

Her heart had been beating a little faster when
she had found the definitions. Surely, he couldn't be calling her his angel,
his love? And if that was really what they meant, did that mean?

"What has you so engrossed,
pasticcino
?"

She'd spun around hiding the book behind her
back, feeling extremely foolish doing so.

"Oh nothing.I was just coming to find
Mimi."

He'd smiled at her, his eyes narrowing.
"Mimi is fine with Agnes helping her make lunch. What are you
hiding?" And before she could stop him he'd reached behind her taking the
book out of her hands.

Elise hadn't known where to put herself at the
unreadable look he gave her.

"How long have you had this?"

"Urm, not long. I just thought I should
probably learn some Italian being that you want Mimi to be bilingual."

She knew her cheeks had been flaming when he'd
looked at the earmarked page. His voice hadn't been quite steady when he'd
handed it back to her

"If you want to learn, I'll teach
you."

His smile hadn't reached his eyes when he
glanced at her.

"You can't believe anything in these
phrasebooks. Whoever writes them has a rudimentary grasp of the language at
best." He'd thrown the thing in the bin by his desk. Elise could have
sworn there was a faint blush on his cheeks. Before she could quiz him further,
Mimi had bounded in, and the moment had been lost.

It had given her silly little heart such foolish
hope though.

Surely he must care her for a little? It had
been on the tip of her tongue so many times to tell him that she loved him.
Every time she had stopped herself, too frightened of what his reaction would
be. He didn't believe in love, he'd said; it didn't exist. She remembered that
conversation on their honeymoon all too well, and she was not ready to open
that particular can of worms. If she could get her hands on that Jennifer, she
would give her a piece of her mind, she really would! Damn the woman for
hurting him so much that he was afraid to trust anyone. Even if she did declare
her love for him, he would never believe her. No, far better to just stay as they
were.

A sound in the garden broke through the argument
she was having with herself. It was too early for Agnes and Mimi to be back.
Had Marco come home for lunch?

The smile on her lips froze when she turned
round and saw Jennifer stroll through the French doors into the kitchen as
though her thoughts had just conjured the woman out of nowhere.

"What the hell are you doing here, and how
did you get in?" Elise asked.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm
here to offer you a deal."

Chapter Twenty-Six

Marco pulled up outside his house and frowned at
the unknown car. They weren't expecting visitors today as far as he knew. And
why was the garden gate open? That should be locked. He heard the raised voices
the minute he opened his car door.

"Give me the key you used to get in here,
Jennifer, and get the hell out of my house before I call the police. You have
five seconds!"

Okay, that explained the car and the open gate
but not what that bitch was doing here. When he turned the corner, it looked as
though his
pasticcino
had matters in hand. Her eyes blazed fire, her
face was flushed, one hand on her hip, the other was holding a – no she
couldn't be – but yes, that was definitely Agnes's cast iron frying pan she was
wielding at Jennifer. His bitch of an ex-wife took a step backwards, her hands
up in surrender.

Despite the surreal situation Marco's lips
twitched, and he ducked behind one of the ferns to watch the ensuing spectacle.

He would intervene if he had to, but
Hell
hath no fury like Elise
sprang to mind. She looked absolutely gorgeous in
her anger, and he watched his wife defend what's hers in stunned admiration.

"Oh
do
be serious. You wouldn't dare
hit me with that? How would that look in the custody hearing?"
Nonetheless, Marco saw her take another step back, and she sounded far from
confident.

"Key, Jennifer,
now
. Then I'll put
this down."

Jennifer threw the key at Elise, and Marco
ground his teeth. Lucky for her that hadn't hit Elise.

"How very mature of you, Jennifer. Now get
out!"

"I don't think so. Like I said I came here
to offer you a deal."

Elise put the frying pan down on the wooden
patio table and shook her head at Jennifer.

"Why on earth would I be interested in any
deal you have to offer? Just get out. If Marco finds you here I dread to think
what he'd do. You've done enough damage to him and Mimi. I won't let you do
anymore. They are better off without you."

"La de da de da. Listen to yourself. Don't
you know there are two sides to every story? Marco is a cold fish who was only
interested in me as a brood mare. Oh don't look so surprised. From the minute
we got married he wanted to start a family. All the tests he put me through and
in the end it was him, of course. How laughable is that."

"I fail to see what's funny about this,
Jennifer. Surely it's only natural for him to want a family. It's what most
people do when they get married."

Marco flinched at the emotion behind those
words. What wouldn't he give to be most people? Trust that bitch to twist his
intentions.

"Yes, well." Jennifer's brittle laugh
sent his teeth on edge. She flicked an imaginary speck of dust off her designer
suit, and then ran a disparaging look over Elise's simple jeans and short
sleeved blouse. "I was never most people. I never wanted children. I
married Marco because he wouldn't sleep with me otherwise. I should have known
then what he was like. I thought I was pregnant at the time, so he was my
knight in shining armour."

Elise's outraged gasp wrapped itself around the
old wound, and Marco was surprised to note it didn't hurt anymore.

"His money helped, of course, and for a
while it was quite flattering to have all his attention, but he had to go all
possessive on me. I couldn't even look at another man without him getting
jealous, and all that devotion got old really quickly."

"You absolute monster! You had it all,
Marco and Mimi, and you just threw it all away. Just get the hell away from me
before I forget myself and
do
hit you with that frying pan."

Elise's voice trembled with emotion, and Marco
curled his toes with the effort it took to not intervene.

"Tsk, tsk, temper, Elise. Tell me, does
Marco know you're besotted with him?"

"I, urm, that's none of your business,
Jennifer."

All the colour drained out of Elise's face, and
Marco held his breath waiting for her response. Was she in love with him?
Really? But she couldn't be. She was only with him for Mimi, wasn't she? Had he
got this all wrong, again?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time,
Einstein.

 
Jennifer's next words made him wince.

"Oh my God, I'm right, aren't I? You're in
love with him. Oh that's priceless. Shame he only married you to get rid of me,
eh, and I have no intention of going away, unless…"

"What will it take to get rid of you?"

Marco breathed a sigh of relief when some colour
returned to Elise's face, even if her voice was wobbly and made him want to run
over there and kiss the frown lines off her face.

Jennifer's next words froze him in place
however.

"I knew you'd see sense. It's quite simple
really. I'll drop my fight for custody if you leave Marco."

"What? Why would you want me to do that?
You're insane."

Jennifer smirked. "Oh, I have my
reasons."

"You're missing his money in other words,
you mean. I know he's stopped your allowance. God knows why he gave it to you
in the first place. It's not as though you needed it for Mimi."

Jennifer's evil laugh rang round the garden.

"What can I say? The fool can't resist me.
He's always been in love with me, and I only have to snap my fingers and he'll
come crawling back."

"I don't think so, Jennifer. He doesn't
love you." Elise's voice dropped to an anguished whisper. "You've
done a good job of curing him from believing in love at all. Just go away. I
really don't see what you hope to achieve here. He'll never take you back or
let you near Mimi, and I will not break Mimi's heart by leaving her, and I…I
can't leave Marco. He may not love me, but I'll settle for what I can
get."

"Spare me the sentiments.
 
That's pathetic, and what is lover-boy going
say when I tell him you're a murderer!"

"How dare you? Rosie was an accident, and
besides Marco knows all about her, so you can just take a running jump."