The Italian Billionaire's Secret Baby (Baxter Sisters Book 2) Read online

  Alesssandro was sitting up with just the sheet draped across his long sexy legs. “Is Alex awake?”

  ‘Not yet, he’s still asleep. “Id better freshen up before he wakes.”

  She snagged the monitor and went back to the bedroom. When Katrina came back, Alessandro was checking his phone. When he saw her he put it face down on the bedside table.

  I want you, Katrina, more than any woman–ever. It’s like driving my racing car. We need to push the limits and see where it can lead. Without a risk, there’ll be no us.”

  He had a point. She couldn’t get a written guarantee that everything will work out for her and Alessandro but for Alex’s sake she should try.

  “Alright, I’ll change our flights from tomorrow to an open ended date.”

  “That’s great, are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured? I know you have to feel that this is your decision.”

  “Yes, I think we need more time.”

  “You won’t be sorry, bella. Run and do that, but hurry back, mia sposa. Your husband wants you.”

  Katrina went into Alessandro’s study and turned on the computer so she could alter the flights online. She put her notes on the table and waited while the screen loaded. A corner of a photocopied document peeked out from a stack of papers. It looked familiar to her. Like a form she filled in when she applied for residence in Italy so she could dance at La Scalla. Indecision burned her fingers. She ought to leave it. Ignorance would be so much better than taking the risk of seeing a side of Alessandro he’d just convinced her he didn’t possess.

  She focused on the screen in front of her and keyed in the website address. But the seal on the corner of the paper called to her. She ignored it and keyed in her frequent flyer number. Her body stiffened, she had to be strong and face the truth. Running away from what scared her wasn’t something she did anymore.

  Katrina tugged on the document and Alex’s name appeared from beneath the plain folder. A sob rose in her throat. She dragged the piece of paper all the way out and other pages came with it. Her eyes scanned each page. Her fingers flicked over each sheet in turn. Citizenship papers for Alex and also papers to have Alessandro made his legal guardian was pinned behind the DNA test.

  Alessandro was planning to take her son away if she tried to leave Italy. He’d been playing a double game with her. If she didn’t open her eyes and see the truth now, it would be too late. He wanted his son, not her. A heavy lump of ice lodged in her heart and froze her emotions. In the ballroom, he’d looked like he was going to say he loved her but had kissed her instead. He’d never actually said, Katrina, I love you.

  He’d never said it to her.

  Even though she’d believed he did. Had he ever really loved her, how could she know? Two years ago he’d insisted they marry so she could stay in Italy with him. She’d been so happy but he’d never verbalized his affection for her.

  Alessandro wanted things. He’d wanted her, now he wants his son. He’d been manipulating her to achieve that end. But the guardianship and passport documents were originals, signed but not mailed yet. She needed to leave Italy now. If she stayed like he asked her to he would be able to complete his plan and she would be trapped in Italy unable to leave with Alex without his permission.

  She needed to remember that Alessandro had a very dangerous job. He said he would stop racing after this season, but would he? He was choosing to take every phone call from the team over being with her. She’d left him for a moment to check on Alex and he was back on the phone. What if he didn’t retire? He could be killed each time he climbed into a car that was more like a rocket with wheels. She’d be living a life of anxiety and so would Alex, he always picked up on her feelings. Alessandro hadn’t been trying to reconcile with her. He’d been manipulating her like his car on a racetrack to gain time, to win, and the prize was her son.

  Her frozen heart beat on. She’d fallen in love with Alessandro. The beautiful illusion he’d been building up for her of loving parents and extended family in the golden Italian sunshine became irreparably tattered. He’d even used his sick mother to gain leverage over her. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to get his own way. She had to leave Italy if she wanted Alex’s future to be different from her own upbringing.

  She shut down the computer and left the study. In her hand she carried the evidence. She found Alessandro in their sitting room gazing at a framed photo of Alex. He rose and smiled as she walked into the room. He took a few steps toward her but his smile faded when he took in her demeanor.

  Katrina held out the hated forms. “On your desk, I found a copy of the DNA tests I had done when Alex was born. The paternity test was clipped to papers to give my son Italian citizenship and make you his legal guardian.”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “I hate that I can’t trust you. I know why you’re doing this”

  “Because he was born in Australia and needs to be registered as my son here.”

  “I’ve made a huge mistake. You’ll stop at nothing to make sure that I can’t take Alex home. You want to trap me here with him. Or maybe you really just wanted Alex all along.”

  His fingers pressed his forehead. “I just assumed you’d stay, that you’d want this.”

  “How did you know I had a DNA test done?”

  “The lawyers checked, and gained copies as part of the citizenship process. I’m legally allowed to have a copy because I’m one of the parents. I’d like to know what you took of mine that had my DNA on it?”

  A stab of guilt deflated her outrage a fraction, but she shook it off.

  “Hair follicles from your comb. After seeing Zio at the office I came back home to pack. I didn’t want a dispute over who Alex’s father was.”

  He nodded. “Do you really believe I’m going to betray you and take our son away from you?”

  “What am I supposed to think? You didn’t discuss this with me. I’m sorry, but I’m taking Alex home as arranged.”

  “Don’t go. Don’t run. Stay, we can work this out.”

  “You can’t unwind the clock and have things how you want them. You’ve shown me that. There was a time I wanted nothing more than you to ask me to be with you forever. But now that you have, I can’t believe you mean it.”

  “I won’t let you go. I must act as my conscience dictates.” His tone was steely and his gaze turned to flint.

  “You can’t stop me.” A shiver sped down Katrina’s spine. This was the real Alessandro. This was the truth. He’d do anything to get his own way.

  “You know that I can stop you. I can get an injuction to prevent you leaving.”

  She tore up the papers and threw them on the floor. Not with these documents you wont. If you cared about me you wouldn’t threaten me this way.”

  His wide eyes took in the papers scattered on the floor between them. “It’s because I care so much, Katrina. I do love you but please, don’t force my hand.”

  He’d said he loved her but it didn’t fill the cavern of emptiness inside. She didn’t know if it was real. She plucked the photo of Alex off the table and gazed into her child’s eyes. Strength filled the empty space in her heart. She’d protect Alex from ever experiencing the pain she had. Alessandro couldn’t be allowed to force her or her son to do as he wanted.

  “You’re misjudging me, confusing me with the fathers that disappointed you.”

  “I learned what a father isn’t from them. Fathers put their children first, without manipulation and underhanded tactics. They don’t put their children’s mother in untenable situations. Being a real father means being there for your child not your child is there for you.”

  “How can I do that if you leave Italy?”

  “Here’s an idea. Instead of uprooting him to suit yourself, move to where your son lives, in Melbourne.”

  Thirteen

  A retreat to the bedroom was out of the question, he’d only follow her there. She made her way out onto the pool deck and rang Ruby. She explained it all an
d Ruby set up a conference call with Natalie. Each supported her decision to return to Melbourne as scheduled. Just like last time, Alessandro had let her down. Her sisters had been there for her. She ordered a taxi to the airport and slipped the phone into her pocket. A chill within her heart ached.

  “My son loves you, I know it in my heart,” Mamma Rinaldo said.

  Katrina hadn’t seen or heard her approach but didn’t shift her gaze from the clear water of the swimming pool. Naturally Alessandro’s mother wanted her son to love Katrina, her grandchild’s mother, but that didn’t make it true.

  “It’s not real. I can’t lie to you about us anymore, Mamma Rinaldo. He doesn’t love me but he does love our son and will do anything for him even pretend to want his mother. But I know… I know it’s impossible for him to want me. He never told you when we married. Wouldn’t he want to introduce the woman he loves to his mother?”

  “But he did marry you. I know he wouldn’t have done that without love.”

  “I don’t know why Alessandro married me. Perhaps he wanted to keep his pretty ballerina doll where he could have easy access to her. It’s as though I was a toy he could put aside and pick up again whenever he wanted. I wasn’t ever a real wife to him, and he was never a real husband.”

  “I’ve never seen Alessandro so devoted. Not just to Alex but you, too. He cares so much about your comfort perhaps you don’t remember him taking care of you when you first came here. Such a man his Papà never was. He thinks he’s the same as his father, but he isn’t. My brother was afraid of him becoming the same. That’s old fashioned and wrong.”

  He didn’t call or come to see me for two years. He’s only back in my life because of his son. “I can’t change the past and now it is best that we go home.”

  “You aren’t the product of your family, Katrina. My family was wealthy, very wealthy. As a child I had servants and anything I could desire. My Papà lost all our money in a failed business. My poor brother had married a woman with a good dowry but he couldn’t afford to give me one. Alessandro’s father had a hard time finding a suitable bride among the Italian aristocracy because he was a terrible womanizer. My brother was too young to be my guardian, so I was raised in the convent. I fell in love with Alessandro’s Papà. The nuns tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn’t be persuaded. He loved me but racing cars was his first love. My brother assumes Alessandro is the same as his Papà. He isn’t.”

  “Mamma.” Alessandro strode out through the double doors, which had been left wide open. “Don’t upset yourself. You’ve met your grandchild and I’m sure Katrina will bring him to see you once she’s settled back in her role at the grand La Scala Ballet.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve gotten you a role at La Scala, once your knee is ready. Ballet comes first doesn’t it, bella? Now you can have the career you want and live in Milan and Alex can grow up here in Italy where he belongs.”

  “No, Alessandro, you are wrong.” Mamma shook her hand at him.

  “Mamma Rinaldo.” Katrina held the older lady’s shaking arm. “You mustn’t get upset. This is for Alessandro and me to work out. I promise, you won’t lose your grandson no matter what happens between Alessandro and me.”

  “You think you know it all. I was like that when I was young, but I knew nothing. You have to listen to each other, what the other is saying, not what you think they’re saying.”

  “Come Mamma, Maria is here to take you inside for your nap.”

  The dear lady pursed her lips and shook her head side to side, but took the hand Maria offered. “Your future happiness is at stake. Don’t waste any more time.” Her hand pressed flat against the middle of her chest.

  Maria cast a withering glance at Alessandro. “Andiamo Mamma, let them knock heads. You come and be at peace. Everything will be all right.” She turned and led the bowed-down lady away.

  “You know I can’t stay here, not now. I can’t trust you. I’m not going to stay here for more than a minute to hear some made up an excuse to keep your son with you. We agreed I’d come here for a week. Bribing the La Scala into letting me dance for them is crazy.”

  “Bribe? I never bought anyone or anything and I never will. La Scala wants you to dance for them because you’re a prima ballerina.”

  “I have to go home. I’ve spoken to Ruby and she’s spoken with our eldest sister Natalie. They both agree that this visit has lasted long enough and that I need to get home. I can’t think here.”

  “Just talk to La Scala Ballet Company. They have a plan for your return to them.”

  “I can’t think about that. You overwhelm me, Alessandro.” She needed to put distance between him and herself. She would be calm again and able to think clearly. She left him standing next to the cool water and hurried inside to pack. She expected him to follow her. Alessandro wasn’t the kind of man to be dismissed but she hoped to gain a few moments to herself in the bedroom before he caught up.

  Behind her Katrina heard Mamma call out. “I want to talk to you, Alessandro.”

  “Not now, Mamma.”

  “ Sì, it has to be now.”

  She hoped he’d stay and talk to his mother. Tears welled in her eyes. The same vulnerability as when she was a fifteen-year-old standing in her biological father’s office gripped her. The first man who’d shown he didn’t love her. The first man who cared about his son but not her.

  The wooden door closed behind her and she heard no more. She paced across the richly furnished sitting room. The floral fabric on gilt chairs and massive windows with decorative ceilings oppressed her. She longed for her bedroom in her inner city terrace house in Melbourne. She needed the sleek calming lines of her modern décor around her and the routine of going to the practice studio each day. She wanted to turn the clock back to when it was just her and Alex.

  “I understand you want to go home, cara. But I have a problem with that.” He’d followed her. Her body reacted with the force of a landslide. His arms wrapped around her from behind. Weakness like spreading lava turned her limbs to lead. If he wanted to capture her and lock her up, she doubted she’d have the physical strength to do anything about it. She pushed out of his arms and he let her leave. Loneliness etched into her heart as his arms fell away. “I have to think, Alessandro. Please don’t try to use sex to keep me here.”

  “I love you, Katrina. I really do. Don’t leave me again.”

  Her heart pulsed as though she’d sprinted a hundred-meter dash. Her lungs ached for air. The bitter sweetness of hearing these words now burned. They were empty, a declaration of love from a desperate man about to lose his child couldn’t be believed.

  “I can’t do this Alessandro, not now.”

  She moved away, far enough so she could look at him from a safe distance. His face was ashen. It was real, he was gutted that she was taking Alex back to Australia before he could legally hold him here.

  “You can come and visit. I promised your Mamma that she wouldn’t lose her grandchild and she won’t. You won’t lose your son, either. My promises are kept.

  “I’ll set up Skype chats and Instagram lots of pictures for you between visits. When he’s older he can come and stay by himself.”

  His jaw bone sharpened. “I won’t let you go.”

  “I have a taxi booked. Now I need to get Alex ready and finish packing my bags. It should be here soon.”

  “You’re not going anywhere without these.” He pulled two passports from his back pocket and fanned them like a winning pair of cards.

  Her blood turned to white hot metal. “Give them to me.”

  “No bella, we have to be a family, can’t you see that.”

  “Family isn’t something you can force, Alessandro. Believe me, I know.”

  “You haven’t even tried.”

  “I can’t trust you! Do you think stealing our passports is going to change that?”

  “You can’t trust men. But you can trust this. I’ll track you down where ever you go.
The world is a small place for me and I’ll….”

  “You’ll what?”

  “I’ll find you and make you come back to me.”

  “I’m calling the Australian Ballet lawyers, and then the Embassy. You won’t be able to keep me here.”

  “Perhaps not you but my son is an Italian citizen because I have DNA proof that I’m his papà.”

  “Don’t take him away from me.” Her legs turned to marshmallow and her throat closed. She clutched at a heavy black hole in her chest. The world began to swim as the air refused to leave her lungs. She staggered back as a cold trickle of sweat ran down her forehead and stung her eyes.

  “Bella.” His worried face came up to hers. Fingers dug into her biceps, holding her upright.

  “It’s all right. It’s all right. I won’t separate you from our son. I just want you both to stay.”

  “I can’t. Not now, I can’t. You have to let us go.”

  A cool façade came over his face. “Very well then.” He shoved the passports into her numb fingers. “Go then, get out.”

  He let her walk out of the grand salon and up the ornately curved stairway. Something in her wished he’d stop her. Something stronger wanted to get to a place where she’d feel safe again. Each step made her knee ache a little more, by the time she reached the top it was killing her.

  The first class lounge at Malpensa airport provided everything she needed to keep Alex comfortable before the flight. He’d been fractious, picking up on her mood. Finally, the announcement to board echoed from the loudspeakers. She gathered up their things and went to the boarding lounge. The First class queue stood back to let her go on first, because she had Alex. The boarding doors opened, the flight attendant checked her ticket and waved her through.

  “Wait!” Alessandro’s voice echoed across the boarding lounge.

  She turned around. Alessandro stood behind the barrier his hands outstretched, his face twisted with anguish. Everything she hoped for the first time she left Malpensa airport with her heart in tatters happened now. He’d followed her, to stop her from boarding the flight. Her heart rose into her throat. Hope fluttered to life but she crushed its burgeoning flight with cold stones of reality. It was the child in her arms he’d come for, not her. Her heart raced with fear that he’d stop them.