The Convenient Bride Read online

  ‘Congratulations,’ she bit out. ‘No burdensome children to weigh you down – just how you wanted it.’ Grabbing the handle of her case, she marched towards the lifts. She heard Antonio barking instructions and a bellboy appeared from nowhere and took her bag. Fury coursed through her veins.

  ‘How dare you,’ she said, her cheeks aflame. ‘This is my hotel. What right do you think . . .’

  Antonio strode to her and pulled her into his arms. He laid a finger on her lips. ‘Just listen. Then, if you want, I’ll go . . . forever.’

  A lifetime without Antonio . . . beige walls . . .

  She wriggled from his arms. She couldn’t think straight with his body so close to hers. His smell, his touch, his voice. She missed him in every way possible.

  ‘You have one minute,’ she said with more defiance than she felt.

  ‘Not enough – I want a lifetime,’ he said. ‘I love you, Sienna De Luca, and I’ll do anything to prove it.’

  It was as though the world dropped away around her. She blinked stupidly. Love?

  ‘How can I believe you?’ Angry tears sprang into her eyes. She brushed them roughly away. She couldn’t take lies about love. Not from him.

  Antonio sighed.

  ‘All my life I’ve been filled with shame, guilt and anger. I blamed myself for my family’s death. I turned my heart to stone, as it was the only way I knew how to survive. I wouldn’t let anyone close; I couldn’t. I was afraid of letting them down or hurting them.’

  The desire to comfort him nearly neutralised her anger, but she’d been down that road before and it ended in pain.

  ‘As for having children, I . . .’ He paused and drew in a deep breath. ‘I was afraid. But you changed all that. With you, whatever happens, we’d handle it together.’ He drew her close. ‘The episode with Amy made me realise that if I ever did have children, I could only have them with you.’

  Sienna blinked hard but it didn’t help. Tears fell freely from her eyes. ‘Oh, Antonio.’ She slipped her arms about him. What did he have to gain from lying now?

  He held her so tightly Sienna thought she’d stay melded to his body forever.

  ‘I love you, cara,’ he said. ‘I’ve loved you from the moment you threw me out of your office.’

  A lightness filled her spirit. She laughed. ‘You have no idea how terrified I was.’

  He brushed his lips over hers. ‘Not terrified any more?’

  ‘You’re the one who needs to be terrified,’ she said, dropping light kisses on his lips. ‘I haven’t told you how many children I want,’ she whispered in his ear.

  He cupped her face in his hands. ‘I’ll have a dozen if that makes you happy,’ he said.

  ‘Let’s not get too carried away.’

  ‘Okay, let’s start with one.’ He scooped her into his arms and hit the button for the top floor.

  She laughed. ‘You’re staying in the penthouse?’

  ‘You know me, nothing but the best.’ He walked into the lift. ‘And now I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you get the best.’

  ‘I only need you,’ she said.

  He shook his head and looked serious. ‘What would have happened if I hadn’t found you?’

  ‘Let’s leave the past behind,’ she said. ‘Let’s go and make the future.’

  ‘That sounds like a good plan,’ he said.

  When he kissed her, she knew all her grief and loneliness was over.

  Epilogue

  Five Months Later

  Sienna looked across the Plaza’s crowded ballroom. Everyone chatted happily. As she caught people’s eyes, they smiled and waved. Everything looked incredible. Antonio had poured money into the place since they’d been engaged – for real this time.

  She’d managed the renovations and her father had gradually taken up some of the management responsibilities. They’d hired him an assistant and everything was running smoothly again, just like in the hotel’s heyday.

  She turned her gaze again to the gorgeous man sitting next to her in his wedding suit. She couldn’t imagine it was possible to love a man more. Antonio had insisted on holding another wedding, the wedding she’d always dreamed of. One where her father walked her down the aisle, where friends and family packed the pews and where every word of her vows was said with a heart bursting with love.

  Antonio’s arm slipped about her shoulders. ‘Have I told you how beautiful you look?’

  ‘Only a few hundred times, but I’ll never get sick of you saying it.’

  ‘You were right,’ he said.

  She arched an eyebrow. ‘Right?’

  ‘Your mother’s wedding dress is so much better than that meringue Mario designed for you.’

  She looked down at the antique lace with its hand-sewn pearls. ‘Mum would have loved this day,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Your father certainly seems to be enjoying himself.’

  She looked up, following Antonio’s line of sight to the table off to their left. Marco De Luca had his head in close to an Italian lady, like he’d used to do when listening intently to her mother. He looked happy. Happier than she’d seen him in the past three years.

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘My godmother, Julia Madonsa. Her husband died of cancer ten years ago.’

  Her father threw his head back and laughed. Could this day be any better? Sienna hadn’t seen him laugh for years. She blotted her eyes with the tip of her napkin.

  ‘I can’t believe Dad’s laughing,’ she said, her voice catching slightly.

  ‘Julia mentioned she wanted to see a bit of Australia. Perhaps we could encourage your father to accompany her.’

  ‘Are you playing matchmaker?’

  ‘Well, I’ve done a pretty good job for myself.’ He kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘Look at that,’ he said, gazing past her.

  Sienna watched as her father stood and held out his hand, obviously asking Julia to dance.

  ‘You know, I don’t think Dad’s going to need any encouragement from us.’ She held Antonio’s hand tightly as her father waltzed Julia around the dance floor, his face shining with joy.

  ‘You did a beautiful job on the ballroom,’ Antonio said.

  Sienna gazed about the room at the flowers and decorations she’d chosen with such care.

  ‘I know something else that will look beautiful when you’re done with it,’ he continued in a conspiratorial tone.

  ‘What?’ she asked suspiciously.

  Antonio reached into his pocket.

  ‘I wanted to give it to you in private, but I couldn’t wait.’

  He handed her a photo. It took her a heartbeat to register. The picture depicted the little rundown Venetian building she’d so loved. The abandoned one with the rotten doors.

  ‘It’s my wedding present to you.’

  Her chest grew tight as she struggled to take a breath. ‘It’s ours?’ She blinked to clear her teary vision.

  ‘Yours,’ he announced. ‘Yours to renovate any way you like.’

  Sienna threw her arms about her husband’s neck. Every day she thought it was impossible to love him more and every day she was proved wrong.

  ‘Antonio, Sienna.’ Sienna looked around as Sergio and Rosa arrived at their table. She quickly pulled herself together and stood to embrace the elderly couple. Antonio did the same.

  ‘We have something to give you.’ Sergio handed Antonio an envelope.

  ‘No,’ Antonio said, holding up his hands. ‘No presents. Your being here is gift enough for us.’

  Sergio thrust the envelope into Antonio’s hand. ‘It’s only twice I get to see my only nephew married,’ Sergio said with a sparkle in his eye.

  They all laughed, the pain of Sienna and Antonio’s convenient marriage forgotten. She and Antonio had flown back to the Villa Paradiso several times over the past months.

  Antonio opened the envelope and unfolded an official-looking document. Leaning over, Sienna saw immediately it was the title deed to the Villa Paradi
so. She wanted to throw her arms about Sergio’s neck, but this was Antonio’s moment.

  Antonio stared at the document for a long moment, then looked at his uncle.

  ‘Are you sure, Zio?’ he asked, his voice choking with emotion.

  ‘A man who admits his mistakes and makes amends is a man of great honour,’ Sergio said solemnly. ‘There is no one better to look after our heritage than you.’

  The two men hugged for a long time. Sienna reached for Rosa’s hand and squeezed it gently. Tears glistened in the older woman’s eyes. Sienna felt her heart could burst with happiness.

  ‘Isn’t it time you danced with your wife?’ Sergio asked when the men broke apart.

  Antonio took Sienna’s hand. ‘May I have this dance?’ he asked.

  ‘This and every one,’ she said.

  Antonio led her to the dance floor. The band played a slow-moving ballad. Sienna melted into her husband’s arms.

  ‘There’s nothing that could make me happier than I am at this moment,’ he whispered in her ear.

  Sienna smiled to herself. ‘Really?’

  He held her from him and looked at her carefully. ‘What on earth could be better than this?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. She rose up on tippy toes to whisper in his ear: ‘Having a baby?’

  Antonio pulled back and stared into her eyes, his face a picture of surprise.

  ‘A baby?’ His eyes glistened with joy.

  ‘Yes.’

  As he picked her up and whirled her about, Sienna knew that her life would be full of love and passion forever.

  About the Author

  THE CONVENIENT BRIDE – JENNIFER ST GEORGE

  Jennifer grew up in the Brisbane suburbs surrounded by bush. When she was 11, her family moved to South America, an adventure that gave Jennifer a lifetime love of travel and exotic international locations.

  Married with two children, Jennifer has a graduate business degree and completed an MBA where she was presented with the Rupert Murdoch Fellowship.

  Jennifer spent the first 20 years of her career in corporate marketing and management consulting roles, but began writing romance when she moved with her family to Byron Bay in Northern NSW, three years ago.

  The Convenient Bride is her first book.

  Acknowledgements

  The Convenient Bride – Jennifer St George

  To all friends at Romance Writers of Australia who gave me so much support and guidance - thank you. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thanks also to all my friends and family who read my drafts and said they loved them - I will be forever grateful. For Finn and Freya who didn’t mind eating lots of takeaway. But most of all to my mother and David who read every word since I started on this writing quest and who totally believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself - thank you. And finally to Rose, my writing inspiration - I miss you every day.

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  This edition published by Penguin Books Australia 2012

  Copyright © Jennifer St George, 2012

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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  ISBN: 978-1-74253-649-1

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