Chapter Ten

She emerged some time later, with her hair neatly

brushed and a clean T-shirt tucked into her jeans, but the cursory gaze he flicked over her wasn't particularly warm.

You're going to need something to wear for the

ceremony, he said. 'I don't suppose you've got any-

thing suitable in your rucksack?"

'Not a thing, I'm afraid.' She forced a smile, wish-

ing he would at least acknowledge the intimacy they'd

just shared, instead of staring at her so coolly. I left

all my silks and satins behind at the palace.'

Massimo nodded as he reached for the phone. In that case I'l contact one of my assistants and arrange

to have some suitable clothes brought to the aircraft

when we land.' He paused. And in the meantime,

perhaps you could find something to amuse your-

self with for the rest of the flight. Something which

doesn't involve looking at me alluringly with those

big blue eyes and asking personal questions. Because

I have work to do and you're distracting me, Toyin. 

THEY ARRIVED AT Just past midnight when huge white

flakes were tumbling from the night sky as if some-

one were having a celestial pillow fight. Massimo's limousine negotiated the final bend of the narrow road

and it began to inch its way up the long drive towards

his brother's Cotswold mansion.

Toyin peered out of the window at the night-time

English countryside, thinking that if circumstances

were different she might have enjoyed the snowy

beauty of rural England-especially in contrast to

the beating heat of Australia. But for now she was just

grateful for the fact that the big house was shrouded

in darkness-the faint, fairy-lighted glow gleam-

ing behind the glass over the front door indicating

that everyone had gone to bed. Thank heavens. She

wasn't sure if she could face a reception committee

and wondered if Massimo had arranged that deliberately

by insisting they stop at a small pub for dinner on the

way here. Perhaps he'd been delaying the inevitable

meeting with his family because he didn't know how

to introduce her. It meant she'd eaten her first ever

meal in a British pub, enjoying the shepherd's pie the

landlord had recommended though less keen on the

warm beer Massimo had insisted she try.

In the back of the car were a large selection of

clothes which he'd ordered to be delivered to the plane

when they touched down in England-and she was

now wearing some of them. Gone were the cheap

jeans and T-shirt and in their place was an exquisite

cashmere dress, which clung to every curve of her

body, along with a pair of beautiful leather boots.

They were the kind of clothes she was used to wear-

ing, but along with her sudden change of image came

that familiar sense of being on show again. She stared

straight ahead, realising how much she had enjoyed

her uncomplicated life of anonymity and realising it

was about to come to an abrupt end.

You okay?" Massimo questioned as the car slid to a

halt in front of the house.

'Not really. I feel as nervous as hell, she said truthfully.

You?" In the shadowy light, his eyes narrowed.

'But you must have met hundreds of new people over

the years.

Probably thousands, she thought-but never like

this. Meeting somebody's family on equal terms

was something she'd never had to do before. Mostly

people knew who she was and had prepared accordingly and everyone was always on their best behav-

iour when a princess was around. She stared out of

the window again and it seemed that the sleeping

house had been nothing but an illusion, because the

moment their car swished to a snowy halt the front

door opened and a woman appeared in the doorway as

if she'd been listening out for them. Her greying hair matched a dress which was clearly a uniform and Toyin saw immediately what the glow behind the front

door had been-a giant Christmas tree, dominating

a vast and imposing wood-panelled hall.

Massimo smiled as the woman in the uniform stepped

forward.

'Toyin, Id like you to meet Bernadette, our

housekeeper; he said, 'who has been with different

factions of this family for many years. And if she

wasn't the soul of discretion, she could earn a living

writing about the exploits of the infamous Carter fam-

ily, couldn't you, Bernadette?"

*Sure, and who would want to read anything about

you lot?" answered Bernadette, her accent warm and

Irish. And aren't you forgetting your manners? Who's

this beautiful young lady?"

Massimo introduced her simply as Toyin' and Ber-

nadette seemed content with that. And at least Toyin

was able to chat easily to the housekeeper. Six months

ago and her observations would have been stiff and

formal, but working at Poonbarra meant she could

now identify with the housekeeper in a way which

would have been unthinkable before. 

She had learnt how to mix with ordinary folk, she realised-and for that she must be grateful.

Is everyone else here? Massimo was asking.

No. You're the first.? Bernadette closed the heavy

oak door on the snowy night. Some of the others are

flying in tomorrow. Your father's got the four-by-four

so he'll be okay. And Sharla rang to say she's coming

by helicopter, so she'll be here about midday.

Sharla.

It was an unfamiliar name which sounded vaguely

familiar, but Toyin's interest was heightened by the

sudden tension which had made Massimo's body stiffen.

She glanced up to see a hardness distorting his taut

features--and a darkening look which made him

seem like a stranger.

But he is a stranger, she reminded herself fiercely.

You don't really know anything about him. All they'd

done had been to fall into bed where he'd made her

feel stuff she hadn't thought she was capable of. Made

her long for things which were way out of her reach.

A sense of unease whispered over her but she said

nothing as they were shown up a grand staircase into

an enormous bedroom, dominated by a king-size bed

covered with a brocade throw in deep shades of claret

and gold. Beside the bed, crimson roses glowed in a

bronze bowl and, against huge windows, velvet cur-

tains were drawn to blot out the snowy night. A huge

crackling fire had been lit in the grate, scenting the

air with the crackle of applewood, and the glitter of

the flames was reflected in the overhead chandelier.

The overall effect was almost medieval and Toyin

unbuttoned her new coat and hung it up in the old-

fashioned wardrobe before slowly turning round.

Who's Sharla?" she questioned.

Massimo was reading something on his cell-phone and

didn't look up as he answered. You've probably heard

of her. She used to be a model.'

Wondering if his reply had been deliberately ca-

sual, Toyin nodded as she realised why she'd half

recognised the name. Of course. How could she have

overlooked that rare level of fame achieved when

somebody was known simply by their first nan

You mean the Sharla? she questioned. The super-

model with the endless legs-the one who's married

to the rock star?"

That's the one.: He looked up then and the expres-

sion in his grey eyes was curiously flat. 'And just for

the record, she isn't married to him any more.

Right.: She looked at him. But why is she here? I

thought you said it was just family. A low-key affair:

She is family.' There was a pause. I told you.

She's my sister-in-law Molly's twin, although I don't

tend to think of her as family.'

She wondered how he did think of her. Why a

sudden harshness had distorted his voice and why

he'd tensed when Bernadette had mentioned the su-

permodel's name. But it was none of her business.

She was here because they were supposedly doing

each other a favour. And yes, they'd had sex on the

plane, but that didn't mean anything-he couldn't

have made that more apparent if he'd tried. He hadn't

exactly pushed her away afterwards but he might as

well haye done. His attitude had been cool and dis-

tant. Careless might be the best way to describe it. as

he'd tapped her bottom in that rather insulting way

which hadn't stopped her wanting his fingers to lin-

ger there a little longer. So did sexual intimacy give

her the right to quiz him about his thoughts or his

feelings? It did not.

She

peeped out behind one of the heavy velvet

drapes. The snow was coming down hard now great

drifts swirling down and covering the ground by the

second. Rafe switched on one of the bedside lamps

and the rich brocade of the counterpane was illumi-

nated by a golden glow. Yet Toyin felt awkward as

she watched him moving around the elegant room.

He looked so far away, she thought. Any closeness

they had shared now seemed to have been forgotten.

He hadn't touched her once in the car and now she

was supposed to be sharing a room and a bed with

him and she didn't have a clue how that was going to

work. How any of this was going to work. What did

other women usually do in this kind of situation? But

she had wanted normality, hadn't she? Maybe now

was the time to embrace it.

Pulling the band from her hair, she shook her

curly hair free. 'What have you told them about me?"

"Nothing . I told my brother I was bringing some-

one, but that's all. They can find out who you are

when they meet you.'' 

His eyes gleamed. 

Given your

great love of understatement, I thought you'd prefer to tell 

'And they won't think it's odd that you've turned

up with a runaway princess?"

He gave the ghost of a smile. I come from an un-

usual family, Toyin. Where the odd is commonplace

and people break the rules all the time. They might

remark on it but they certainly won't have their heads

turned by it. 

And don't worry people won't bother

you or ask you predictable questions, if that's what

you're concerned about.

 Now, he added softly. 'It's

late. Aren't you going to get ready for bed?"

His words sounded scarily informal, which seemed

crazy when she remembered being pinned to the floor

of the plane, her jeans trapped around her ankles.

But that didn't prevent a sudden flash of nervousness

as Toyin grabbed her wash bag and went into the

bathroom. The clothes which Massimo had ordered to be

delivered to the plane contained nothing as warm or

no practical as a nightshirt, but there was no way she was walking back out there naked. 

So she kept her knickers on and pulled a T-shirt over her head. 

Massimo's eyebrows rose when she returned and climbed quickly into bed, though as he went into the bathroom himself.