Free Italian Surgeon to the Stars by Melanie Milburne Page B

parent he no longer respected and a new stepmother whomight well have resented having to care for two children who weren’t her own.
    I could see why he hadn’t wanted to tell me about his background. It was probably too painful even to think about, much less talk about. And now he had the worry of his sister’s health and the responsibility of caring for his little niece.
    ‘I’m really sorry,’ I said. ‘It must’ve been a terrible time for you and your sister.’
    He moved to the door. ‘Come on. I’ll show you the kitchen.’
    I tried a couple more times to draw him out about his past as we went through each of the rooms, but it seemed the subject was now well and truly closed. He showed me the rest of the house in much the same way as I’d shown him around the school. In a bored tour-guide manner that made me feel I was being a nuisance to him.
    Under any other circumstances I would have been angry with him, but after finding out about his bleak childhood it made my emotions towards him somewhat confusing, to say the least. For so long I’d blistered and bubbled with bitterness towards him. My anger had become such an entrenched part of my personality I wasn’t sure how to livewithout it. It was my armour. Stepping out of it would be like being naked in public.
    But wasn’t his reluctance to dredge over the past more than a little like mine? I was the high priestess of avoidance. How could I blame him for not telling me about his childhood when I hadn’t told him what had happened in mine?
    Once the tour was over Alessandro accompanied me out to my car. He held the door open for me.
    ‘Thanks for showing me around,’ I said. ‘It’s a really nice house. It has loads of potential. I can see why you want to get it back in the family.’
    ‘It’s what my mother would’ve wanted. To see her grandchild enjoy the place as much as she did.’
    I put my hand on the top of the car door and then half turned to look at him. In the heat of the moment I’d forgotten my whole purpose for being there. ‘How long has Claudia had her stutter?’
    ‘I’m not sure.’
    I raised my brows. ‘You haven’t asked her mother?’
    His expression tightened. ‘My sister isn’twell enough to handle much conversation right now.’
    ‘She must be very ill.’
    ‘She is.’
    I rolled my lips together for a moment. ‘Look, I think I can help with Claudia’s speech. I’ve done a special course on language and learning problems.’
    I wondered if I should tell him about my own experience. But just as swiftly decided against it. I wasn’t going to be fooled into being too open with him. I would treat him like any other parent or guardian at my school. Which meant I would have to erase that kiss out of my memory as soon as possible.
    I was about to slip in behind the wheel when his hand came down on mine, where it was resting on the top of the car door.
    ‘Thank you for what you’re doing for my niece,’ he said.
    I glanced at his tanned hand, covering my paler one. A traitorous pulse of longing passed like a current through my body. It was as if he had direct access to my core by that simple touch. It had always been that way between us. I’d felt it the first time he’d touched me outside that café in Paris. I had no immunityfrom him. For all these years I’d kidded myself I was over him. But every time he touched me I felt that same jolt of awareness. No one else had the same effect on me. I was beginning to suspect no one else ever would.
    I brought my gaze up to his. ‘I’m not doing anything I wouldn’t do for any other child under my care.’
    ‘I called the boarding house before you came,’ he said. ‘The house mistress told me you’d dropped in after school to see how Claudia was getting on.’
    I dismissed his comment with a shrug. ‘I often call in on the boarders—especially the young ones.’
    His lips lifted in a little sideways smile. ‘I would have done it, you know.’
    I frowned in