Free The Italian Inheritance by Louise Rose-Innes Page B

got me off the streets. Everything I am today I owe to that man. He was not only a mentor; he was a father to me.”
    The relief was instantaneous. “Oh, thank heavens for that,” she whispered. “For a moment there I thought...”
    Rafael shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
    Anna composed herself and then glanced at Rafael who was watching her speculatively.
    “So you were an orphan ?”
    He nodded and said abruptly. “Yes, but luckily Giovanni changed all that. He showed me how to make a success of my life.”
    Anna studied him curiously. So he had been an orphan , too, like her. Until Giovanni had adopted him. She looked at the expensive suit and the watch. He’d certainly done well for himself if that was the case. Obviously her first impression of him had been incorrect. When she’d assumed he hadn’t experienced hard times, she couldn’t have been more wrong. He must have kn own loss and abandonment too—a nd growing up on the streets, that was rough. At least she’d had her mother and a comfortable house, until she was twelve, anyway.
    The new developments painted him in an entirely different light. Anna felt a bit bewildered. She wasn’t sure what to make of it all. For a moment there she’d been horrified at the th ought of kissing her brother—e specially since it felt as amazing as it did.
    It was all too much. Giovanni dead, DNA tests, the inheritance , her attraction to Rafael, the fact that he was also Giovanni’s son, his orphaned past...
    Anna felt like her senses were in overdrive. The need to get away suddenly overwhelmed her. She had to process all the conflicting thoughts and emotions flying through her mind.
    “I ...I think I need to be alone for a while,” she s tammered, jumping out of the chair and reaching for her tote bag . At his surprised look she added. “I t’s a lot to take in.”
    “Where will you be?” Rafael asked quickly t hen added, “In case I need you for anything.”
    “I don’t know. Probably o n the beach.”
    Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Anna said a brief goodbye and hurried out of the office. She made a beeline for the steep rocky steps that lead down the cliff face to the little marina and the beach. The urge to feel the sand between her toes and to take deep fortifying breaths of salty sea air was almost desperate.
    Her mind raced.
    So , Rafael still suspected her of being a fraud. After all she’d told him. Unbelievable. But at least he had brought up the DNA test. That was the most sensible suggestion he’d had since they’d first met . A paternity test was a sure-fire way of discovering the truth .
    And there was the small issue of the money. Ten million dollars. If she inherited, Rafael would lose that money. Would he be bitter? Men had murdered for less. The thought made her pause and she glanced up and out over the steep cliff. The Bay of Naples stretched as far as the eye could see, impossibly blue and still. Nothing like the tumultuous feelings crashing around inside of her.
    No. Rafael didn’t strike her as the murderous type. Passionate, yes, and hard in a ruthless, street-wise kind of way, but murder...? She didn’t think so. Anna continued down the endless steps, her rhythmic footsteps therapeutically helped detangle her thoughts.
    So he’d grown up on the streets. That was a surprise. He must have had a rough childhood. Perhaps that’s where his distrusting nature had stemmed from? Maybe he’d been forced to defend himself from an early age. Anna sympathised. She knew all about that. S he hadn’t had to defend herself with her fists, but she’d used her intelligence and sheer hard work to get where she was today. Maybe her and Rafael were more alike than she’d thought.
    Except her father hadn’t come to her rescue, like he had to Rafael’s. In some ways it was ironic that Giovanni had died leaving her all this money. Perhaps she was going to get her Fairy God-Father after all.
    Finally Anna reached the last