Playing the Royal Game

She knew.

‘I always moaned to your mum and Chantelle that you and your sisters’ weddings would bankrupt me.’ It broke her heart how hard it must be for him. ‘This should be a dream come true for a parent, hasn’t cost me a penny, and what with Izzy and Matteo, Ella and Hassan, Angel and Rafe...’ He faltered for a moment. ‘Careful what you wish for, huh!’

‘You’re not giving me away today, Dad.’

He frowned. ‘Another thing they’re taking away from me?’

‘I meant...’ Her voice was very firm, very clear, and her eyes shone, not with tears, but with absolute faith in her words. ‘I’m always going to be your daughter—I’m not going to let them change that part of me. We’ll still see each other, you’ll come here and I’m not missing out on Christmas.’ She saw an edge of a smile. ‘And I mean that. And if Alex doesn’t want to join in, if duty means he can’t, I’m going to be there. Maybe just for one night, maybe we’ll have to do Christmas some years on Boxing Day, but I’m not missing it—and neither will Izzy, I’ll make sure of that. You’re not giving me away, Dad.’

‘No, I’m gaining a cold fish!’

He always made her laugh.

‘Let’s do it then.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

‘YOU don’t have a cigarette?’ He saw Matteo frown. ‘Joking,’ Alex said, but there was this restlessness in him, this gnaw, as they waited for the car that would take him to the church.

‘Worried she might not show up?’ his brother teased.

‘No,’ Alex said, for it was not that which worried him. There was this uneasiness that was ever present these days, this churn in his stomach that had him swallow an antacid and wait for the burn to go—it did not.

‘What are you doing?’ Alex asked, irritated as his brother tapped on his phone.

‘Just checking on Izzy,’ Matteo said. ‘She’ll be nervous about singing at your reception tonight.’ He glanced up. ‘Sorry. I’m supposed to be taking care of the groom. Mind you, you’re hardly the type for nerves.’

‘Ask Izzy how Allegra is,’ Alex said.

‘I was joking about her not showing up.’ Matteo grinned, but it was not that that concerned Alex as his brother awaited Izzy’s response. It was something else, something he could not place.

‘Izzy’s already said goodbye to Allegra, she says...’ Matteo did not continue, instead he grinned at whatever Izzy had said.

‘She makes you happy?’ Alex asked.

‘You know she does.’

‘I don’t know,’ Alex said, and for a second there it felt as if Matteo were the older one, the wiser one, privy to something he had never seen. ‘You love her?’

‘I do,’ Matteo said, not at all shocked by his brother’s question, because in this family love did not rule.

‘How did you know?’

‘Apart from the fact she was the first woman to swim in my fountain?’ He gave a ghost of a smile. ‘I’d never met anyone like Izzy before. The woman drove me crazy. And yes, it took me a while to realise that “crazy” was actually love.’ He looked at his older brother. ‘I nearly lost her, Alex. Don’t make the same mistake as me.’

‘I’m marrying her today,’ Alex pointed out.

‘I thought we were talking about love,’ Matteo said. ‘Which in this family is another subject entirely. Come on,’ Matteo continued. ‘Can’t have the groom being late.’

Alex made a phone call, just a quick one, heard the confusion at the other end, but chose not to justify.

‘You will see that it is done,’ Alex said then clicked off his phone and climbed in the vehicle, stared unseeing out of the car window as they drove to church. He tried not to think of her smile and the feel of her in bed beside him and her raw tears last night. Tried not to think of the life he had trapped her in, a life she did not want, a loveless marriage that served only the people.

The streets were lined with people all waving and cheering, but they did not expect him to wave, nor even smile, for Alessandro so rarely did, but he did look—he looked at the hopeful faces, saw the pictures they held up of Allegra. They were his people, and reluctant or not, a little too soon for his liking perhaps, now he took his role on, and as he did in everything he would perform to perfection.