The Italian’s Rightful Bride Read Online Free PDF

discovered.
    Billy listened, asking some intelligent questions, to Joanna’s pride. But then something seemed to distract him, and he slipped away.
    â€˜We saw a little girl upstairs,’ Joanna ventured.
    â€˜That would be Renata,’ Carlo said at once. ‘Gustavo’s daughter.’ He sighed. ‘Poor child.’
    â€˜Why poor? Is she jealous now that she has a little brother?’
    Carlo looked around and dropped his voice.
    â€˜Gustavo’s divorce has just become final. The little boy wasn’t his, and his wife has taken the child to live with her lover.’
    Joanna drew in a sharp breath.
    â€˜His—you mean Crystal?’
    â€˜Yes; do you know her?’
    â€˜We met briefly many years ago, but I haven’t stayed in touch. I didn’t know this.’
    â€˜As you can imagine, it’s hit Gustavo very hard, so wedon’t talk about it. But I thought you should know the situation.’
    â€˜Yes,’ she said slowly. ‘Yes, I’m glad you warned me.’
    Carlo didn’t seem to notice anything odd in her manner.
    â€˜When you’re ready we’ll go and see the dig,’ he said. ‘It’s about a mile away.’
    â€˜I can’t wait.’
    As soon as she saw the discovery Joanna knew she had come to the right place. Her personal feelings didn’t matter. This was the find of the century, and it had to be hers.
    From the corner of her eye she could see Renata and Billy. They seemed to have established perfect rapport, and she was showing him around the site, pointing out places of interest. After a while they strolled away together.
    She spent the rest of the day with Carlo, becoming more convinced that this really was the great lost palace Gustavo had spoken of. At dinner that evening she met Laura, a smiling, middle-aged woman who looked after Renata. To Joanna’s amusement Billy turned his charm on her and within minutes Laura was lost.
    â€˜You and Renata seem to get on well,’ she said to him as they climbed the stairs later that night.
    â€˜She’s been telling me about Prince Gustavo,’ Billy said, frowning. ‘Honestly, Mum, he’s a monster. You know her mother’s gone?’
    â€˜Yes, Carlo told me.’
    â€˜Apparently he drove her out and wouldn’t let Renata go with her. He actually grabbed hold of Renata and kept her here by force. She says he’s full of hate and he’s taking it out on her.’
    â€˜Billy, I don’t believe that,’ she said at once.
    â€˜Why?’ he asked.
    â€˜Well—’
    â€˜Why not, Mum? You always said, “Stick to the evidence.” Where’s the evidence that Renata’s wrong?’
    She was caught, since she could hardly say that she’d known Gustavo and this wasn’t like him. And how well had she known him?
    â€˜Sometimes I wish I hadn’t brought you up to be so logical,’ she sighed.
    â€˜Too late now.’
    â€˜Let’s wait and hear the evidence for the other side,’ she countered.
    â€˜That’s right, Mum. When he gets here you ask him what really happened.’
    â€˜Go to bed,’ she said firmly. ‘And stop being cheeky.’
    He gave his wicked grin. ‘It’s too late for that too,’ he said, and vanished into his room before she could think of an answer.
    Within two days Joanna had assembled a crack team, all of them people who had worked with her on other digs. Plunging into work was a relief. It took her mind off Gustavo and the situation she’d found.
    She resisted the picture Billy had drawn, of a man so enraged that he cruelly penalised his child. But she, more than anyone, knew how he’d adored Crystal, and how her desertion must have devastated him. What had bitterness and misery done to him?
    She could hardly believe that Renata was Gustavo and Crystal’s child since she looked like neither of them. Her little face lacked any hint of