IT WAS THE most perfect setting for a wedding.
The tiny stone chapel had an archway that Georgia and Kate would be making their entrance through any minute now. There was a soft glow of candlelight from within that warmed the surface of the ancient stones far more than the moonlight out here as the two women paused to wait for their signal.
The sound of bagpipes to accompany Kate on her walk down the aisle to meet the love of her life would also be perfect for this gorgeously Scottish wedding. Everything about this moment was making Georgia ridiculously happy—including the way that this soft, midnight-blue dress draped over the enormous bump of her belly and made her feel like a Madonna. Maybe not that beautiful but a perfect foil for how amazing Kate looked. Her dress had a fall of ivory silk that was brushing the cobblestones and an exquisitely bead-encrusted bodice with a sweetheart neckline in the front and a deep V at the back. The bunch of pale peonies she was holding, with the silk bow that matched her dress, was simple and as elegant as everything else was turning out to be, but it was the glow of sheer joy on her face that really made her look more beautiful than Georgia had ever seen her look. She couldn’t wait to start this new life with Luke, could she?
Suddenly Georgia couldn’t wait either. Where was the piper who was due to start this ceremony?
‘Oh, look...’ There was a beat of excitement to add to her happiness now. ‘I think that’s him getting ready.’ Her breath came out in a sigh. ‘I do love a man in a kilt.’
She could hear the piper getting ready to play. Any moment now and those muffled squeaks as he filled the bag with air would burst into the full glory of her favourite musical instrument.
‘Stand by...’ she whispered loudly, her lips curving into a grin.
‘No...’ the call came from behind them. ‘Wait...’
Oh...no...
Georgia knew that voice. That accent...
Good grief... It felt like her bones were actually melting—possibly due to the weird explosion of every cell her in body, which was creating a tingling sensation that was so strong it was almost painful.
Both women turned in unison, so fast that Georgia’s smile didn’t have time to fade completely.
‘Matteo...’ Kate sounded overjoyed. ‘You made it.’
‘I didn’t think I could. Not after the last delay with the fog.’ Matteo must have run up all the steps to reach this part of the castle but he still looked immaculate in his black, beautifully tailored suit and a bow-tie nestled in the collar of a snowy, white shirt. With the soft moonlight, against the backdrop of this wonderful castle, he looked like an advertisement for some fashion house.
Just...impossibly gorgeous.
And it was having the same effect on her that it had had when she’d seen him for the very first time, at that competition briefing in Rakovi.
She needed to get a grip on this. Fast...
Matteo was still speaking. ‘But I couldn’t let my best friend get married without me.’ He put his hand to his chest as he tried to catch his breath. He hadn’t taken his eyes off this bride-to-be yet. Hadn’t even looked at Georgia.
That hurt.
‘You look...bellissima, Kate. Luke is a very lucky man.’
‘He certainly is.’ Georgia had to say something. To force Matteo to acknowledge her? Her heart was doing strange things—missing beats and then racing so fast it was scary.
No. This was scary.
Dangerous.
But...thrilling at the same time.
Oh, help... Why did she have to have this personality flaw that made danger so exciting? It was that addiction to an adrenaline rush that made her job such a part of who she was.
A part of why she had found such a compelling connection to this man. And being able to harness that adrenaline rush was part of what made her so good at her job but it was not a good thing as part of a personal relationship.
Not that she had a personal relationship with this man.
Not that she ever could.
‘Hi, Matteo.’ It was a test to see if she could actually say his name without giving away any of the shock that still clutched at her heart. It was a relief to find that she could.
She couldn’t hold eye contact for more than a split second, however. Just that tiny brush and she could still feel it.
That connection.
Those impossibly powerful feelings that only this man had ever aroused.
Georgia flicked her gaze towards Kate, her message silent but probably desperate.
How could you not warn me?
How am I going to cope with this?
She had to cope, she had no choice. She managed to find a smile that said this was no big deal. To keep her tone just as casual. ‘You didn’t tell me Matteo was coming.’
‘We really weren’t sure that he could make it. Luke’s going to be as surprised as you.’
Georgia couldn’t help another glance at Matteo. Maybe it was just that first eye contact that would be so difficult.
But he wasn’t looking at her face any longer. He was staring at her belly and, even in the moonlight that was already bleaching colour from skin, she could swear he had gone paler.
But...he didn’t seem surprised. He looked angry more than shocked.
Had he known that she was pregnant? Had he put two and two together and was now preparing to make discover the truth and then make some kind of a claim?
Okay...this level of adrenaline was too much. Any thrill was rapidly being buried under an avalanche of fear.
Matteo seemed to have lost his voice along with the colour. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Then he cleared his throat.
‘Hello, Georgia. You’re looking...um...well?’
Fear was morphing into a determination that bordered on anger. How dared he turn up like this and threaten her?
Threaten her babies.
‘I’m very well, thank you.’
She could see his chest move under the pristine white shirt. He was dragging in a deep breath.
‘I’d better get inside.’ Matteo was already moving away. ‘Give me a minute to find my place, okay?’
Georgia watched him disappear through the archway just as the stirring first notes of the bagpipes filled the air around them.
Traditionally, the bagpipes were thought to have been a call to stir the passions of soldiers on the battlefield.
It certainly felt as if they were doing exactly that to Georgia.
She only had a few hours to fight to keep her secret safe somehow. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do that but Georgia was quite sure she was going to win.
Because she had to.
She had lied to him before, even it if had only been the omission of correcting his assumption that she was cheating on someone. She could do it again. She was ready.
‘Here we go,’ Georgia said.
She pasted a bright smile onto her face. Not only did she have a private battle to fight, she was going to have to make sure it didn’t lessen the joy of Kate’s special day in any way.
* * *
‘To have and to hold, from this day forward, till death us do part...’
The vows were traditional, but they were spoken by both Luke and Kate with a level of emotion that made them sound as if they had been written just for them. In the flicker of candlelight, within the ancient solidity of these historic walls, this ceremony was so beautiful it brought tears to Matteo’s eyes.
He wanted this for himself, more than anything.
To promise himself to the woman he loved above any other. To know that he would never be alone. That he could begin the most important task he could ever achieve—to be a loving and devoted husband and father...
Even more than the desire to be standing where Luke was right now, holding the hands of the most beautiful bride ever, Matteo longed to be standing beside the woman who was shaped by the creation of his first child. Who had that superbly rounded belly and the glow of impending motherhood, exactly like Georgia did right now.
He’d never seen her look so beautiful...
Matteo stole a glance beyond Luke and Kate as they exchanged their rings and then found he couldn’t take his gaze away from Georgia as she stood there, holding Kate’s flowers, her eyes sparkling with what had to be unshed tears and a tiny tremor in her bottom lip that captured his heart and squeezed it like a vice.
He remembered exactly what it was like to feel that lip beneath his own. To feel the passion that was so much a part of this woman.
‘With this ring, I thee wed... With my body I thee honour...’
The words about worldly goods became a blur of sound as Matteo grappled with the desire to be doing that to Georgia Bennett.
Honouring her.
Touching that magnificent belly with his hands. With his lips...
Dio mio... He needed to control himself better than this. For heaven’s sake, the father of her child was most likely sitting in one of the wooden pews behind them. He would have to meet him very soon. Congratulate the man and tell him how lucky he was.
His glance finally jerked away from Georgia.
Who was he?
Perhaps that man in the second row who was sitting alone.
He looked a good ten years older than Georgia, with grey hair streaking a neatly trimmed beard and moustache. He was focussed on the ceremony and looked...content? As if he knew he was the luckiest man in the world?
Except, if he was Georgia’s partner, he wasn’t that lucky, was he? He was with a woman who had cheated on him.
Yes. This line of thought was helping a lot. His body—and his heart—might be telling him one thing but his head knew better. He just needed to remember what was most important in life and the one thing that meant Georgia could never be the perfect woman for him and he would be able to get through the next few hours without doing or saying anything that could lessen the joy of this occasion for Luke.
And then he could escape.
* * *
Champagne and canapés were to be served to guests in the Argyle Tower after the ceremony but there were some formal photographs to be taken before the bridal party could join the rest of the intimate group of the close friends chosen to share this occasion.
‘Come with me,’ the photographer ordered, after some shots outside the chapel. ‘You can’t not have the background of the whole castle behind you—it’s a classic. We need to be just outside the main entrance.’
At least she wasn’t alone with Matteo, Georgia reminded herself as she followed Kate and Luke towards the stone staircase. And it wouldn’t take very long and then she could make sure she was always in the company of someone else. Dougal McGregor, her boss as the director of Edinburgh’s Emergency Response Centre, was here by himself and would probably appreciate an introduction to many of the doctors from two of the major hospitals in their area.
In the meantime, however, nerves were kicking in. She had been able to lose herself in the actual ceremony as Kate and Luke had exchanged their vows to join their lives. Their love for each other was powerful enough to have taken her breath away and bring tears to her eyes.
And, if she was honest, a part of that emotional reaction was tinged with regret that she would never find this for herself—a loving partnership that could make her world feel so full of promise. So safe...
It wasn’t that she hadn’t searched for it. A psychoanalyst would probably say that she’d been searching her whole life because even her beloved mother hadn’t been able to make her feel completely safe. How could she, when she’d never felt safe herself? Georgia knew that she had to take the blame for many of her own relationships foundering as well. The huge barrier of not being able to trust a man had been formed, brick by painful brick, as she’d grown up, and she’d never quite managed to climb over it. She’d tried. She’d believed she had been successful last time, with Rick, but that had come crashing down in spectacular fashion—as it inevitably did, time after time.
It’s just not going to work, Georgie.
I feel like I have to try too hard all the time and I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to be proving.
I’m sorry...but I’ve met someone else...
She needed love in her life, though. Who didn’t? And Georgia knew she had always been destined to be a mother. That was the ultimately trustworthy love, wasn’t it? Unconditional and fulfilling.
It would be enough.
She would protect her children with everything she had and, right now, there was a threat to them.
Their father.
It wasn’t simply that he might know the truth and be about to make a claim either. Georgia was aware of a threat that came from within herself. This extraordinary pull that she felt towards Matteo was dangerous. Being this close to him, as the small group followed the photographer towards the staircase that led to the main entrance of the castle, was enough to have her whole body vibrating with awareness of him. Everything seemed more acute. She could feel every breath she was drawing in. The pale moonlight felt bright enough to be a spotlight.
And then, as they reached the first steps, Matteo was suddenly right beside her and his hand circled her elbow.
‘Take care,’ he said quietly. ‘These steps are old and they could be slippery.’
Oh...dear Lord... The touch of his fingers against her bare skin took her straight back to that night. To those stolen hours of lovemaking that she could never forget.
Her head was telling her to pull her arm free. To smile politely and tell him that she was fine. Every other part of her was simply on strike. Any words refused to emerge. She could actually feel herself leaning into him, letting him support her balance, allowing her sense of touch to soak in the delicious heat that was making her skin tingle.
It was Matteo that broke the physical contact, dropping her elbow as if it was too hot to handle the moment they reached the bottom of the long staircase.
‘We’ll do the bride and groom first,’ the photographer told them. ‘Down here, so we’ve got you framed by the entrance archway and the braziers.’
Georgia and Matteo were left standing to one side.
Alone. Together.
‘It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?’ Georgia scanned the scene that would become the background of the image. There were spotlights on the turrets towering above them and the round sweep of the Half Moon Battery. Dramatic flames danced over the tall braziers that the bridal couple were positioned between. ‘Perfect spot for a wedding, isn’t it? Did you know that the chapel was built in the twelfth century?’
She could hear herself speaking too fast and would probably cringe when she remembered the artificially bright note in her voice.
‘It’s the oldest building in Edinburgh.’ Her words slowed as she glanced sideways to catch the intent stare Matteo was giving her. ‘Um... St Margaret’s chapel, that is...’
‘So, is he the man with the beard?’ Matteo’s tone was clipped.
‘Sorry...what?’
‘The man with the beard who was sitting in the second row.’ He sounded impatient now. ‘That’s your husband?’
For a moment, Georgia was confused. If Matteo had known about her pregnancy, surely he would know that she didn’t have a partner?
How much did he actually know?
Luke and Kate were kissing now. A tender moment that would make a fabulous photo to remind them of this occasion.
Georgia had to close her eyes in a long blink, however. Shame was pushing past confusion. Of course Matteo thought she had a partner. He believed she had been cheating on him when she’d gone to bed with him.
‘That’s Dougal McGregor,’ she heard herself saying aloud. ‘My boss.’
Matteo’s breath came out in a silent whistle. ‘The boss, huh? That’s nice.’
Georgia’s eyes snapped open. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Matteo’s gaze seemed to be fixed on Luke and Kate. They looked like they were sharing a joke now and Kate’s head was tipped back as she laughed. Luke was grinning down as he held her in his arms. Maybe this would be the photo they kept on display, rather than the kiss, because they looked like the happiest two people on the planet.
Georgia was not happy. Matteo must have felt the anger in her glare because he turned his head. One eyebrow rose.
‘You’ll be well looked after,’ he murmured. ‘Even if you’re not married.’
‘Oh?’ The single syllable was a warning but Matteo merely shrugged.
‘He’s the father of your baby, isn’t he? Of course he will look after you.’
Anger got washed away in a small tsunami of relief.
He didn’t know the truth.
This was it. A cloak of protection that she could wrap around herself and her babies.
Weirdly, there was disappointment to be found in finding safety so easily.
Man...she really was an adrenaline junkie, wasn’t she? It was a personality trait that she really needed to squash, given that she was going to become a parent in the near future.
It wasn’t going to be easy, though. The temptation to hint at the truth was irresistible.
‘Dougal is not the father of my baby,’ she told him, even as a part of her brain registered that Matteo had no idea that this was a twin pregnancy. ‘And he’s not the only person from my work who’s here tonight so I’d appreciate it if you don’t spread any unfounded rumours.’
Matteo was scowling at her, dark brows lowered over eyes that looked black in this light. ‘But he is here? The father?’
Oh...the crazy part of her wanted to say ‘yes’ and flirt with danger again. But what if Matteo talked to everybody in the room over the canapés and champagne and worked out who that person could be by a process of elimination?
She could outright lie and say ‘no’ and make safety even more assured but, despite what Matteo thought of her, it wasn’t easy to tell a lie.
Her moment of hesitation provided an escape.
‘Over here, you two,’ the photographer called. ‘We’ll do the whole wedding party now, please.’
* * *
‘What is this?’
Luke peered at the tiny sandwich Matteo had in his hand. ‘I think that’s the smoked salmon and horseradish crème fraîche. It’s delicious.’
‘Mmm...’ Kate’s head was leaning against her new husband’s shoulder. ‘We made some good choices, didn’t we? Have you tried the Scottish beef and mustard mayonnaise ones? I’ve had three.’
‘Oink-oink...’ Luke dropped a kiss onto her hair.
Matteo put the sandwich into his mouth and let his gaze rake the room as he chewed it.
Where was she now?
It took only a split second to find Georgia, who was standing beside her boss. Had she been telling the truth when she’d denied that he was the father of her child? He could have sworn that when he’d asked whether that man was here, she’d been on the verge of confirming it. He could still feel an echo of the twist in his gut that was something bigger than jealousy. A betrayal almost. As if something that was rightfully his had been taken away.
It was crazy. He barely knew Georgia. They’d had only a matter of hours together.
So why was there a nagging conviction, he had never quite squashed, that she was the only woman in the world for him?
That he still loved her, despite the evidence that she had the worst fault a person could have as far as he was concerned.
Dishonesty...
He swallowed the mouthful of food that had suddenly become like cardboard.
‘Who is it?’ he surprised himself by asking aloud. ‘The father of Georgia’s baby?’
Kate’s jaw dropped and Luke’s eyebrows shot up.
‘She won’t say,’ Luke offered into the slightly awkward silence. Then he glanced at Kate, who bit her lip.
‘I have my suspicions,’ she confessed. ‘I think it might be a paramedic from New Zealand that she...um...had a brief thing with.’
‘New Zealand?’ Matteo had to focus on something and this was easier than the idea that the father of Georgia’s baby might not be in the picture any longer. ‘Had’ made it sound like ancient history. As if she had a space in her life that was glaringly empty. A space that he could fill...?
Could he do that? Not just get past the glaring fault of Georgia’s lack of honesty but be able to be a father to someone else’s child?
Sì...his heart whispered. Because it would mean you could spend the rest of your life with the woman you love...
No... His head shot back. Don’t even think about it. Change the subject. A country on the other side of the globe was a great subject.
‘Isn’t that where you two are going on honeymoon?’
‘More than that,’ Luke said. ‘I haven’t had the chance to tell you about it yet, but Katy and I are thinking of emigrating there. We’ve got some job interviews lined up for next week.’
‘What?’ Okay, this was an effective distraction. ‘You’re serious?’ A pang of something like envy tightened his chest.
He was ready for something new.
An excitingly different challenge.
More people edged closer to congratulate Luke and Kate, which interrupted their conversation about how wonderful a country New Zealand was. Matteo drifted away—towards where Georgia was still standing with her boss. She must have seen him coming because she apparently spotted someone she was clearly keen to talk to and excused herself smoothly the moment he arrived by her side.
‘It’s Dougal, yes?’
The older man nodded. ‘And you must be Matteo, the “paramedic extraordinaire” from Milan that Luke was telling me about.’
Matteo laughed. ‘He trots that line out everywhere. I would take it with... How do you say it—a spoon of salt?’
Dougal grinned. ‘A pinch. But he was very believable, I have to say. If you’re ever in the market for a new job, come and have a chat. We have a position on our helicopter team coming up very soon that I’m keen to fill with someone extraordinary.’
‘Oh?’
‘We have a very international team. In the past, we’ve had guys from all over the world.’ Dougal sighed. ‘I guess the characteristics that make someone extraordinary include the desire for adventure and travel. Which is great, but it does mean that I have to go through this exercise of finding new people a lot more often than I’d like.’
Matteo nodded, but he wasn’t feeling sympathy over Dougal’s extra workload. His mind had stopped at the ‘international’ reference.
‘Have you ever had someone from New Zealand working for you?’
Dougal blinked. ‘As a matter of fact, we did. A while back now, though. Must be about six months since he left. It’s his replacement that we’re trying to find someone to fill right now. Why do you ask?’
‘No reason.’ Matteo didn’t need to do the maths. It fitted. ‘It just seems a popular part of the world at the moment.’
‘Ah...because that’s where Kate and Luke are planning to live?’
‘Mmm.’ Matteo’s gaze was roving again and, of course, it settled on Georgia. Why was her boss here if it wasn’t as her ‘plus one’? Kate and Luke were both doctors and it seemed surprising that they would count the director of a rescue service as a close friend.
Dougal had followed the direction of his glance.
‘You met Georgie, didn’t you? At the rally in Rakovi?’
‘Ah...yes.’ Somehow, he managed to make it sound as if he had to try to remember. ‘She was Kate’s partner.’
Dougal nodded. ‘She was the one who introduced me to Kate. We had her come to do some training sessions on station about dealing with paediatric trauma and we’ve been friends ever since. Have to say I’m delighted to share her happiness this evening.’
Matteo mirrored his nod. And, slowly, the smile. So there was a reason for Georgia’s boss to be here tonight that meant he could let go of his suspicions.
And the probable father of her child was already back on the other side of the world, oblivious to what he’d left behind.
He took a sip from his drink as he relaxed.
‘Tell me more,’ he invited Dougal, ‘about this job you have available...?’