The Tuscan's Revenge Wedding

Read The Tuscan's Revenge Wedding for Free Online

Book: Read The Tuscan's Revenge Wedding for Free Online
Authors: Jennifer Blake
be almost as hard to bear as his pain.
    The Mercedes limo that had met them at the airport slowed
for the turn into the entrance court of the hospital complex. Nicholas, bending
his head to see out the tinted windows in the pale light from a street lamp,
cursed under his breath, or so Amanda thought from the sound of it. Following
his gaze, she saw the cause all too easily.
    Paparazzi.
    The men and women armed with notebooks and cameras were
already piling out of their cars and trucks. Nicholas spoke to his driver and
the limo picked up speed, barreling past the swarming horde. It spun around a
corner and through a parking lot, and then made for the canopied doorway which
led to an emergency entrance.
    The instant the limo came to a halt, Nicholas shoved open
the door beside him. Snagging Amanda around the waist, he pulled her out in a
smooth movement and drew her to her feet, holding her against him.
    “Don’t look at them, don’t answer questions, and above all,
don’t stop. Keep moving, no matter what happens,” he said in a hard undertone.
Shielding her from the oncoming camera flashes with his wide shoulders, he made
for the double doors ahead of them.
    It was good advice, as Amanda well knew. Though her father
had done his best to protect her and Jonathan from his racing fame, it had not
always been possible. She had almost forgotten the odd panic from being
pursued, of being the target of endless camera flashes, the sense of privacy
being stripped away as if she had no right to it.
    Jonathan must have gained more of a following in Europe than
she had imagined, she thought in breathless wonder. Who would have guessed his
accident would bring out the vultures.
    Putting her head down, she clung to Nicholas’s arm that
clamped her to him. She matched her steps to his long strides as best she could
while shouts and yells exploded from all sides.
    The automatic doors slid open as they neared them. A detail
of security police stood just inside. The men parted, allowing them through,
and then closed ranks behind them. The sounds of pursuit died away.
    Nicholas tossed a few words with the sound of appreciation
over his shoulder, but did not pause. He swept Amanda through a reception area
crowded with curious patients. Beyond it was another door with an automatic
lock that buzzed and released at their approach. It gave onto a hallway. They
plunged down it, rounded a corner, and came to a halt in a long corridor that
stretched blessedly empty and quiet ahead of them.
    In the sudden silence, two things were brought home to
Amanda. It was not only Jonathan’s name the paparazzi had called out as they
bayed after them like hounds. With the confusion and hubbub of Italian, she had
not quite grasped why they had their sights set on the De Frenzas, but assumed
it was a combination of impressive wealth and the drama of the accident.
    “My apologies,” Nicholas said, raking his fingers through
his hair in a gesture of angry exasperation. “I ought to have realized the incident
would be leaked.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “You should not have been subjected to that, not now.”
    She gave a dismissive shake of her head. “Jonathan,” she
said, speaking the thought uppermost in her mind, “when can I see him?”
    “Now, I believe,” he answered, and gestured down the hall
where two white-coated physicians were coming to greet them.
    The preferential treatment was welcome, but Amanda barely
registered it. In fact, it was almost expected after the way Italian customs
had boarded the De Frenza plane for a private immigration check, also after they
were whisked away in a waiting limo and chased by paparazzi. Her main concern
was for her brother, and she was only grateful that introductions were brief
before she and Nicholas were led toward his room.
    The two physicians strode at Nicholas’s side down gleaming,
marble-floored corridors, speaking in rapid Italian while Nicholas fired
questions, nodded at the answers and shot

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