Annie Claydon

English Rose for the Sicilian Doc


Скачать книгу

tip her face up towards him, and he saw an agony of fearful impatience.

      Suddenly he realised. Rose had been outside when she’d felt the second tremor. ‘Don’t worry. The second shock was an aftershock, much less than the first one. They always feel weaker underground.’

      ‘Yes...’ David tried to add his own reassurance and Matteo quieted him. He should concentrate on keeping the tablets under his tongue, where they’d be absorbed into his system more quickly.

      Rose was breathing heavily, her hand to her chest, a look of relief on her face. It must have taken a great deal of courage to come back in, thinking that the strength of the tremors was increasing.

      ‘So we’ve nothing to worry about?’

      ‘Nothing.’ That clearly wasn’t quite true, but he would have said anything to reassure her.

      She nodded and Matteo’s chest tightened as she smiled broadly. ‘Okay. I won’t be a minute.’

      When she got to her feet, Matteo noticed that she’d skinned her knee. She must have fallen over at some point, but she seemed not to notice it. He turned his attention back to David, who was looking visibly better.

      ‘You should get Rose out of here.’ David spoke softly to him. ‘I’m all right to follow you.’

      ‘Just rest for a minute. We’ll get going soon enough, and I imagine that Rose will do whatever she makes up her mind to do.’

      David nodded. ‘Yes. I imagine she will.’

      * * *

      Rose had walked to the opening between the cavern and the outer cave, and got a signal on her phone. She called Elena, who said that they hadn’t felt anything, and that the earthquake’s epicentre must be outside Palermo. William was all right. Rose promised she’d be home later, and turned back to David and Matteo.

      The second tremor had catapulted her down the steps of the cabin that David’s office was housed in, and onto her knees. She’d got up and run even harder, stopping only to tell one of her colleagues where they were and telling him to fetch the first-aid kit. She’d been afraid to go back into the cave, but the medication in her pocket seemed like the only chance of bringing them both out safely. David needed it, and she knew that Matteo would never leave him behind.

      They waited for ten minutes. Matteo kept them both talking, quiet and relaxed but never taking his attention from David. When he decided it was time for them to leave, she helped him get David to his feet and they walked slowly to the entrance of the cavern. Matteo helped him through into the outer cave and then out into the evening sunshine, where a group of concerned colleagues was waiting for them.

      He sat David down in the chair that was waiting, next to the site’s first-aid kit, and called for someone to bring a sunshade across. Then he got to work, washing the wound on his head carefully and checking that David had no other injuries.

      ‘Are you going to take him to the hospital?’ Matteo had given his car keys to one of the students, and asked him to bring his car as close as he could.

      ‘No. He’s fully recovered from the angina attack so there’s no need for him to go to the hospital on that account. He does need to rest, though, so it’s best if I take him home and stitch the wound there.’

      ‘Thank you. I’ll phone Nina, his wife. I’ll tell her to expect us in half an hour?’

      ‘You’re coming?’ Matteo’s smile gave her the answer to that question. She wasn’t ready to leave him yet.

      ‘Of course I’m coming.’

      * * *

      He isn’t what I want.

      Rose repeated the thought aloud a few times, trying it out for size as she followed Matteo’s car down towards Palermo, and then decided that even she couldn’t lie to herself on that scale. She wanted him right down to the dust on his number plates.

      It’s a reaction. Some kind of post-emergency thing.

      That was a distinct possibility. The gorgeous, laid-back, charming Matteo was a temptation that she could resist...just. But the Matteo who’d been there when she’d needed him and had calmed her fears attracted her at a much deeper level, one that was harder to ignore.

      But marriage had taught her one thing. She was like a bull in a china shop when it came to relationships, and she shouldn’t repeat the experience. Rose twisted her mouth at the irony of it all. The better man that Matteo proved himself to be, the more she should stay away from him.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RO7RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMyBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTc6MDM6MDYgMTY6MTY6NTMAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAACDaADAAQAAAAB AAADUgAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABKFAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABjAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A9SDiUpKYWNTGxqSl9oPKWwJg9qf1GpKXDAngJt7UxsCSmSYl NvUTbXO0uG7wnVJTNPMCToByUP1q5jcJ8JVXql7K8Jzy6ACCAD9KNdhSSBZAfK/rh13Mz+oXOfY7 05LKKhO1rWO+hsn+f/0v8v8AkLkxc1tgs2Fhd3adzHeLvf8AQ/lbl2TemWWdI6nk59Vfq5pL66g0 eoyzf+idVZ9PY93rv9i5TOxzh51uO0H22e5p+H53+d9L/wAmmRmCTHszSxmMRLoVbxE7jPER+dP0 ef8AX/SpKvFX7r43RPfb/wBx939b/wBJpJyy3//Q9LCeFDekHlFDOElHeluKSmaShJQ8rI9CouH0 iDCR0FpAs0Gj1jqb6HjHofteGl1jhz4Cvf8A4P8Albf0q836r9Z8qrqVbOmlt1NbmteWktqdG0O9 Wxv6R/6Rzvz11XUsKzIa51Tiy15G5066En/pfnLHyDj2M9DNsFuQNH+tVDhP7uTV/gnfy1VlO5a6 +DbGIxjp9ruY3UrsvENrCWGvcHVWfzlVjNbKHu030u/Meh3dVddU+vIaQwgtOw8tn6dbvpNe1A6V Y2y625sh/ozc06y6r2Sf6zf/AD8hvpFNj6iAaXAOYPBjva5jo/cQEjSKFtTPNxyaKag37JU0Ousj 3ubWC8Dn8xcl9ZraLupHJo/msjVp4kjwn8166m4PxMtmM8mAPYSfdtPur/zf0jFzfXeg1tyX5WFV tqeN2xp9oJnf/VSxkCdnS1+TiljAGtOLOszru3c9/o7kkf7Hf+6/6e2Np+l93/RSU/EO7X4T2f/R 9IhNCmngI2hgAU4CnCeAlamABmFzp6rXm9QzcZlps+zWQxpYWFoH6KypzXhrnencN3qf4Rly3s20 04z3t+kfa34nuuYupox7n5zWD7XbXs3N0JbO7dZ+a93t+k5Q550K+rZ5bHZ4vomuMArD6vUWs+0s ANlesExIGu2UC3quThZArzrrceiw+zIsAtpk/mv0ZdU3+3/4GreY59tLq7G7TGsGWn+Ux/5zFVlY otwUQQy6HfS+05FWovqB2zJLS5rbN7P9JXt9O3arno7n1kmPRe6p/nPs2/yvcxZP1VpLKbHu19K6 5o8gW12v/wCktLIyRkBw6ea35NVhe+kv2y8e3dvj6bPV9R1f/naMTZIHQsEhTB/R29W6nWfWNVVF QbaWCXl27cGtLvY32fnrbZ9W+kCvY5ljweS61