'It's Aislin,' she corrected, pronouncing it 'Ashling'.
'Ashling.' He practiced it aloud. 'Aislin... An unusual name.'
The striking eyes held him without blinking. 'Not in Ireland it isn't.'
He shrugged. As unusual and interesting as her name was, there were far more important things to discuss. 'You say you have to prove that... Orla? Is that her name?' She nodded.
'That Orla is my sister. Let me see that proof.'
She got to her feet and walked to the small kitchen area, the curve of her bottom in her tight jeans a momentary distraction. From a small bag on the counter, she took out an envelope and opened it on her walk back to him.
Pulling a sheet of paper out of the envelope, she handed it to him with a curt, 'Orla's birth certificate.'
Dante took the sheet from her with blood roaring in his ears. Slowly, he unfolded it.
He blinked several times to clear the filmy fog that had developed in his eyes.
The birth certificate was dated twenty-seven years ago. On the box labeled 'father' were the words, Salvatore Moncada. He rubbed his temples.
This didn't prove anything. This could be a forgery. Or, more likely, Aislin and Orla's mother he scanned the certificate again and found Sinead O'Reilly named as the mother had lied.
From the envelope still in her hand, Aislin plucked out a photograph and held it out to him.
He didn't want to look at it, he had to look at it, the photo was a headshot of two people, a young woman, and a toddler boy, a violent swell clenched and retracted in his stomach.
Both subjects in the photo had thick, dark-brown hair, the exact shade of Dante's.
The woman had green eyes the exact shade of Dante's.
Aislin took in the ashen hue Dante's olive skin had turned and experienced a stab of sympathy to witness the penny drop in that arrogant head.
She placed the envelope on the table and grabbed the coffee he'd made for her, unable to understand why her hands shook. It felt as if her entire insides were shaking, tiny vibrations quivering through her bones and veins.
She told herself it was because of the situation, her body preparing itself for the biggest fight it had ever undertaken. It was nothing to do with Dante himself.
The value of this cottage and its land were peanuts for a man of Dante's wealth but for her sister it meant the world. It would enable her to buy a home that Finn could live in with the freedom to be as normal a child as his condition allowed. That was all Orla wanted—a decent home in which to raise her son.
Aislin loved her nephew with her whole heart. Finn was her heart. For months she'd sat by his side as he'd lain in that awful incubator in the neonatal intensive care nursery, willing his tiny body to grow, for his lungs to work on their own; praying that one day he would be strong enough to go home...to survive.
The little fighter had survived, but not without complications. His entire life would be a fight and Aislin was prepared to do whatever was necessary to make that fight more bearable.
Dante's lawyer had blocked her sister's every attempt for recognition. Aislin had flown to Sicily determined to confront Dante in person but, again, had been blocked. The security around him was too tight for her to get a foot through it. Breaking into this cottage had been the last desperate resort.
After a length of time had passed that seemed to be stretched by elastic, Dante finally looked up from the photo, , her heart made the strangest clenching motion when his green eyes locked onto hers. There was a hardness in his stare.
'I have never heard of this woman. My father had many lovers. Many men and women have come forward since his death claiming to be his secret love-child. You give me a photograph and claim it is my sister...'
His thick Sicilian accent soaked into her skin as if her pores were breathing it in.
'I am claiming nothing—she is your sister. You can see the resemblance.'
He gave a tutting sound that was pure Sicilian. 'A convenient resemblance.'
'There is nothing convenient about it!' she retorted hotly and would have added more had he not raised a palm.
'If she is my sister, why did she wait until after my father's death to reveal herself?'
'She didn't need to reveal herself. Your father paid maintenance for her upbringing until she was eighteen.'
He sagged slightly at this revelation but it was the briefest of movements, his composure regained in a breath. 'That is something I can discover the truth of for myself.'
'It is the truth and, if you hadn't stonewalled her every attempt to speak to you, you would have all the facts at your fingertips.'
'My father acknowledged one child. Me. There was no talk of a secret sister, no death-bed confession.'
'That's not Orla's fault.'
'Would she still claim to be my sister if I were to tell you there is nothing left of his estate?'
'That's because you've sold it all off!'
The look he cast her was full of fake pity. 'My father was a gambling addict. He sold everything he could to fund his debts.'
'I've seen the list of assets.' That was the only thing Orla's useless lawyer had been able to get from Dante's terrifyingly efficient one. 'He was worth millions. Orla isn't being greedy. All she wants is a small share of it. Morally, she's entitled to that, even if you and your lawyer don't agree. I'm prepared to stage a sit-in in this cottage until you either sign it over to her or pay her off.'
Before Dante could laugh at Aislin's nerve, a lock of hair fell onto his forehead and over his eyes. He brushed it back. He needed to get it cut, another thing to add to his ever-long list of things to do.
'The law is on my side. Do you believe that moving into this cottage illegally will get you anywhere?'
Her eyes spat fury at him. 'Possession is nine-tenths of the law.'
'Maybe in Ireland. But this is Sicily. My country. My property. My land. I can snap my fingers and have you removed from this cottage and expelled from the country.'
'Try it.' She jumped back to her feet and snatched the envelope off the table to pull yet another sheet of paper out of it. 'Try it and I will make sure every media outlet knows what you've done. This is not your land, it's part of your father's estate. All Orla wants is what she's entitled to, and this is the authority for me to handle things on her behalf.'
Dante ignored the letter, although he took note of the pretty hand holding it and the buffed, shapely nails. Then he slowly let his gaze drift upwards, over the curvy hips, the slender waist, and the large breasts caressed lovingly in a soft, silver sweater. Simple clothing draped over an outstanding body. As her fragrance snaked it is way back into his senses, he experienced a thickening in his loins. Disconcerted with this involuntary reaction to this woman, and at this moment in time, he reached for his coffee.