Authors: Meadow Taylor

Midnight in Venice (22 page)

Epilogue

It was a beautiful October afternoon, and Olivia Moretti was gliding down the Grand Canal in a flower-bedecked gondola on her way to marry Alessandro Rossi at the Salute. Her mother sat next to her while Olivia's sister, Claudia, and Alessandro's cousin Beatrix sat opposite in their bridesmaids' dresses of wine-colored silk.

“I only wish Dad were here,” Olivia said wistfully.

“I feel like he is,” her mother answered, fussing with the hem of Olivia's Burano lace gown.

Claudia nodded. “Me too, but I do wish Beatrix would stop waving so much. Those

tourists probably think she's the bride.”

“I do speak English,” Beatrix said to Claudia with her usual good humor. She stood up in the gondola. “My cousin is getting married today!” she called out with joyful exuberance. “Isn't she beautiful?”

The tourists agreed. Cheering, they snapped some pictures, while Claudia looked mortified.

Olivia laughed with genuine affection at her sister. Claudia had done her best to relax, but in temperament she was the polar opposite of Beatrix. “I'd love to send you two away on vacation together,” Olivia said. “You'd never be the same.”

Claudia surprised her by returning her laugh. “Something tells me only one of us would come back alive.”

Olivia lifted the bouquet of orchids Alessandro had sent that morning, according to custom, and breathed in their heady scent. She loved him so much. That he was from one of the wealthiest families in Europe was just icing on the most perfect cake.

Alessandro had sold the palazzo he'd shared with Katarina on the Giudecca and bought one on the Grand Canal. He and Olivia had been living at his apartment on Sant'Elena while the palazzo renovations were going on, but they were almost complete now, and they would be moving in upon their return from their honeymoon in the Seychelles.

After the daring rescue, Alessandro had resigned from the Guardia di Finanza to concentrate on philanthropy. He threw in the odd piano recital and car race too. “To keep my father and fans happy,” he said, but Olivia could see he loved it every bit as much as they did.

She (or rather, Alessandro) had purchased Marco's share in Silvio Milan and was making occasional trips to the Toronto gallery. Olivia could have sent someone else, but it gave her a chance to visit her family and friends, when they weren't coming to visit her.

As the nightmare of the kidnapping faded, she'd forgiven Marco, and he was out on a day pass for the wedding. He still had six months to serve on a sentence that had been greatly lessened thanks to his brave but futile efforts to go for help and for cooperating fully with the investigation that had landed Dino and everyone associated with him in prison for a very, very long time.

Marco had lost everything, including his Venetian palazzo, but he came out of it all a little wiser andâas life is often stranger than fictionâdating the man of his dreams: Orlando, the world's greatest fan of Happy Spiders.

Silvio hadn't quite recovered from Pamela's decision not to leave her husband for him and so, handing over the reins of Silvio Milan to Walter and Olivia for a few months, went on sabbatical to Lake Como, staying at his close friend George Clooney's villa, where, as Pamela sarcastically observed, he soothed his wounded feelings by sailing around the lake with the world's most beautiful models.

Fabio had been hurt by Pamela's infidelity but finally told off his mother in an attempt to win back his wife and took Pamela on their first vacation since their honeymoon.

Olivia's gondola glided into the dock at the Salute, and the gondolier helped the four women out. Along with tourists, the square was filled with press and paparazzi, and the smiles Olivia gave them were utterly genuine. “What a beautiful bride” rippled through the crowd.

“Sure you don't want to change your mind?” Columbo asked teasingly as he offered her his arm. In the absence of her father, he was giving her away.

“Not a chance, you old cynic,” she said, taking his arm and kissing him on the cheek. She caught her mother smiling at her through tears. “Don't cry, Mom,” she said with mock sternness. “If you start, I will too.”

The crowd parted, and with Beatrix and Claudia leading the way, they walked up the stone steps and into the church, their entrance greeted with triumphant chords played on the pipe organ. The chapel was in a nave at the far end of the church, but they were being married in the center, beneath the great dome.

She saw Alessandro waiting there for her. My God, he was going to be her husband! How lucky could she be?

As they met in front of the priest, Alessandro leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered back as they turned to the priest, and the ceremony was conducted with all the solemnity it deserved, until the kiss, when everyone in the church erupted into cheers and applause.

Husband and wife turned and smiled at all their friends and family, as grateful for them as for each other.

She laughed at Claudia, looking red in the face as Phil cheered. Alessandro had promised to let him drive his car, and Phil had been like a kid waiting for Christmas ever since. Everyone from Silvio Milan was there. And not just the Venice office, but London, New York, and Toronto too. Alessandro's father was there with many of the family and friends who'd come to his birthday at the opera house, as well as his mother with her handsome young husband, and Alessandro's spritz-hating old aunt. Placido, in his military uniform, sat with his fiancÃ©e behind Rocco and his and Katarina's parents. Marco sat smiling next to Orlando (iPhone tucked in his pocket). Dressed by Pamela in a uniform, Maria sat proudly among the many uniformed officers from the Guardia di Finanza, for whom she still believed she worked, her smile even wider than Olivia's.

Just as the organ started up with another triumphant march, Olivia noticed a new commotion among Alessandro's former Guardia colleagues. “What are they up to?” she whispered.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer, as suddenly she and Alessandro were surrounded by dozens of wind-up teeth. The teeth scooted around the floor, dozens more joining those that had already wound down.

Laughter joined the chattering noise, and it echoed joyously around the ancient church as Alessandro and Olivia emerged onto the stone steps, Venice spread out before them, glinting magically in the bright autumn sunshine.

Alessandro scooped Olivia up into his arms and kissed her as behind them guests cheered and press cameras set up in the square snapped and flashed nonstop.

Tomorrow's headlines would read:
The Billionaire of Venice and His New Bride Find Their Happily Ever After.

About the Author

Meadow Taylor
is the author of the contemporary romance novels
The Billionaire's Secrets
and
Falling for Rain
and the short stories “Christmas in Venice” and “Christmas in Bruges.”
Midnight in Venice
is the continuation of the tale begun in “Christmas in Venice.” Meadow Taylor is the pen name of two celebrated Canadian authors of historical fiction.

Facebook: Meadow Taylor
Twitter: @meadowtaylor1

Copyright

Midnight in Venice

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

All rights reserved under all applicable International Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

EPub Edition: August 2014

EPub ISBN: 9781443438964

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

2 Bloor Street East, 20th Floor

Toronto, Ontario, M4W 1A8

www.harpercollins.ca

About the Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au

HarperCollins Publishers (Canada) Ltd.

2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited