Page 24 of Forbidden Noble
She placed her hand on his thigh, clearly too shy to just grab his manhood, and shook her head. “Stop Astorre. We’re…”
And then his dark-haired, dark-eyed sister stepped out of the groomed path, hidden by a corner. “Hi, Olivia.”
Clara stumbled to a halt.
Olivia came closer and held her arms out in welcome. “Astorre. Is this your wife?”
She hugged them tight like she was happy that he’d married in the end. The last time they’d talked on the phone, she’d begged him to find a last-minute wife and come home forever. “This is…” He finished, “Clara, my wife.”
Olivia let them go but took Clara’s hands as she studied her like she didn’t believe Clara was real. “I heard you were lovely and touring Europe with my brother. I’m so happy to meet you, Clara.”
Clara glanced at him and then back to his sister. “It’s great to meet you too. Astorre told me you existed but kept the details pretty low.”
Olivia shook her head and walked with them toward the exit as she said, “My brother is always trying to protect me.”
Clara turned around to stare at his sister while walking backward with her hands pressed to her heart. “You’re so different than your brother. You’re lovely and happy.”
Olivia patted her arm. “I’ve never been lovely, but I am happy now.”
Clara let him guide her as she continued to glance behind them to talk to his sister as she asked, “Why?”
Olivia traced both sides of the green hedges as she said, “Because my brother and you will rule this place and I’m now free.”
They made it to the end. What did she mean? “Free?”
She patted his cheek like she was the older sibling though she wasn’t and said the truth to his wife, “Montelino Bay needs the Modena family. During the occupation, our base was impenetrable and important for the royal reunification. Our people here follow both the old and new ways which means someone from the family must be here.”
They headed back to the house as his sister gave Clara a history lesson, and why unlike most of his Avce friends, he’d only stayed at the castle a few nights a year for his entire adult life. He'd hated his life here as a boy which was why he’d refused to stop here for long. He kept his voice low so no one might hear them as they climbed up the steps to the back door balcony of the ballroom. “I was hoping you would stay on as lady of the manor, Olivia.”
She shook her head as her gray slacks matched the army gear everyone wore here. “No. I can’t do that. You’re the lord here, Your Grace.”
He’d come to ensure his marriage was accepted, not to take the castle back.
Life away was better. He’d had sleepless nights here, or nightmares that gripped him in the past. “I don’t want…”
They all walked inside. Olivia turned off the lights so all that flickered were the ones inside the castle as she said, “What happened with our father has to be forgotten. You have to take power now.”
Astorre shivered but said nothing. What could he say?
Everyone was quiet. Clara was the only one with a warm hand to hold, though at the moment, she hugged her waist and asked, “Can I ask you about Max Fionalli?”
Olivia tilted her head. “I thought we weren’t speaking about him, Astorre.”
His sister needed to see that Clara had his full support. “He was in Gibraltar, when we got married. My wife didn’t know about you and him, or the past…”
“Was he…?” His sister cut off her question, but met Clara’s gaze and explained, “When I was sixteen, he caught my eye, but Astorre showed me the truth about him.”
They headed into the great hall. The castle had survived battles for ages. The Manfredi family had been in charge as far back as the stones in the wall, and the earliest were probably when Jesus had walked the earth during the Roman Empire.
“Showed? How?”
Max Fionalli was someone he'd known from college. Olivia said, “My brother brought me to a college party. I was underage but I saw ‘the man I wanted to marry’ with another woman in his arms.”
“That’s horrible,” Clara blurted out.
To Clara it would be a deal-breaker. His sister had felt the same. Hopefully they would bond as friends.
He’d also learned there were other women out there in the world who played with a different set of rules, which was another reason he'd just assumed he wouldn't marry at all.
