Page 35 of Under A Sicilian Sky
She shook her head. ‘Nope. It’s all fancy gift bags with high-end make-up and jewellery these days.’
His eyes widened. ‘Bloody hell, flowers are a bit crap then, eh?’
She laughed. ‘Not at all. I prefer them, if I’m completely honest. There are only so many gold bangles a person can wear without toppling over.’
He laughed. ‘Aye, fair enough.’
Whilst they were on speaking terms for a while, she decided she’d try and get to know him a little more. After all, with the lack of updates from the USA, she was likely to be in his house for aeons at this rate. ‘How are the renovations going? I think I expected there to be more of you working on it, but you seem to be getting lots done. And it’s a beautiful building.’
He smiled as if her appreciation of the place meant something to him. ‘Thank you. Things are slow. I usually have a few local tradesmen here, but I paid them off for a while, under the circumstances. I didn’t want you to be surrounded by loads of blokes you didn’t know.’
She was shocked and humbled by his admission. ‘That’s so thoughtful of you. Thank you for doing that, but I hope it doesn’t put your deadline back.’
He shook his head. ‘There isn’t one really. I don’t usually have much time to work on it, but I’ve taken a step back from my other ventures to focus on it for a while. I needed the break anyway.’
‘Is the property world so stressful?’ she asked with genuine interest.
He rubbed at his chin. ‘Not really. But life was getting that way.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
He sighed deeply and shrugged. ‘Divorce will do that to you, I suppose. One of the most stressful things you can do besides weddings and property, ironically.’ He laughed this time.
She didn’t quite know what to say in response. ‘Indeed, so I’ve heard. Maybe it’s a good thing I’m no longer getting married.’
‘Aye, sorry to hear what happened to you there too. You’ve had a lot of shit to deal with.’
‘As have you. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you and your wife.’
He smiled again, but this time it was tinged with sadness. ‘Nah, it’s all good. We’re still on speaking terms. It just turned out I was lacking in the breast and vagina department, not a lot I could do about that.’
Ruby widened her eyes and made an O with her mouth. ‘I… erm…’
He seemed amused by her reaction. ‘Hey, it’s fine. I’m over it. We’re friends and the woman she’s with is kind of okay too.’ He scrunched his brow. ‘In fact, I think you know her?’
Ruby crumpled her brow. ‘I do?’
‘Aye, she’s a journo for the New York Star. She’s actually the reason you’re staying here.’
Ruby gasped. ‘Not Veronica Lucas?’
He nodded. ‘That’s her. My wife, Genevieve, met her at some swanky event I couldn’t be arsed to attend and… the rest…’ He shrugged again.
‘Bloody hell. I had no idea. In fact, I’m floored. Veronica and I really butted heads at the start of my career because she made advances to Tyler when he and I started dating. Well, so he said, anyway. I had no idea she was bisexual… but why would I?’
‘I had no idea about Gen being gay either. Turns out she was cajoled into marrying me by her folks. They weren’t very accepting of her sexuality, and I was a successful businessman, so I suppose I fit their ideal. I felt for the poor lass once I’d got past my own wounded pride.’
Ruby was dumbfounded but at the same time wondered if the rift between her and her supposed nemesis had been all in her head, or at least put there by her ex. Tyler often talked about Veronica if they had been at events together, and now she looked back on it he did seem to enjoy watching her squirm when he told her how they’d danced together and shared a cab home.Bloody shithead. He was deliberately trying to make me jealous.
Mitch clapped his hands together, making her jump. ‘Right, that’s enough about my crappy love life. Let’s change the subject, eh?’
She nodded in vehement agreement. ‘Absolutely, mine too. So, tell me more about your plans for the house? When are you going to reinstate the pool?’
His smile once again disappeared, and he glanced at his watch. ‘Oh, dammit, I’ve just realised, I need to go. Got some supplies to pick up in Palermo. Need anything?’
‘Erm… no, thank you… but…’
‘Okay, great. See you later.’ And with that he stood and dashed from the room and subsequently out of the house.
