Her gaze softened on him. ‘Except for here. We were both loved here.’

‘Not after I cut Grand-Mère out of my life.’

‘That’s not true. Right up to that last year she spoke of you with pride and affection. You were loved unconditionally by her. She even left you her beloved chateau.’

Leo recalled the regular cards and the gifts and was assailed by guilt. ‘I couldn’t forgive her for allowing my mother to meet her lover here and I tried to punish her for it,’ he said quietly.

‘You were in pain. You lashed out at the only person you could hurt because she was the only one who cared about you. She would have understood that. She was a wise woman.’

Those beguiling eyes watched him, ablaze with certainty. It wrapped around him and warmed the cold, dead place where his heart used to be.

It was startling to realise Violetta was the first person he’d spoken to in this way. He hadn’t even shared this much with Seb, but with her for some reason it felt right.

He stared at a candle guttering in one of the lanterns. ‘Love is hardly top of the list for people like us.’

‘Despite all the wealth and privilege, and responsibility, we are still people though, aren’t we? Surely, deep down you’d want to be loved by your wife, to be happy?’

‘Based on the choices I’d made about our marriage, you know the answer to that question already. In my experience it’s safer to have a business arrangement with a woman from the outset, then I’m unlikely to be disappointed. A fruitless quest for happiness would only get in the way.’

She regarded him, sadly. ‘But what about taking her to bed?’

‘Grand Duchessa, love is not necessary for good sex, or even adequate sex that gets the job done.’

‘Pregnancy, you mean? What a cold life that would be.’

‘But producing an heir is vital for people like us.’

‘Only if you don’t believe in democracy.’

‘Even then, the family won’t end because it’s no longer in power. There will be properties and possessions to pass down. A title to preserve.’

She huffed. ‘What use is a title if you can’tdoanything with it? I know a title can draw attention to good causes, but influence can only go so far if you haven’t any real power.’

He laughed at her. ‘Grand Duchessa, you haven’t thought this through, have you? How does that work in your world where democracy is king?’

She glanced up at him. Delighted by the sound of his laughter. ‘Yes, of course, you’re right.’

And why was she sharing so much? He shouldn’t be this easy to talk to, he was supposed to be the enemy, but her heart ached for the boy he’d been. Trying so hard to be the man his father would be proud of and desperately hurt by his mother’s rejection.

Still, she really shouldn’t tell him another thing.

‘I hated that I was never taken seriously.’

Oh, Violetta!

‘Well, things are about to get very serious.’ He checked his watch. ‘In two hours, you reach your majority. You could take control as soon as you get back to San Nicolo.’

It was ten p.m.? The hours had flown in this man’s company.

‘Now it’s nearly here I’m rather scared.’ Since she became the heir to the duchy, she’d dreamed of the moment she turned twenty-one.

‘When my father died, I remember feeling a combination of exhilaration and blind terror, but I had so much work to do, there wasn’t really time to think about anything but the job.’

‘I was so sure before, but now suddenly I feel like I’ve no idea how to begin.’

‘What’s important to you?’ he asked.

‘That’s easy—that people get to choose their own destiny.’