Page 43 of The Sicilian’s Deal For 'I Do'

‘Nor can I let the company go, our family fall into bankruptcy.’

‘Is it really so bad?’ She shook her head. ‘It can’t be. I’dknow.’

‘I have been able to make things work—just barely—but it’s all borrowed, Mia. Everything. My debts are—profound.’

Her heart shattered. ‘Oh, Papa.’ Tears filled her eyes then and she hugged her dad. Nothing mattered more than helping him find a way through this. Judgement was irrelevant. ‘This is what Luca knew, isn’t it? It’s why he walked out on the wedding.’

Gianni’s eyes were like flint for a moment and then he slumped forward. ‘Yes. He knew. I don’t know how...’

Mia let out a deranged half-laugh. ‘Because he’s ridiculously intelligent and thorough. He came to you about this, didn’t he?’

Gianni nodded and Mia felt as though she’d been stabbed through the heart. She’d known one man was lying to her, but not both. They’d both known the truth, all this time, and neither had loved nor respected her enough to be honest. She pressed her fingernails into her palm, heart stammering. ‘So a week before the wedding, you knew he wouldn’t go through with it—’

‘I thought he still would. I honestly believed—’

‘No, you hoped,’ she contradicted fiercely. ‘Because you were desperate. You threw me to the wolves rather than face the reality of the situation. You let him do that to me.’

‘When I didn’t hear from him again, I presumed he had calmed down. I knew how much he wanted the business...’

‘Not enough,’ she whispered, ‘to tie himself to our family after such a blatant deception.’ She squeezed her eyes shut, because her world was crumbling down around her shoulders and Mia didn’t want to bear witness to that destruction.

A million emotions throttled through Mia as she left the office that night. Anger, disbelief, incredulity, panic and despair. She felt a million things and sought refuge in one emotion that was satisfying and for which there was an easy outlet.

Anger.

Anger at Luca.

Whohadknown the truth, and refused to tell her, time and time again, even when she’d begged him. And he’d tried to make that sound noble!

Anger at the man who’d made love to her, who’d treated her so gently, who’d acted as though he were protecting her by keeping this secret, rather than taking the coward’s way out, and all the benevolent, loving feelings he’d stirred the night before evaporated, leaving only waspish rage in their place.

Perhaps it wasn’t fair to blame Luca. What did he owe her, after all? But the fact of the matter was that her love made her want more from him, made her expect more of him, and he’d failed her. It hurt. It hurt more than his abandonment on their wedding day ever had, because shelovedhim, and he’d let her down. He had left her to fail, rather than being with her, united, a team.

A sob was wrenched from Mia’s chest. Theyweren’ta team. They never would be.

Rather than give into the desperate sadness that realisation brought, she focused on her anger—a safe emotion, one that would serve her well.

Before she’d even realised what she was doing, Mia had started the engine of her little red Fiat and was turning it away from her home and, instead, towards Luca’s, her ears roaring with the sound of her thundering blood the whole drive, so she heard nothing and saw almost as little.

Relief flooded him when she arrived. This was not the first time she’d asked him to leave her alone, but it was the first time he’d truly intended to at least try to listen. It was the only thing he could do. They both knew there was no future here.

But when Mia arrived at his front door and used the key she still possessed to let herself in, an unfamiliar emotion surged in his chest. He wanted to run to her, to wrap his arms around her, to laugh with giddy relief because he’dmissedher, but he did none of those things.

He was Luca Cavallaro, a man of no emotions, and he wouldn’t further complicate the situation by doing anything that might undermine that opinion of him.

‘Damn you,’ she said quietly, slamming the door then holding her ground, shaking all over, like a beautiful, delicate leaf. ‘Damn you to hell, Luca Cavallaro, I hate you. I really, really hate you.’

It was the last thing he expected her to say.

He was glad then that he hadn’t moved to her, because it was easier, somehow, to maintain a neutral expression when he was across the room, to conceal the surprise and, yes, hurt—a feeling he didn’t know he was capable of—flooding his body, by standing completely still, hands in pockets, eyes fixed on her. Then again, when he’d read that note this morning, hadn’t he hated her too? Just a little? For leaving him, for mentioning her marriage, for not being there when he woke up after the night they’d shared, the things he’d told her?

Rage emanated from her frame like waves vibrating through the room. ‘I do not know what has happened, but I suggest you tell me why you are so upset.’

‘Seriously?’

He waited, watching her, with the strangest feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was as if they were one person. Whatever Mia was feeling, Luca felt too. His insides churned while he stood, impatient but not rushing her.

Mia sucked in a deep breath, her eyes spitting fire. ‘Youknew.’

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