Page 50 of The Sicilian’s Deal For 'I Do'

‘You do realise I’m hardly an expert in the relationship stakes?’ Max pointed out with a grimace. After all, Max’s marriage to Amanda’s mother had been a trainwreck from day one. Luca had urged his brother to rethink the whole idea, because clearly marriage was a fool’s errand unless there was a very specific business purpose behind it, but Max had been adamant. To him, the fact a baby was on the way had meant marriage was the only option.

But they’d made each other miserable. Amanda’s mother, Lauren, had drunk too much, partied too hard, and eventually died while out partying.

Luca, though, was just desperate enough to throw himself on his brother’s mercy regardless, because he could see no possible option to fix a damned thing—and nor could he understand if he even wanted to fix things. After all, to what end? ‘Tell me what I can do. Tell me. Anything. God, anything.’

Max stared at his brother long and hard and, finally, laughed, tilting his head back and letting the sound crack into the evening air. ‘You really don’t know?’

Luca hated asking for advice almost as much as he despised being laughed at. He scowled at Max.

‘Forget about it. Forget I asked.’

‘You didn’t ask.’ Max sobered. ‘I offered. So let me state what is patently obvious. Mia was upset that you propositioned her. What she wanted was a proposal. A real one, this time, not because of her father’s business, but because you’re in love with her.’

Luca shook his head, dismissing the appraisal immediately. ‘Ridiculous. You of all people know me better than that.’

‘I know you have always avoided relationships that have the potential to get serious. I know you hate the idea of loving anyone, because it means you need them, and it exposes you to a loss and rejection you’ve felt before. When your mother died, you were still a kid, Luca. You had everything pulled out from under you, and you never really recovered, so you push everyone away, all the time. Except...’ He hesitated, shook his head. ‘You’ve let Mia in, and now, it’s done. You’re in love. And so’s she. It’s stupid and needlessly cruel to both of you to continue pushing her away.’

Luca was very still, staring at the ocean, as Max’s words threaded through his consciousness. If he was in any doubt regarding his own feelings, then the unmistakable burst of euphoria he felt accompanied by the swift blast of fear convinced him.

‘How do you know?’

‘Because if she didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have been so infuriated by your offer. Which was really, really stupid, by the way. Totally beneath you. Another clear sign that you’d lost your mind to love.’

Luca ground his teeth, wanting to deny the charge, to point out how fanciful the entire idea was, but Max had a very annoying habit of being able to put things into perspective for Luca. Until recently, he’d been the only person on earth who Luca had listened to, whose opinion he truly valued. And now, there was also Mia.

‘I’ve royally messed up, haven’t I?’

‘Yes.’

Luca cursed into the night air.

‘Zio!’A scandalised Amanda stood behind them, looking stern and cranky, and then her little face broke into a broad smile. ‘Put a dollar in the swear jar!’

Max grinned at his daughter. ‘Honey, would you go and call Reg?’

‘Uh-huh. What for?’

‘Tell him Luca’s going to need a ride to the airstrip.’

‘Oh, no, already?’ Amanda’s face fell.

‘Yes, already.’ Max’s voice was adamant. ‘But with any luck, he’ll be back soon.’ He grinned. ‘And he might even bring a friend.’

Except, it wasn’t that simple. The entire flight back to Italy, Luca tried to work out what to say, how to say it, how best to achieve what he wanted, and every time he drew a complete blank, because understanding how he felt, why he’d said what he’d said, put a completely different spin on things.

So too did the knowledge that he loved her, and he might have made her hate him, for real, and for good.

As the flight came in to land, and his eyes traced the familiar outline of his beloved country, he realised that there was one place he could start, a small way he couldshowMia that he hadn’t meant a word of the bargain he’d tried to make.

‘You cannot be serious.’ Gianni Marini stared at Luca as though he’d sprouted two additional heads, one with a tail coming out of the top. He shoved the cheque back across the table. ‘I will not accept it.’

Luca marvelled at the other man’s pride, in the face of clearly impending destitution. Then again, hadn’t he recently had a crash course in pride and the mistakes it could lead a person to make? ‘Yes, you will, and we both know it.’ Luca prowled to the windows, frowning as he looked down on the garden, imagining Mia here, all the years of her life since moving to Italy. His heart skipped a beat. ‘It’s not a gift.’

‘Then what is it?’

‘A year ago, I saw the potential of your company, and I still see it.’

‘You also saw the ruinous state of it,’ Gianni said, sitting down in his chair, head in hands. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

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