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‘Why didn’t you set him straight?’ she seethed. ‘Why couldn’t you say I left you but that we had decided to try again for Lily’s sake?’

He quelled her with a stare. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘Of course not,’ she said sarcastically. She could feel her skin heating, his implacability heightening her anger. ‘It would never do for people to think there was something wrong with you that made me leave, would there?’

‘There is nothing wrong with me.’ His eyes bored into her. If Grace’s temperature had risen, his had lifted in conjunction. ‘All that’s wrong is how you interpreted matters to suit your own notions of how a businessman is supposed to conduct his affairs.’

If only she had been born with Medusa-like powers she could turn him into stone to match his heart.

‘Where are you going?’ he snapped as she stepped away.

‘To the ladies’, before I give in to temptation and cause a scene. Why? Are you going to follow me to make sure I don’t escape?’

A pulse in his jaw throbbed as he leaned into her, his breath hot against her ear. ‘If you want to leave, then I promise you one thing: I will not stop you and I will not look for you.’

‘I think you’ll find that was two things.’

Leaving him to stew in a pit of his own self-righteous anger, Grace proceeded to the ladies’ cloakroom, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of another.

In the sanctuary of the opulent bathroom, she took stock of her appearance. As she retouched her eyeliner and reapplied her lipstick all she could think was her own husband had let Francesco think she suffered from depression.

The worst of it was, she could actually understand why a man with Luca’s ferocious pride would allow such a thing. In a mad kind of way, it made a heck of a lot of sense. His wife had vanished from the face of the earth. She hadn’t just left him, she’d disappeared without a trace. When eventually he found her and discovered she’d had his child, what was he supposed to tell people? That his own wife thought him so evil she would hide his flesh and blood from him? Honour and pride were everything, and she had wounded both.

By letting people believe she had left out of something beyond either of their control he could save face. For both of them.

Jeez, she was actually making excuses for him.

Only when she was satisfied her emotions were sufficiently masked did she leave the bathroom.

The ballroom had become so crowded she had trouble finding him. Snaking her way through the mass of bodies, she finally spotted him on a stool at the bar, nursing a glass of champagne.

As she neared him a warm hand grabbed her wrist. ‘There you are. I thought you’d run away again.’

Twisting round, she met the contempt that was in her brother-in-law’s eyes. ‘Pepe! I didn’t know you were here.’

‘Well, I am.’

She attempted a smile. She had always adored Pepe, a man who gave the air that life was just one big party. Apart from when arguing with his brother, of course. Not tonight though. Tonight he looked darkly serious.

‘Your mother said you would be home a few days ago. Have you been avoiding me?’

He sighed, checked over his shoulder to where Luca was sitting and tugged her into an alcove, away from the throng of people moving like a river around them. ‘I thought it best to keep my distance until I could be certain I wouldn’t throttle you for what you put my brother through. I didn’t think he would appreciate that.’

‘He would have cheered you on.’

His eyes became mocking. ‘Why would that be?’

‘He hates me.’ Whatever Luca might say to strangers to explain her absence, his brother would get the truth. However divergent their lives and personalities, however ferocious their arguments, they were close.

‘You stole his baby from him.’ He made it sound so simple.

She sighed. ‘I wish it were as straightforward as that.’

‘It is. You ran away and stole his baby, ergo he hated you.’

It was Grace’s turn to look over her shoulder, barely registering the past tense Pepe had just used. A woman had joined Luca at the bar. Whatever he’d said to her must have been the funniest thing in the world, for she threw her head back and laughed.

Pepe followed her line of sight. ‘Worried he’s searching for your replacement?’

She rolled her eyes, masking the stabbing pain piercing her heart. ‘I have no control over what Luca does.’

‘You have no idea.’ He shook his head with a scowl of incredulity. ‘Do you have any idea why I’m here at this scumbag’s party?’

Her brow furrowed. ‘Do you mean Francesco?’

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