He’d made concessions I hadn’t expected him to on the beach, but I’d made concessions too. It was still early days. And baby steps.
‘No, he’s not,’ I said. ‘I want to be here,’ I added and meant it.
‘And he wasn’t angry you hadn’t told him sooner?’ Evie kept probing, watching me so carefully I suspected the strain of the last twenty-four hours was written all over my face.
We had never kept secrets from each other, not ever. But I knew however I’d got here, whatever had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I wasn’t lying to her now when I replied.
‘He wasn’t too pleased,’ I said. ‘But he understands why I didn’t tell him.’
Which was no small concession either. He seemed to have finally forgiven me for keeping his child a secret from him—despite what he had revealed about his past.
I also had to wonder now why he had come back when he had.
Had he been unable to forget me, too—after that night?
He’d taken a risk coming to London. I had no idea how much the authorities knew about his operations, but he’d used a secret airfield, flying in and out of the country without any of the usual checks. Exposing himself when he didn’t have to, all just to see me. That had to count for something.
I felt him relax, his hand stroking my belly absently.
‘Listen, Evie, you’re going to have to contact the school and let them know I’m resigning. I’ve already arranged maternity cover for next term, but I don’t want to leave them in the lurch.’
Evie’s eyes widened. ‘You’re not coming back home?’
I had no idea what would happen in the long term. But I’d dealt with so much already in such a short period of time. I’d have to figure all that out in the next four months. I’d agreed to stay on Isla Donna, but there was so much else to work out. Good thing I was the queen of planning and practicalities.
‘Not until after the baby is born,’ I answered, anxiety knotting my belly again. ‘Maybe you could come here for a visit,’ I said tentatively.
I had no desire to pull Evie into Vito’s world, but she seemed to have no qualms when her eyes lit up. ‘Really, I’d love that. I miss you.’
‘Use the savings account to pay my half of the rent, Eves,’ I added, going into Mia the Manager mode and momentarily forgetting who was sitting behind me listening in to the conversation. ‘I’ll have to find another job once the baby is…’
‘You will not work…and I will have one million euros transferred to your sister’s account for her expenses.’
‘Really?’ Evie said at the exact same time I said, ‘No you won’t…’
I had no idea where Vito’s money came from, and I didn’t want to know. I was dealing with more than enough already. But there was one thing I was absolutely clear on.
‘I don’t want my sister implicated in whatever you do to afford all this…’ I began.
‘Stop.’ He whispered in my ear, ‘The money is clean. I spend a great deal of time and effort to ensure it. I am not an amateur, Mia.’
‘That’s not the point,’ I said. ‘I can’t… What if someone died to make that money?’ I started to babble, getting a bit frantic. This was why I did not want to think about this in my condition.
He kissed my nose. The look in his eyes was both patronising and amused, but the admiration there too made my heart stutter again.
‘No one dies unless they threaten what is mine, Mia. It is not good for business. But your sister is mine now too, do you understand?’
‘Yes, but…’
‘I am?’ Evie interrupted me, sounding more excited than concerned.
Good grief, this was getting totally out of hand.
Evie and I had never had the kind of money that meant we didn’t have to constantly worry about how the next bill was going to be paid. We didn’t have foreign holidays or expensive clothes. When our friends went out clubbing or to the pub, we stayed home and watched TV. I’d always thought Evie was okay with that. It was a struggle, but we’d never done anything illegal, if you didn’t count forging our mum’s signature on her cheques and claiming her benefits so we could stay together when she’d deserted us.
‘We’re not taking the money,’ I tried again.
Vito tugged out his phone, typed something with his thumbs, then tucked the phone back into his pants pocket. ‘It is done.’
