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A glimmer of hope trickled through him at her mention of ‘us’ and he gave voice to the conclusion he’d reached just a few hours ago. ‘Maybe it was what he wanted all along.’
‘How can you know that? Much less say it.’ She turned from him and for a moment he thought she was going to walk away. He knew he couldn’t go after her again. As she stood, lost in thought, he moved towards her cautiously.
‘Seb made me promise to look after you,’ he said softly and saw her shoulders rise and fall with each breath she took. ‘Not just that night after the accident, but several times before. He played on my loyalty to my sister.’
‘That doesn’t mean anything.’ She turned her head slightly and he saw her profile as she looked distractedly at the floor. Pain and hurt lingered on her face.
Her voice trembled and finally she turned to look at him and, like the moment he’d unveiled the car, he saw her with all her vulnerabilities exposed, all her barriers down. ‘You should still have told me about the drink and the drugs. I had a right to know. I don’t care about anything else, not even that stupid photo, but that was the one thing you shouldn’t have kept from me. Not even because of a promise.’
He fought really hard against the urge to hold her, to soothe all the pain, but right now he didn’t dare. If she ran again it would be for ever; he knew that much.
‘Seb was beside himself, desperate that you should never know, and I made the promise to keep him calm. By the time your father arrived I was firmly fixed into it. I’m sorry, Charlotte. I had no choice at all.’
As he spoke he thought of why he was here, what had made him race to the airport in the first place. All he’d been able to think about was taking her in his arms and holding her, comforting her as he had that night in his office. He should have told her the truth then but she’d been too fragile, so he’d kept the secret.
How did you tell the woman who had just kissed you with such passion news like that? Selfishly, he’d kept silent, enjoying the spark that had been lit between them. Now he knew that spark wasn’t just lust, not for him at least. It was love.
He loved her. He didn’t just desire her—he loved her, so much it hurt.
He needed Charlie, or Charlotte, as he thought of her, when passion blazed in her eyes. She was Charlie behind the wheel of a car and Charlotte in his arms, and he loved her—completely and unconditionally.
* * *
Charlie thought of what Alessandro had just said, the situation he’d been forced into. He had kept that promise to Seb. He hadn’t been the one who had told her the truth, so did that make the whole situation any more honourable?
She closed her eyes against the pain of finally knowing the truth and the knowledge that it was time to move on, time to leave her garden of sanctuary and live life as Seb would have wanted her to do. As the realisation dawned, Alessandro put his arms around her and pulled her close. This was where she wanted to be, in the arms of the man she loved, but that still didn’t mean he loved her. He’d agreed to her terms of ‘not for ever’ as they’d stood in his apartment on that first night, had even taken her away to his villa to enable him to distance the affair from everything else.
‘Why are you here, Sandro?’ She looked up at him, hardly daring to hope. But he was here, holding her so tenderly—didn’t that mean something?
‘I couldn’t let you go, not without explaining.’ His face was full of concern, but she searched for more, desperate to find even a trace of something else.
‘So, cara. Why are you here?’ The term of endearment, said in the most gently seductive tone, gave her just enough hope. ‘You know the truth yet you are still in my arms.’
She looked up at him, wondering if he’d see the reason shining from her eyes. He’d been protecting her from the truth all along. She didn’t hate him. She loved him. He had honoured Seb’s promise at great cost to himself and that just made her love him even more, but could she say those words aloud?
‘I couldn’t go, not yet.’ She lowered her lashes, not wanting to see what was in his eyes, not daring to hope. ‘I needed the truth.’
Was it her imagination or had his arms loosened slightly around her? She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
‘And now that you have it?’ He let go of her, walked towards the car, pressing his palm against the fiery red paintwork. ‘Now that you know the truth, will you return to your life, move on?’
