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“Can I ask you something?” Luca uttered the words before he evaluated the ramifications of what he was about to ask.
“Sure. You know that you can talk to me about anything.”
Luca had never felt that way about his father, but perhaps the years and loneliness had mellowed the man. “It’s about Mother.”
“What about her?”
“Did you ever love her?”
His father leaned back as though the question struck him physically. “Why would you ask such a thing?”
This was where it got difficult. Luca swallowed hard. “I heard you two. When I was little, you would fight, a lot. Annabelle was too young to remember, but I do. I remember Mother saying that she wished you two hadn’t married.”
His father’s shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry you overheard us. We thought that we were being discreet.” His father took a moment as though to sort through his memories. “Your mother and I were practically strangers when we married. It was arranged to strengthen alliances between Halencia and Mirraccino and it took us a long time to find common ground. With each passing year, our respect for each other grew, as did our friendship. It was hard won, which I like to think made our relationship stronger.”
“Why did I never know any of this?”
His father shrugged. “I guess you never asked and I never thought of it.”
“But you two ended up loving each other?”
“How could I not love your mother? She was the most amazing woman I’d ever met. She was gracious and kind, not to mention a beauty. But she had a strong spirit and was quite determined to do things her way. There were numerous areas where we had different views, including her allegiance to her brother, the king. That’s what most of our heated exchanges were about. But what you heard were words spoken in the heat of the moment. What you didn’t hear were the apologies.”
Luca couldn’t quite digest all this information. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. His parents’ story certainly wasn’t like the fairy tales. Theirs was complicated and messy.
And Luca didn’t do messy.
“Thank you for telling me,” Luca said.
“I hope it helps you.”
Luca wondered if his father knew more than he was saying, but Luca wasn’t going there. They had another matter to discuss.
“I’ve gone over these numbers for the past few hours, and at this point, I know that if something isn’t done right away, you’ll lose everything.” He took a deep breath. “I have some money set aside, which, along with my trust fund, we can use to pay off some of the more pressing debts, but it still won’t be enough to make the company solvent. However, it should give us some breathing room.”
“You...you would do that?”
“Why do you sound surprised? This is my legacy and that of my children. I want to hold on to it as much as you.”
“Children?” There was a hint of glee in his father’s voice. “Does this mean you’ve decided to settle down with a family?”
Avoiding the question, Luca said, “It means I have a vested interest in making this work. And it means I need to step up my efforts to bring in a new revenue source, and I think I know of a way.”
The answer was the king. He had connections far beyond the normal businessman. In fact, the Mirraccino palace in many instances acted as an agent for its citizens. Now, granted, the lemon grove was not part of Mirraccino, but they were family. Luca could only hope that the king did better by his extended family than Luca had done by his immediate family. Guilt weighed heavy on his shoulders for pushing away his family and ignoring his obligations after his mother’s death.
Everything was now in jeopardy—his tenuous relationship with his father and his sister as well as the lemon grove. He had to hope that if he fixed the business then his relationships would continue to fall into place. But how could he get to the king when he was sequestered behind guarded doors?
Elena’s image came to mind. Her father was the only person the king had been seeing since the truth of Luca’s mother’s murder had been revealed. The news had hit the king especially hard, since Luca’s mother had been trying to protect him from one of his own trusted employees.
Luca dismissed the idea of involving Elena. It didn’t feel right. Besides, with the way they’d left things, she wouldn’t be in any frame of mind to help him. There had to be another way.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THERE WAS NO avoiding this evening’s festivities.
As it was, Elena had pleaded a headache the day before and stayed home, missing out on the croquet and bocce ball tournaments. She had been looking forward to them, too, because they were activities she could do and not worry about the baby. She had to admit that she did have a bit of a competitive streak.
But she knew that Luca was upset with her. In fact, their last conversation had been the angriest she’d ever seen him. He was usually so laid-back and let things roll off his shoulders. But this thing with the baby—it really got to him.
