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Guilt assailed Luca. He’d been so caught up in the surprise reception last night and then being alone with Elena that he hadn’t been thinking clearly. She’d been so different—so bold. And he was weak when it came to her kisses.
He took a big gulp of coffee. He swallowed, and his stomach churned. Maybe coffee on top of guilt was not a good combination for this morning. He set aside the coffee.
“Elena, come here.” He guided her over to the wicker chairs. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
She looked at him. “I know.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Your sister told me last night that you are going to be working with your father in Halencia. So you’ll want to spend most of your time there. And that’s why I’ve been thinking—”
“Wait.” He waved his hands to gain her attention. “Is that all my sister told you?”
Elena’s forehead creased. “What else should she have told me?”
“Nothing. Because she doesn’t know this yet.”
“Know what? You’re worrying me.”
He blew out a long breath and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “There’s a problem with the estate. Huge problems.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Financial. My father—he ran the estate into debt.”
“Oh, no.” She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear this.”
Luca’s worried gaze met hers. “It isn’t like my father to fall behind on his credit payments. He’s used the estate, our home, to secure loans—loans that he doesn’t have a prayer of paying off.”
When Luca chanced a glance at her face, it was pale. She was getting the drift of the severity of the situation.
He didn’t want to, but he had to go on. “I’ve had to use my savings to stave off the creditors. And now I have nothing to offer you.”
“Of course you do. I didn’t marry you for your title or your money—”
“But you have a right to expect those things. And I can’t give them to you. Well, I still have the title, but at this point it isn’t worth much.”
“It’s okay,” she said confidently. “I’ve got enough money to support both of us and the baby.”
“No!” He jumped to his feet and moved to stand by the wall. “I’m not having you do that.”
“You mean you’re too proud to take money from a woman?”
“No, what I mean is that for a long time I shirked my responsibilities, and I won’t do that again. I have to make this right and not take the easy way out. If I did that, if I counted on you to pull me out of this mess, how would our child ever respect me?”
He couldn’t just stand there. He knew that Elena must now think less of him for letting things get to this point. If he was a proper son, he would have been there for his father before the business hit this critical juncture.
Luca took off down the steps of the decking bordering the cottage. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind. He just needed space to figure out his next step.
“Luca, wait!”
He couldn’t face her, not after he’d let her down. He kept going—kept moving down the beach.
“Luca, stop!” Elena cried. “There has to be a way to fix this. We just have to think about it.”
Luca begrudgingly stopped and turned to the deck. “I did. And... Oh, never mind.”
“No, you were going to say something. I want to know what it is.” When she reached him, she placed a finger beneath his chin and lifted until they were eye to eye. “Speak to me.”
