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birth of a beautiful baby boy!
Hearts across the world might have burned with envy at the pictures of Antonio Arcuri’s wedding only four months ago. The shocking speed not only of his engagement to Emma Guilham—his one-time PA—but his subsequent marriage raised more than a few eyebrows amongst our hallowed readership.
One could argue that the reason for this was the soon-to-follow birth of their son, little Luca Arcuri. But that would be an argument from a harder heart than mine.
Because it’s clear to see the love shining in the eyes of this proud papa, and I can only wish them luck in their future endeavours.
So let me be the first to congratulate you, Mr Arcuri, on the wonderful birth of your son.
EMMA ENTERED THE large open-plan living room of their house in Sorrento, with her gorgeous son Luca cradled in her arms, to find Antonio talking to himself.
‘“Harder heart than mine...”’ he muttered angrily. ‘“Let me be the first...” Really, how dare she?’
Antonio threw yet another one of Roanna King’s articles into the bin.
Emma laughed—something she did so very much these days—and crossed the room to pull him into a kiss that wasn’t nearly as deep as she’d like, but perfectly respectable given there were three of them squashed into each other’s arms.
‘How dare who?’
‘Mmm?’ he asked, as he took in the sight of his wife and child. ‘I’ve forgotten—not important.’
And he meant it. All he had ever wanted was here in this room.
So much had changed in the year since he had discovered Bartlett wanted investment in his company—since he’d demanded that Emma find him a fiancée. At the time he’d thought that what he’d wanted was revenge, to destroy his father. But things hadn’t quite turned out that way.
Soon after his second proposal to Emma, Benjamin Bartlett had got in touch. Apparently Michael Steele had tried to use the information about his daughter against him, but instead of buckling to the demands he’d made Bartlett had stuck to his instincts, turned to Antonio instead, and together they had worked to help Mandy Bartlett weather the storm that Michael Steele had launched upon the poor girl.
Sometimes Antonio very much wished that he’d found a way to avoid that for Bartlett and his family, but Antonio was beginning to realise that accepting the consequences of one’s actions was an important part of the healing process.
Bartlett’s shares had wobbled for a few days under the negative press, but with Antonio’s investment they’d soon recovered. With Antonio, Emma and her father’s support, Mandy Bartlett had gone into rehab and ended up finishing her degree and passing with high honours, and the Bartletts were now a firm fixture in their social calendar.
And as for Michael Steele—it hadn’t taken long for the press to turn against the man. Once they’d discovered that it had been he who had leaked the dossier about Mandy’s troubles, and there had been the suggestion—though unproved and unsupported—that it had been in retaliation for a rejected business venture, it had sickened the international press.
Hounded and stalked by their fury that he could abuse such an innocent young girl, Michael had found his existing business associates driving as far from him as possible. The man had become a financial and social pariah—though Antonio had been surprised to discover that it hadn’t felt as good as he’d thought. It had been a period that had been difficult for Antonio, when he’d realised just how far he had nearly sunk himself. But Emma had helped him through with patient love, sweet comfort and reassurance.
Shortly after Antonio had made good on his first promise to Emma, and the Bartletts had been present, alongside Dimitri and Danyl, to toast Emma’s new role as head of the Arcuri Foundation—celebrations that had gone on long into the night, full of joy, laughter and hope for the future.
Despite their busy schedule, they had already ticked off several of the things on Emma’s Living List. Even now, standing in their home in Sorrento, he remembered the exquisite joy in Emma’s eyes as they’d shared a sunrise over the Terhren desert, and the happiness shining just as bright when they’d seen the sun set over the Mediterranean, surrounded by their closest friends, Danyl and Dimitri, and their respective families.
‘Where are you?’ Emma asked, and smiled as she passed his son to him.
‘Right here, where I should be,’ replied Antonio, drawing his thoughts away from the past and holding their precious son to his chest.
He watched Emma, stepping over the changing mat and the stacks of muslins, nappies and other little things he’d never thought to find such joy in, as she went to the mirror that covered almost the entire length of one wall. He watched her as she checked her hair and her brightly coloured dress. He never tired of seeing her in autumn colours, and he was sure that he hadn’t seen her wear black since Buenos Aires.
He gently put his sleeping son in the small bassinette beside the sofa, already missing the soft, gentle comfort of having him in his arms, and walked to his wife, unable to resist the urge to hold her, touch her. He wondered if he ever would.
He pressed a starburst of kisses along the beautiful length of her neck, knowing Emma would understand the gesture and the silent, sensual request behind it.
Emma playfully slapped his arms away from her. ‘You know we don’t have time, Antonio. Danyl and Dimitri will be here with their families in little over two hours, and Danyl’s protection services always make such a drama about the whole thing—they’ll be at the door in twenty minutes.’
‘Having a sheikh as a friend has both its perks and its curses,’ Antonio growled.
That each of the Winners’ Circle had found happiness and love within the space of such a short time was still a marvel to all three men. But those were stories for another time. For now, Antonio’s only thought was of his wife, and just what he could do with twenty little minutes.
A wicked smile crept across his face, and Emma soon discovered that twenty minutes could be just as pleasurable as a lifetime.
* * * * *
