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Afterwards, they lay there, with Sorcha struggling to get her thoughts back on some kind of normal track, but she felt as if she were trying to wade through treacle as she battled to tell the difference between what was real and what was fantasy. You don't love him.
He lifted her off him and began pulling on his clothes again. 'I'm catching a flight to Rome this evening’ he said.
'But you've only been back a few days!'
'I need to have one last look at those figures. And get a few things straight in my mind.' He gave a brisk, slightly efficient smile—she had seen him use it with the secretaries, but never with her. Never with her,
'The company is doing just fine/ he continued. 'The new factory is up and running—in fact, the relaunch has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.'
He spoke in the gentle tone of a doctor who was delivering a horrendous prognosis to
a patient—a mixture of kindness and resignation. She wanted to grab hold of his broad, strong shoulders and yell, I don't care about the company—what about us?
But something in his eyes stopped her. Was it a warning? That they could do this in one of two ways—and if they chose the dignified way to end it, then they needed the assistance of their old friend.
Pride.
'You're leaving, aren't you, Cesare?' she questioned, using every effort of will to prevent her voice from breaking.
'You knew I had to leave some time.'
Of course she had. 'And...what will you do?'
'I'll go home to Panicale. I don't want to miss the harvest this year.'
Something in the way he said it made her heart heavy. Her lips framed the question she hardly dared ask, and yet some masochistic urge compelled her to. 'You sound like a man who has a yearning to settle down. ’
"Well, of course I do, Sorcha—doesn't everyone? One day I want a family of my own, as I imagine you do, too.'
She saw a glimpse of his future and saw that she had no place in it. So this really was the end. Sorcha swallowed down an impending sense of terrible loss.
She thought about the tips Maceo had given her when he'd been taking her photo. That if you pretended you felt something hard enough, then it would look rea
l to the outside world. And if that was what Cesare really thought of her, then railing against it wasn't going to change his mind.
"What time's your flight?' she asked.
Cesare's face did not betray one flicker of reaction, and indeed he convinced himself that the brief twist of his heart was merely surprise at her response. Why, he should applaud her poise and her cool control. How many times had he told a lover that he was leaving only to have her sobbing and begging and pleading with him not to go, or to take her with him?
His mouth curved into a mocking smile. For once, he had met his match—and the irony was that what made them so alike was the very thing which would ensure they had no future together.
'At eight. ’ He lifted his arm to glance at his watch. 'I want to go and say goodbye to the staff at the factory. ’
'Do you...?' She gave him a tentative smile, but she wasn't going to put him in the awkward position of having to reject her. She injected her question with just the right amount of levity. 'Do you want me to come and do the waving hankie thing?'
It occurred to Cesare that Sorcha Whittaker really must be his nemesis if she could make such a flippant comment when he was walking out of her life for good. Did he really mean so little to her that her beautiful mouth could curve into that cool and unfeeling smile? Damn her...damn her!
He hadn't intended this, but he knew that he had to do it one last time. Reaching for her, he snaked his arm round her waist and very deliberately brought her up close, so that she could feel the hot, hard heat of his new erection, and he saw her pupils dilate with surprise and pleasure.
'No need for that,' he murmured. He unzipped himself and sheathed himself in protection for one last time. 'Because when I remember you, I want to remember you just . We...this.'
Sorcha was glad that he entered her with that great powerful thrust, and glad when he began to move inside her, so that she could pretend her stifled cry was one of pleasure rather than pain.
Maybe it was better this way.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
'Is something the matter, dear? '
