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Head tilted back to get the full effect of the structure as she got out of the car, she shook her head in silent wonder as she walked towards the building.
Placing her hand palm flat against the ancient stone wall, which looked solid enough to withstand just about anything you threw at it including the odd earthquake, she turned back to Francesco.
‘This is incredible—when did it happen?’ Without waiting for his response, she stepped back to admire once more the stunning building.
The two wings of the house were now connected. The glass corridor linking them looked exactly as Francesco had described. A glass gable end stood where there had once been rubble.
‘I don’t know what to say, Francesco. It’s magnificent. I’m breathless.’
‘So am I. You’re beautiful.’
Erin spun around, her eyes colliding with his. She shivered in response to the raw heat in his midnight eyes. ‘So you like what I have done?’
She nodded, feeling suddenly and inexplicably shy. ‘I love it. When did …?’
‘I was at something of a loose end when you left. I could not work.’
‘You couldn’t work?’
‘Perhaps I should have said didn’t want to work. A list of figures no longer provided me with the fulfilment it once had, Actually I was pretty much a wreck,’ he confessed wryly.
Looking at his lean and lithe body, it was hard to think of Francesco and wreck in the same sentence. The shock revelations continued to come thick and fast.
‘Once I sobered up …’ ‘You got drunk?’
‘It was the bender to end all benders. I discovered that I am not an interesting drunk so I sobered up.’ He paused and angled an enquiring look at her face. ‘I know you wanted honesty and openness, but is this too much information?’
Erin laughed. ‘Is that what this is about?’
The laughter died from his face.
‘This is about being someone you believe will love and care for you and our baby for the rest of your life. You shared your thoughts and feelings with me. I am simply returning the compliment.’
There were
several thoughts and feelings that she had not been brave enough to share with him.
Erin knew the message in his dark eyes wasn’t really there. She knew her brain was playing cruel tricks, making her see what she wanted to.
But what if it was really there? Her heart began to beat faster.
‘Now where had I got to? Of course, I was filling in the gaps—it was at that point, I realised that the biggest favour I could do to the bank was to stay away.’
‘Can you do that?’
He gave one of his inimitable shrugs. ‘I’m the boss, cara. I can do anything I like and,’ he admitted, his lips curling into a sardonic smile, ‘I am very good at delegating. I hope you understand that during this time I was very angry with you.’
‘What did you do next, other than be angry with me?’
‘I came back here and I thought when Erin comes back our home will be finished.’
‘You thought I would come back?’
‘I could not allow myself to think anything else,’ he said simply. ‘That night in Venice, the night of the ball, your obvious distrust of me, the things you accused me of—I cannot lie, I was very, very angry. My pride was hurt … I walked … God knows where. I knew if I came back I would say things that I would regret.
‘And part of me, a not very nice part of me, took pleasure from the possibility you might think I was with another woman. It was petty and contemptible.’ He looked with pained anguish into her blue eyes. ‘But my plan backfired. When I came back to find you leaving me I was shocked. I think I was in shock.
‘I didn’t really think you would do it. My pride would not let me believe that a woman would reject Francesco Romanelli.’ He gave a snort of self-derision at his arrogance. ‘But you did. I let you go. I can’t believe how stupid I was!’ he admitted with a groan. ‘I actually sat and watched while you, my one chance of happiness, walked out of my life.’
