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“I do.” No need for the student to know that Nico was a coward, and that was why he didn’t want to visit.
Besides, there was someone else he needed to speak with.
* * *
Marianna answered the door in a long floral dress, looking uncharacteristically tousled and unmade-up. Holding Rosabella on her right shoulder, she looked him up and down. “You look worse than I do,” she remarked, “and I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in days. What’s the matter?”
“I think I might have messed up,” he replied.
“Messed up how?”
“With Louisa.” As briefly as he could, he explained what had happened a few nights earlier, including what happened with Dominic.
“Tell me you didn’t,” she said when he finished.
“I was trying to help,” he said. Why did everyone have a problem with him talking to the banker? “I gave my recommendation, same as I would for Rafe, or Ryan, for that matter.”
“But we aren’t talking about Rafe or Ryan—although it’s nice to know you would speak on my husband’s behalf—we’re talking about Louisa. A woman who found out her husband had been lying to her about everything. And you went behind her back. Twice!”
“To help,” Nico reminded her. “Steven Clark was a thief.”
“Yes, I know, but surely you can see how keeping a secret, even a well-meaning one, would feel like a betrayal to her?”
Yes, he could.
“You owe her a very large apology,” Marianna told him.
“If only the solution was that simple.”
“You mean there’s more?” The baby started to squirm, and she switched shoulders. “What else did you do?”
“Not me—her ex-husband.”
“What did he do? Besides steal from all those people?”
Nico ran a hand through his curls. He’d already said too much. Having already broken Louisa’s faith, he didn’t dare break it further. “Let’s just say he believed in holding the people he loved as close as possible.”
“Oh. I think I understand.”
“You do?”
“I think so. And if I’m right, then yes, you’ve messed up very badly.”
“She accused me of trying to take over her life. I wasn’t,” he added when Marianna arched a brow.
“Not intentionally anyway,” she murmured.
“Louisa said the same thing.”
That his sister laughed hurt. “Poor Nico,” she said, using her free hand to pat his knee. “It’s not your fault. It’s your nature to want to rush in and take over. You tried to with Ryan and me when I was pregnant.”
“Great. So now you’re saying I tried to control your life, as well.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m used to you. I learned a long time ago to ignore you when you start giving orders I don’t feel like obeying. But I’m not someone like Louisa who is struggling to rebuild her life. I can imagine your interference would make her feel very powerless. Especially since you kept your actions secret. Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Because I...” Because he knew she would tell him no. “I was trying to help,” he finished, as if his intentions excused his actions. “I wouldn’t have talked to Dominic if I didn’t have faith in her.”
“I know you wouldn’t, but can you see how someone in Louisa’s position might see things differently?”
Yes, he could. Especially someone who’d spent so many years trapped in a controlling relationship. Nico washed a hand over his face. So focused had he been on making Louisa happy, he’d let his desires blind him to what she truly needed. “I’m no better than her ex-husband, am I?”
“Your heart was in the right place.”
Small comfort when life blows up in your face. He’d trade his good intentions for having Louisa back in a second.
At that moment, Rosabella started to squirm again, wriggling her tiny torso against Marianna’s body. “I swear,” his sister said, as she tried to make the baby comfortable, “this little one is part eel. Spends half her day squirming. Don’t you, Rosabella?” She nuzzled the baby’s curls. “You know what, why don’t you hold her for a few minutes? Maybe Uncle Nico is what she needs to settle down.”
Doubtful. He could barely keep himself calm at the moment. “Marianna, I don’t think—” Too late. She deposited his niece in his waiting arms and he found himself looking into Rosa’s big brown eyes. For the second time in his life, Nico’s heart lurched.
“She’s so little,” he said, risking a finger stroke against Rosa’s cheek. The baby responded with a sleepy blink.
