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He dipped his head in silent acknowledgement.
‘But you hated the idea,’ she blurted out, concern drawing her brows together.
‘I still do.’ His expression changed, flickering with a sadness she couldn’t understand. ‘But Evie would love it, and I want her to have the wedding of her dreams.’ He took a step closer. ‘You’ve created that. Or you will, once I authorise it.’
Lucinda’s heart stammered and her eyes filled with stardust. ‘You’re serious?’ For the first time in a long time, she felt something like relief cresting through her. Was it possible that everything might actually turn out okay? Well, not okay, because her dad would still be gone and that was a pain with which she’d never cope, but at least by buying the business, she could start running it as he would want.
‘Yes.’ He sounded as though he were preparing to have his teeth pulled, though, and, despite what this meant to her, hesitation crept into Lucinda.
‘Listen, Thirio.’ She moved towards him, lifting a hand and pressing it to his chest. Electricity arced through the tiny room, and yet it didn’t feel strange to touch him. Quite the opposite. The second her fingers connected with his chest, something locked in place inside Lucinda. ‘I can come up with something else. I’ve learned a heap about your sister from the research I’ve done. I know I can pull together a dream wedding scenario that doesn’t involve the Castile de Neve.’
He held her gaze and yet it was as though he was staring right through her, fixating on something else entirely. ‘When Evie was a child, she was badly bullied at school.’
Lucinda’s brows knitted together. ‘I didn’t know that.’
He spoke as though she hadn’t. ‘It was very cruel. She was much smaller than the other girls, and she struggled academically. It took several years for my parents to realise she had dyslexia. By then, she’d been made to feel as though she were stupid. I remember one Christmas, when we were at thecastile,I discovered her crying in her room. She’d found a note that had been stuffed into her book by a so-called friend, saying some pretty ghastly things. Evie told me that thecastilewas the only place she felt like herself, the only place she felt safe from the cruelty of other children.’
Lucinda shook her head softly. ‘That’s awful.’
He nodded once.
‘I took her into the forest and, together, we fashioned a sled. It took us two full days, and while we worked I asked her questions about the children who were being cruel, the sorts of things they were saying. At first, she was tight-lipped, but the more we worked, side by side, the more she shared, so I came to understand how devastating their treatment was. I hadn’t noticed before. My sister had been putting on such a brave face—that’s something she does, you know.’
Lucinda nodded gently. She didn’t know why he was confiding this, but she liked listening to him, particularly when speaking about his life.
‘I haven’t always been there for her. In fact, I’ve been a pretty crappy older brother, most of the time. But on that one afternoon, when I watched her ride the sled we’d made down the mountain, I saw her face glow with happiness, I saw her laugh for the first time in a long time, and I remember thinking I would do anything to know she was happy like that, always. And I can do that again now.’ His Adam’s apple shifted visibly as he swallowed. ‘I want her to have her dream wedding.’
‘But I can—’
He lifted a finger, pressing it to her lips, the colour of his irises shifting at the contact. ‘You have already come up with the perfect wedding. Well, almost.’ His lips twisted in a rueful expression that was almost a grin.
‘Almost?’ Her own voice was hoarse, the word whispering around his finger, her warm breath spiralling between them.
‘There are some changes, mainly to the logistics. Considerations of which you could not have been aware. I also have some suggestions for the accommodation. Again, you are not familiar with the castle as I am, and therefore couldn’t have known how many rooms could be made available to guests.’
‘I wasn’t sure if you’d want—’
‘It makes sense.’ His expression gave little away. ‘My parents used to host enormous balls there every year, before they...’ His voice trailed into nothing, and sympathy tightened her lips into a small frown.
‘I’d love to talk logistics with you,’ she said after a pause, fully aware that he wouldn’t want to be drawn further on the tragic loss of his parents. ‘Do you have time now?’
‘I have another meeting to get to,’ he said quickly. As if belatedly realising his finger was still pressed to Lucinda’s lips, he dropped it quickly, his hand flexing by his side. ‘What about tonight?’
Her heart stammered. ‘Tonight?’
Something sparked between them. A silent understanding. A risk. A temptation. ‘Purely business,’ he assured her.
Only Lucinda wasn’t assured. She felt thwarted. Every single cell in her body was reverberating with a need to kiss him, as strongly as ever. If not stronger, for the fact she hadn’t seen him in days.
But she’d be crazy to push any kind of romantic agenda with him now. He was her saviour. This wedding was going to make all her dreams come true. Sure, she might desire him in a way that caused her heart to lurch and her pulse misfire, but she couldn’t act on that. Not without potentially jeopardising this business arrangement.
Even as that occurred to her, she forced herself to grapple with an unappealing thought. ‘Thirio, this isn’t for any other reason, right?’
His frown was reflexive. ‘Such as?’
Heat stained her flesh. ‘Such as, what happened between us. This isn’t some... I don’t know...compensation for...’
‘Do I need to compensate you?’
