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“He’s just a friend, Michael. I’ve known him for years.”
“I don’t give a crap. I saw the way he was looking at you, and dressed like that, what do you expect? You might as well g
o and strip naked for the guy. I mean it, Madeleine. Never again.”
“Not really.” Her smile was tight and she saw his eyes narrow, she knew he understood more than what she’d said.
“Alessia is…she and my cousin Max – Fiero’s brother – were married, briefly.”
“Were?”
“They’re divorced now. It was unpleasant.” He compressed his lips, looking away from her for a moment.
“I’m sorry to hear that. She was wearing a wedding ring?”
“Engagement,” he corrected. “Apparently she’s getting married to someone else.”
“How does Max feel about that?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Yes.” Then, after a small pause. “Do you think I shouldn’t?”
Maddie considered that a moment. “I don’t know enough of the details.” Then, lifting a finger to his lips. “And I’m not prying. It’s their private business, I don’t need to know the ins and outs. But I can’t possibly advise you what to do. The circumstances would make all the difference.” She toyed with the ends of her hair thoughtfully. “Why do you think you should tell him?”
“Because I’d want to know.”
“If Claudette was getting married?”
He looked visibly surprised so she wondered if he hadn’t been thinking about Claudette. Perhaps there was someone else in his past that he considered to be the ‘one that got away’.
“I suppose I would,” he admitted reluctantly. “But only so I could make sure Alexander’s best interests were being served. That is to say, to be sure the guy wasn’t a drug addict or similar.” He lifted his powerful shoulders so droplets of water trickled down them, glistening in the afternoon sun like diamonds. “What about you and your ex?”
She shook her head. “Honestly? I want to forget he even exists.” She shuddered.
“Not even to warn whoever he’s with next?”
A lump of grief built inside Maddie. “I’ve thought about that,” she admitted with a soft nod. “I’ve agonised over it. I wish I’d gone to the police, so at least there was some record – but I didn’t, and now? I don’t know. I think if I spent the rest of my life trying to warn everyone away from him, bitterness would consume me. I need to draw a line in the sand and forget about him. I need to do that.”
He nodded, lifting a hand and stroking her cheek softly, gently. They were silent a moment, a warm silence of understanding.
“I liked Elodie very much.”
“You and me both.” He grimaced, the expression in contradiction to his words.
“What is it?” She knew he was holding something back, thinking something he wasn’t saying.
“I was just thinking how lucky we all are that she has such a forgiving temperament.”
“Oh?”
“We were all angry with her, when she arrived in Fiero’s life. Jack was a toddler. Fiero had no idea he was a father.”
Maddie’s intake of breath was sharp. “Really?”
“We found it hard to accept that. There was a little Montebello out there and none of us knew about him.”
