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‘So Stefano and I were just produced to keep up the charade...’
‘Ariana.’ Dante stepped in when again his mother could not respond. ‘It wasn’t like that. They were different times, and they did the best they could.’
‘By lying to us?’ She turned accusing eyes on her mother.
Ariana was not, Dante knew, upset about her father being gay. She was upset about the nest of lies and her own part in things, for she turned on her mother. ‘You told me how to behave, and I did it. You told me to hate Mia and so I did.’ Ariana started to cry. ‘You told me we were a happy family untilshecame along...’
‘Ariana,’ Dante said. ‘It is a shock, I know, but now we know the truth we can start over again.’
But it was going to take more than a few words of comfort, Dante knew. Ariana’s world had been built on lies, and she was rocked to her very core.
‘What about Roberto?’ Stefano asked. ‘Is that why he was too ill to attend the ball?’
‘I believe so.’ Dante nodded. ‘There is something I want to run by you.’ He didn’t have to, given that the Romano residence was legally his, but it was something else he had spoken about with Mia on the drive here. Dante wanted to things put right, hopefully with his family’s support. ‘I would like the Romano residence to go to Roberto,’ Dante said. ‘He loves the vines, the stables. Really it was their home. They were together for fifteen years.’
‘Yes,’ Ariana said after a moment’s thought. ‘He should have it.’
‘I agree.’ Stefano nodded.
‘But he left it to you,’ Angela fretted. ‘It’s worth a fortune...’
‘Not everything is about money,’ Dante said, and tried to keep the bitter note from his voice when he spoke to his mother. ‘It’s about the home going to its rightful owner.’
And, after a long, silent moment Angela nodded. ‘Yes...’ She cleared her throat before going on. ‘I want to apologise to all of you for my behaviour throughout the divorce.’ She looked over at Dante. ‘And I would like to apologise to Mia too.’
Dante nodded. ‘Thank you. I am sure Mia will appreciate it.’
‘So do I,’ Ariana said, and her eyes filled again with tears.
‘Come on,’ Dante said as he glanced at the time and saw that soon the meeting was to commence. ‘Let’s get it over with.’ But as they headed out Dante remembered he’d said he’d try to drop in on Mia. ‘Tell them I’ll be there in a short while. Mamma, do you want to be invited into the meeting as an observer?’
‘You’re not going to tell them about your father?’ Angela asked anxiously. ‘I don’t think he would want that.’
‘Of course not,’ Dante said.
‘So how are you going to explain the photos?’
‘Go,’ Dante said without answering, ‘I’ll be there soon.’
The truth was he still had no idea.
He was worried about Ariana, though not just because of today. He saw clearly now his mother’s manipulation of her, and knew Ariana faced it most days. As well as that, with Stefano and Eloa soon to marry, he was sure Ariana felt shut out, and she didn’t have the diversion of work to distract her.
But there was far more than Ariana on his mind today.
Mia would bear the brunt of the fallout from the photos so he took the lift down and headed for his office rather than the boardroom.
There was so much riding on this meeting. He’d never given a damn what the press said about him, but Mia did, and she was worried too about the effect the salacious headlines might have on their baby in later years.
There was a lot to get right.
As he walked into his office, there stood a sight for sore eyes.
Mia, in stilettos and wearing the gorgeous lavender dress she’d had on the day they had met and with her hair worn back from her face.
‘Who are you?’ Dante said, just as he had on that long-ago day.
‘A different person from the one I was then.’ Mia smiled. ‘How did they take it?’
