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She shrugged. “I know. And now he’s in school, I could pick up the tail-end of my degree, but I know what commitment it will take and I’m so torn,” she said, surprised by her honesty.
“In what ways are you torn?”
“I’m passionate about law. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. And I’m good at it,” she said, pride firing her eyes. “I consistently scored highest on my exams. I did training placements at top-tier firms. I worked so hard though, Xavier, and I don’t know if I could do that now. Not if it meant not being able to read Joshua a bedtime story or collect him from school.”
Xavier was frowning, but it was a look of contemplation. “You could study one subject a semester,” he murmured. “Surely you could schedule the contact hours not to interfere with the time Josh is home?”
She nodded slowly, her cheeks flaming. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure she could juggle Josh, university and Xavier. She was already using all her mental wits to keep her sanity. “I’ll think about it,” she said honestly.
“I think you should finish your degree, even if you do not choose to undertake your training contract etcetera. Finishing the degree simply gives you that accomplishment, and allows you to pursue the vocational side later, if you choose to.”
She bit down on her lip, nodding. It was sound advice, and the truth was, Josh was needing her less and less these days. One more year and then he’d start school proper and she’d be at a loose end for five days a week.
“Did I know this about you back then?”
She nodded; he frowned.
“I hate that I can’t remember any of it.”
She tasted a small bit of the paella, then lay down her fork with a heavy sigh. “You thought I must have been an aspiring actress because I was working at the theatre. I said, I just like the songs, and you laughed – you laughed so much that weekend. And then you tried to guess what I did, instead. You guessed such silly things, and I laughed, and finally you said ‘student’ and I nodded, and then you began to guess what I was studying. It took forever.”
She didn’t add that each wrong guess had been punctuated by a long, passionate kiss that had robbed her of breath. That the reason it had taken so long for them to arrive at the truth of her profession was because they’d been far more invested in other more pleasurable pursuits.
“I was impressed,” he guessed, his eyes thoughtful.
“You offered me an internship at the London branch of your company.” Her face paled and she tightened her lips. “At the time I was flattered and amused. You knew I didn’t want anything to do with commercial law, but you were adamant it would be beneficial for my career to have Salbatore Industries on my resumé.”
“Was I?” His expression showed he couldn’t quite fathom his stupidity.
“Now I see you just wanted me where you could keep an eye on me. Sleep with me when you were in London. The perfect, convenient mistress – under your thumb in every way.”
His jaw clenched and she knew he wanted to fight her accusation.
“It would have been foolhardy for you to work for me,” he said instead, the statement heavy with self-recriminations.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I never had any intention of doing so.”
“But now,” he murmured, rubbing a hand over his jaw, his mind changing direction with lightning-fast speed, “it would make more sense. You are to be a Salbatore, after all. Why should you not have a role within the company?”
Her eyes sparked to his and her chest began to thump. “You’re serious?”
“Why not? You’re obviously intelligent and hard-working. You’d be an asset.”
Foolish, unwanted tears sparkled on her lashes at this unexpected compliment and, misunderstanding the reason for that, he shook his head and winced. “I’ve offended you. I’m sorry.”
“No!” She said, a bubbling, laughing sob. “You’ve surprised me, that’s all. You’re the last person on earth I ever expected to hear praise from. It caught me off-guard.”
She went to stand, her emotions needing a break, but he reached out and put a hand over hers. “Stay. Eat.”
She stared down at him, her pulse rushing madly, and then she did as he’d said, returning to her seat.
He nodded with satisfaction.
“And your parents have never met our son?” He asked, apparently deciding to leave the question of her career for now.
“No.” She shook her head for emphasis. “Nell sent them a photo when he was born. They asked if I had arranged for adoption. She told them I hadn’t, and wouldn’t, and they wrote back very curtly saying that I wasn’t to bring the bastard to their home.”
He swore and shook his head, then reached for his wine, drinking it as though he could wash the taste of anger out of his mouth.
