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The older woman’s eyes held a glint of skepticism. She narrowed her view in on Stasia. “Is this true? Are you seeing my grandson?”
“Yes.”
“Hmpf...” The woman’s gaze moved from her to Roberto. “We’ll talk more about this later.” And with that, his grandmother strode away.
When the woman was out of earshot, Stasia asked, “Do you think she believed me?”
“I don’t know. It’s tough to get anything past her.”
“I feel bad about deceiving her.”
“So do I, but it wouldn’t be necessary if she’d give up on trying to find me a wife.” His gaze met hers. “She isn’t the only one to worry about. If your brother finds out, he truly isn’t going to be happy.”
“You’re right. If he ever found out, he would be furious with both of us. He can be so protective. Did you know that when I got married we had to elope because Xander didn’t approve of Lukos?”
Now, why had she gone and dredged up that memory? Perhaps because Lukos was such a big part of her life and pretending otherwise was impossible.
Their wedding had been simple but romantic in a small rustic chapel in the rolling hills of Tuscany. She’d worn a simple white dress while holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Lukos had worn a dark suit and tie while wearing a huge smile that lit up the whole world. Stasia stifled a resigned sigh.
She should have known then that something was wrong with him. But she explained away his symptoms as being stress over fighting with her brother and then the wedding. How was she supposed to have known—known that he was dying? Still, she should have suspected that it was something more.
Stasia drew in an unsteady breath as she slammed the door on her memories. And the pain, she tucked away deep inside her heart.
Roberto studied her with a frown on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I... I’m fine.” She said the words, trying to convince herself as much as him. “It’s just sometimes I wish I could go back and do things differently.”
“I knew back then there was some trouble between you and Xander. I just didn’t know the details.”
“Xander later apologized, saying he’d misjudged Lukos. But in the beginning, you could slice the tension in the room with a knife.” She shook her head, chasing away the unhappy memories. “I know Xander loves me and only wants the best for me, but I wish he’d trust me to figure that out on my own. My whole life, it’s felt like he’s been smothering me with his overprotectiveness. He’d scare off the guys when I was in school. I used to have to sneak around to date.”
“As I recall, you did some butting into his romance with Lea.”
Roberto was right, but she’d had her reasons. “That was different. He didn’t even know her all that long and all of a sudden he’s moving to Infinity Island.”
“He didn’t move there in the beginning—”
“It sure seemed like it. How was I to know if Lea was telling the truth about being pregnant? And it being his child?”
“But it wasn’t up to you to know the truth. That was his situation to settle for himself.”
Stasia frowned. Roberto was right. She had done exactly what she’d accused her brother of doing—butting in. “So, what do we do about Xander?”
“We don’t tell him about our little shipboard arrangement.”
“I don’t want to lie to him.”
“You won’t be. It’s not like we’re actually involved. What my grandmother makes up in her own mind is all up to her.”
Stasia’s mind was still stuck on them pretending to be romantically involved and what all that would entail. “We’ll be a couple for the voyage and then what?”
“We break up. It isn’t that far-fetched. Couples do it all of the time.”
“But why would we break up?” She was having a hard time imagining why any woman would walk away from Roberto.
“I work too much. I’m too much of a neat freak. I’m no fun.”
“As for the first one, that could be changed with enough encouragement.” She smiled at him.
