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She stood and placed the box on an occasional table.
‘I’m going.’ No more kisses, no promises, just one plea. ‘Don’t get in touch with me. Don’t enquire about me from Aurora or Nico. Don’t keep me on a thread.’
And so he did what Antonietta wanted and what his mother had suggested—he pushed them to the point of no return.
‘That’s very conceited of you, Antonietta. I won’t even remember your name by the middle of next week. Certainly I won’t be looking you up for a replay. You weren’tthatgood.’
Ah, yes, Antonietta thought,he warned me how cold he would be at the end.
But she had so little to compare this with—so little to go on apart from her heart, which was braver than she. So she walked over to him and looked up to meet his eyes.
And as it turned out shecouldhave the difficult conversation.
‘Liar.’
She was met with silence.
‘I’m going to get on with my life now.’
She walked out of his suite and there, waiting in the cloister, was Francesca.
‘I’m proud of you,’ Francesca said.
‘So am I,’ Antonietta admitted.
And so too was Rafe.
‘I hope you have had a wonderful stay,’ said the concierge.
‘Indeed,’ Rafe replied, and handed Pino a handwritten note of thanks, as a royal prince was expected to do to someone who had taken such care to ensure his every demand had been met. ‘Thank you for your help. The running route you suggested was most excellent.’
‘It was a favourite of mine.’
‘Was?’ Rafe checked.
‘I used to walk there with Rosa.’
Ah, yes, Rafe recalled that Pino had lost his wife earlier this year. Whatwasit with this place? Usually he did not get involved in staff’s lives or dramas.
‘It’s still beautiful,’ Rafe said.
‘Not without Rosa,’ Pino responded, and held out his hand to the Prince. ‘It’s been a pleasure having you at the Old Monastery, and I know we are all looking forward to your return.’
But he would not be returning.
Like Pino, the thought of being here without his love meant Silibri had lost its charm.
Love?
Instantly he refuted that. His life would still be beautiful without Antonietta, Rafe told himself. He would return to his country and marry a suitable woman, if it pleased the people, and then he would have the power he required for the changes he craved.
He would no longer be the reckless Playboy Prince.
And Antonietta would move on with her life.
She had been expecting that sound.
Chi-Chi was eating a guest’s grapes in one of the standard suites as Antonietta switched off the vacuum. She could hear the whirr of the rotors in the distance and headed to the window.
First she saw Pino and one of the bell boys, carrying luggage, and then she saw Rafe, running across the ground and bounding up into the helicopter.
‘He’s leaving, then,’ Chi-Chi said with a distinct lack of interest.
Antonietta didn’t have the energy to respond, and she watched as it lifted into the sky until it was just a tiny black dot on the horizon.
Without his ‘amusement’ Rafe had not even seen out the day...
