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‘I came here today to tell my uncle that I was backing out of the deal. That I wanted to keep the castello after all.’
‘Why on earth would you do that?’
‘Because for the past week I’ve been more honest and real than I’ve ever been before. You crashed into my life and forced me to revisit a past I never wanted to think about again. Do you have any idea what that feels like for someone like me?’ He shook his head, pacing to the end of the room. ‘And now you’re telling me that Umberto just had to tell you I was selling the castle and you jumped ship?’
‘In light of your sudden change in behaviour, it wasn’t so hard to believe. Taking a position here is a secure logical move for me.’
‘Screw logic!’ he bellowed, turning back towards her and slamming his hand down on the conference table. ‘You’re so willing to just hand over that wedding contract? To give it up without a fight? What happened to the woman who climbed up a building to fight for her career?’
‘I have no other choice.’
‘You always have a choice, Dara. No one has a gun to your head. You want to know what I think? I think you’re scared. You feel it too—whatever this thing is between us. And running away at the first sign of danger is easier than staying around to risk getting hurt.’
* * *
Dara stared at the man standing before her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the chaotic thump of her heart.
Leo walked around the table to stand before her. ‘You can keep pushing me away with logic and business but I know that’s all a front.’
He leisurely brushed a wisp of hair from her face, making her shiver in response.
Dara stiffened, taking a quick step back from him ‘Leo...this was just sex.’ Her voice was almost a whisper, the emotion in her throat making it hard for her to form words. ‘Nothing more.’
She shook her head, looking out of the window to the bay below. How could she look at him when he had just offered her more and she was throwing it back in his face? She was showing her love for him by making this decision. By letting him see that this was just a week of madness. He would never be happy with a woman like her. He deserved someone whole. Someone better.
Leo stood up straight, taking a step away from her. ‘Well, it’s clear you’ve made your choice.’
Dara remained silent as he walked towards the door, pausing to look back at her. For a moment she thought he might say something else. She didn’t know if she could take much more before she broke down completely. To her relief he turned and walked away without another word.
She waited until she heard his footsteps disappear before she let the tears come. The emotion of the past twenty minutes had left her gutted inside. She felt physically ill. He would be back to his old lifestyle by tomorrow. She had no doubt. Men like Leo Valente didn’t brood over women. They moved swiftly on to the next willing partner.
She remembered that day in the boathouse—him laying his past out in front of her. She had seen through the playboy fa?ade to the man underneath. Did she honestly think he was capable of such deceit or had she jumped the gun in leaving the castello so quickly to escape her own feelings? Maybe things would have been different if she had waited for him to explain first.
Wiping the tears from her face, she shook her head with finality. What was done was done.
She wasn’t sure she would ever recover from Leo Valente. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to.
* * *
Dara had thought the week since their last encounter had been difficult. But nothing compared to knowing that Leo would be in the building today, to finalise the contract for his investment in his uncle’s development. She half expected to look up from her desk and see him in her doorway, all charming smiles and smooth talk. She almost hoped to see him.
Her decision to hand over the planning of Umberto’s celebration dinner tonight had been made out of self-preservation. She couldn’t stand to see the hurt in Leo’s eyes one more time. Or, worse, to see that he had brought some leggy beauty as his date. Even the thought made her knuckles clench.
She mentally chastised herself. That was ridiculous. She had no claim on him now. She’d never even had one to begin with. And she had forfeited any rights she might have had when she’d walked away from him.
The memory of his words sent a fresh knot of emotion to her throat. ‘You always have a choice, Dara.’
‘What are you doing up here? The dinner starts in twenty minutes.’
Umberto Lucchesi stood in the doorway of Dara’s office, a glass of champagne in his hand.
