The Heir the Prince Secures

“No,” he said.

“Why?”

He looked out briefly toward the darkness of Hyde Park.

“My father ignored everything except his pleasures—mistresses, love affairs. He left me to be raised by servants and sold off the family business to finance his sybaritic lifestyle.” His hands clenched. “I want it back.”

“I get it,” Tess said suddenly. “You want to make it right. To get back what you lost.”

Stefano looked at her sharply. She gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I never knew my father,” she said. “My mother raised me alone. When I was twelve, she died.” She looked down, her arms crossed over her chest, gripping the ends of the stole around her shoulders. “After her funeral, I thought my father would finally come for me. But he...he didn’t. I found out later he was already married, with another family.”

Stefano hated the pain in her eyes. “He was wrong. Both to you, and to his wife. He acted without honor.”

“He was still my father.” She gave a wistful, bitter smile. “After my mother’s funeral, I tried to barricade myself in our apartment with books, so that my uncle wouldn’t take me to Brooklyn. Because I was so sure my father would come. But he didn’t want me to exist, so he pretended I didn’t.”

Moonlight illuminated her beautiful face, showing a single tear streaking down her cheek as they stood together on the dark, quiet terrace.

“He was a fool,” he said quietly.

Tess took a deep breath. “The point is, sometimes you can’t get back the things you’ve lost. No matter how hard you try. All you can do is try to move on, move forward.” She looked out toward the moonlit park. “If my aunt and uncle hadn’t taken me in, I don’t know what would have happened to me. Although...”

“Although?”

She gave him a wistful smile. “Sometimes it was hard to always feel so indebted to them. To be afraid that if I made one false step they might send me away.”

A silent curse went through him. No wonder she’d fallen in love so easily the night he’d seduced her. She’d been hungry for a place—a person—to call her own. Someone with her by choice, not duty. Taking her into his arms, he said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She lifted her gaze to his. “It’s all worked out, hasn’t it? We’re married now. Raising Esme together.” She interlaced his hands with her own. “We’ll give her a better childhood than we had. She’ll always know she’s loved—by both of us.”

“Yes,” Stefano said. The word love made him uncomfortable. He cared for Esme, yes, and he felt his responsibility acutely to provide for her and protect her as a father. Was that the same as love?

“We’re each other’s family now,” Tess sai

d, her eyes shining, and his heart tightened even more. “All the pain is in the past. The future is filled with love—”

“Look, Tess,” he interrupted. “You know I’m not good with...” He couldn’t say the word love. “With feelings, right? Emotions?”

She looked at him, uncomprehending.

“I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” he said. “Like you did our first night, when you suddenly claimed you loved me. I wanted to see you again. But after that, I couldn’t.”

All the color drained from Tess’s face.

“That’s why you never called me again?” she whispered. “Because I said I was falling in love with you?”

He shrugged. “Look, I know that’s all in the past. We’re married now. We have a life together, a child. So I want to make sure we understand each other. I like you a lot, Tess.” He gave her a wicked grin. “Especially in bed. But that’s all I’m capable of. Passion. Partnership. Parenthood.”

Her pale cheeks flushed red. She gave a strange laugh, pulling away. “I know that. Do you seriously think I don’t know that? I’d never be tempted to love you again. Not now I know you!”

“Good,” he agreed, relieved. “I just wanted to be sure. I’d never want to make you unhappy or break your heart.”

“You, break my heart? Not likely!” Turning away, Tess changed the subject. “So what will you do about Zacco?”

“Convince her to sell,” Stefano said.

“How?”