A Deal Before the Altar

Twice in her life she had trusted and loved a man and twice he had let her down. Her father, whom she’d adored, had walked away one stormy night without a backward glance, leaving her in tears, clinging to the front door. Then Richard, whom she’d loved in a gentle, appreciative way, had left her alone in the world—more alone than she cared to admit.

Now Santos.

She’d fallen in love with him so passionately and deeply she couldn’t even think properly any more. Her usual unemotional demeanour was smashed into icy crumbs.

‘Emma would never have done it if she’d thought it would end like this.’ She tried to think back to all they’d spoken off when they’d been getting ready for the party Santos had thrown. She shook her head in disbelief. ‘She just wouldn’t.’

‘It would seem your sister isn’t as loyal to you as you are to her.’ Santos’s voice was hard as he paced the room. ‘Whatever possessed them to run off and get married?’

‘Love,’ Georgina whispered.

Santos rounded on her. ‘Love is for fools. It destroys lives.’

‘How can you say that?’ Her frustration matched his fury and she glared at him, daring him to answer. ‘You must have loved once.’

An echo of a previous conversation filled her mind.

He closed the distance between them in long strides, dominating the room with his volatile mood. ‘Your father walked out on you, no?’ His accent was stronger than ever as he battled with his emotions.

Her breath caught in her throat as he brought up her past, made the memories of that night—already too fresh after the storm—rush back. ‘My father has nothing to do with it.’

‘If he’d loved you he wouldn’t have left. That’s what you think, no?’

His eyes locked with hers, holding her prisoner, forcing her to face things she didn’t want to face.

Before she could answer his harsh words came at her again, as if he no longer cared what he was saying. ‘It’s the same for me. Love will never be a part of how I think of my mother, or she of me.’ He whirled around and marched back outside, as if needing more space to vent his anger.

Cautiously she followed him outside. ‘What happened with your mother?’ Her words were a whisper as she watched him drag in a deep breath.

He turned to look at her once more, his face set in firm lines.

‘I was a mistake.’ He swallowed as if the words tasted bitter and her heart tugged for him. ‘A mistake that forced her to marry my father. A mistake she always made me pay for.’

‘But your father loved her, didn’t he?’ She scanned her mind for the little snippets of his life he’d told her about, trying to piece things together.

‘And that love was rewarded with my being ignored as a young boy.’ Pain resounded in his voice and he sighed and turned to look out to sea.

He was turning his back not only on her but on the conversation. It was what he always did, she realised. Right from that first time in his office when he’d looked out over London. It seemed a lifetime ago instead of less than a week.

‘But your father moved on and you have a brother now.’

She heard him inhale deeply, saw his shoulders lift and then fall. She’d said the wrong thing again.

‘Half-brother.’ The words were grated out, and still he kept his back resolutely turned. ‘One who has just proved how little he thinks of me. Just as always, he’s got what he wants.’

Georgina thought again of all Emma had told her about Carlo. ‘I’m sure it’s not like that. In fact I’d go as far as to say he doesn’t want to inherit the business. He wants to do his own thing, make his own way in life.’

Santos turned round to face her, questions in his dark eyes. ‘You’re wrong. How could any man not want to inherit his father’s business?’

‘Not everyone is as motivated by power as you are, Santos. Carlo and Emma just want to make a life together—a normal life.’ Without thinking she reached out and touched his arm, her fingers heating as they felt the firmness of his muscles.

‘What is that, Georgina?’ He sounded drained and tired.

‘They want to be together. They’re in love, Santos. Is that so hard to accept?’ She moved closer to him, trying to quash the surge of love she felt for him as he opened up and let her see his pain.

He looked down into her eyes, his darkening. She thought he might kiss her as he moved closer, with his head dropping lower. But then he stopped, the abruptness of it sending a chill through her.

‘No, Georgina, no.’ He moved away from her and for the first time ever he looked at a loss for what to say.