‘Perhaps, perhaps not. But either way I am here to try to help further Dolci business interests. But now I have also had the pleasure of meeting you.’ He smiled and held out his hand. ‘I wish you luck in the fray.’
‘Th...’ She placed her hand in his and bit back a small gasp, told herself that electricity could not be generated by touch. Yet she saw an answering awareness flicker in his eyes. Her hand remained in his and for one mad second she wondered if he would kiss it in some quixotic gesture of gallantry. The idea tingled her skin and of their own volition her feet took a step closer to him.
The noise of a throat clearing broke the spell and she pulled away her hand as Luca let go and they turned towards the man who now stood next to them. Emily flushed as she realised she hadn’t even noticed his approach.
‘Liam,’ she said hurriedly as she moved towards Ava’s fiancé, kissed him on one cheek and then stood back. She had a lot of time for Liam, knew him to be a good, honourable man who truly loved her best friend. ‘It’s lovely to see you.’
Was there a glint of speculation in his eyes as he glanced from Luca to her? She could only hope not as she watched the two men shake hands, sensed the wariness in Luca’s stance. Knew from Ava that the two men had only met once, that it had been Liam who had taken Luca around Dolci headquarters that morning.
‘Ava asked me to tell you her mum has arrived, and she wondered if you want to get the introductions out of the way sooner rather than later.’
Now Luca’s wariness froze into something Emily couldn’t identify, though she imagined his feelings could only be negative about Karen Casseveti, the woman who had supplanted his own mother. As for Karen, it was well known that she couldn’t stand Luca or his sister, Jodi. So this meeting wouldn’t be welcome to either.
‘Of course,’ Luca said.
‘I’ll leave you to it...’
‘Actually no,’ Liam intervened. ‘Ava thought it may look more natural if we mingle as a group. If you both don’t mind?’
Luca hesitated and then gave a decisive nod. ‘That makes sense. If that is OK with Emily.’
‘Of course.’ Emily knew how good her friend was at orchestrating publicity and managing social occasions. ‘I’m happy to help.’
‘Then let’s go,’ Luca said.
CHAPTER TWO
LUCA CONCENTRATED ON keeping his expression neutral; this was a moment he had known would come. The meeting with Ava’s mother, the woman who had taken James Casseveti away. It was not Karen Casseveti’s fault, he reminded himself; it had been his father’s choice to walk away, his father’s choice to not even visit his children from his first marriage, to paint them out of his new life. Yet it was impossible not to feel some animosity.
Probably best to focus on something else, or perhaps someone, and a person came all too easily to mind. Emily, the woman at his side. From the minute he’d seen her he’d been a little on edge, a little too aware of her. Too caught up in her smile, the elusive scent, and the ripples of awareness, the undeniable tug and pull of attraction. One he’d do best to douse. Emily was Ava’s best friend; that put her strictly out of bounds. It was all complicated enough. But still his curiosity was piqued. Why did she see this crowd as a fray? Why hadn’t she been on the social scene for a while?
And in the here and now he could feel the warmth of her body next to him, and somehow it helped as they made their way through the throng of people—Emily’s own reluctance to ‘enter the fray’ made her feel like an ally.
One he was in need of as they approached their destination and anger surged and simmered inside him. Grow up, Petrovelli.
Luca tried to remember his own mother’s advice. ‘Do not show anger or hatred or bitterness, Luca. This woman is much to be pitied right now. She has lost her husband and in truth I am not sure she ever had him.’ His mother had shown him the letter she had received on James Casseveti’s death, a letter etched on Luca’s memory.
Dear Therese,
I am sorry...
Sorry I behaved as I did.
Please know I have thought of you every day since I left and never stopped loving you. I know I did wrong, and sometimes I imagine the life we could have had...wonder if I could have started Dolci with you by my side, or whether that even matters.
I gained wealth and business success but I lost you. As I have grown older I realise that in the end I also lost out. On watching our children grow up, on growing old with a woman I truly love.
All I can do now is to try and make amends with an apology to you and by leaving Luca and Jodi a legacy.
James
As he’d read the words, he had felt a surge of protective love for her, laced with anger at James. An apology that was too little, too late because Therese had never got over her husband’s desertion. She’d tried a few relationships but had never been able to commit. He’d heard her once tell a man that she couldn’t put herself, couldn’
t put her children through the possibility of another break-up. Not unless she was sure it was really worth it, and she couldn’t see that any man was.
Turned out no woman was worth it either. His own first and only love had left him for a man more sophisticated and wealthy than Luca. A repeat of history with a twist. The lesson reinforced: people he loved abandoned him. Wealth and position trumped love. Always. An image of Lydia shimmered into his brain and he banished it. All she had been was proof that love was a crock—nothing was worth that level of pain if you lost it.
Per carità, Luca. Not now, for goodness’ sake. This was not the moment to dwell on the past; as the thought crossed his mind he was aware of the gentlest of nudges from next to him. ‘You OK?’ Emily’s voice was whisper thin.