The CEO, the Puppy and Me

“I don’t need help! I can manage my business fine on my own.”

Anger flared in her eyes. “So you can help me, even though I didn’t ask you to, but when I return the favor, it’s wrong?”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s not the same thing.”

“What’s the matter? Your ego can’t accept the help of a woman? Or is it just this particular woman that you won’t take help from?”

A tangle of emotions churned within him. “I don’t need your help.”

“Good. Because I don’t need you either. I don’t need anyone.” She turned and strode away.

He watched her walk away, leaving him alone once more. Loneliness engulfed him. Refusing to go after her, he retreated to his room. His door shut with a loud thud. It was time to go home.

This trip had been an utter disaster. The one person who he thought believed in him had just turned her back on him, like so many others in his life. He was better off on his own.

* * *

Gia regretted her words.

As she threw her things in her suitcase, she realized she was acting just like her biological father—whom she wished she’d never met. The man was selfish and self-centered. She wouldn’t turn into him.

Her thoughts turned to her brother and sister. She’d left them to pick up the pieces of her life back in Tuscany when she’d dropped everything to go on this journey of self-discovery. Not wanting to be anything like the man she’d met that morning, she knew the time had come to return home as soon as possible.

And though it broke her heart, she realized that Ric wasn’t going to make room in his life for her. He’d been putting off telling her since they’d made love. She knew it then, but she’d been hoping she was wrong. Just like she’d been hoping her biological father was someone she’d want to know. She was wrong in both cases. No man could love her.

With a hole in her chest where her heart had once been, she rolled her suitcase into the common room. Ric was there, checking his phone. He glanced up when she entered. “Good. The plane is ready to go.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going back with you.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind, closing it without saying a word. And that right there said it all. She was doing the right thing—for both of them.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away. She would get through this without breaking down. It was for the best. That’s what she kept telling herself. But there was nothing about this departure that felt like it was for the best.

Returning to Lapri would be just too hard. She needed—they needed—to make a clean break. “I’m returning to Tuscany. Tonight.”

“And the puppies?”

She loved them nearly as much as she’d thought she loved Ric. But if she were to take them, Ric would have no one. He’d be alone except for his work. They might not belong together, but that didn’t mean she wanted him to be alone.

Whereas when she returned to Tuscany, she had her family. Their importance in her life had gotten overlooked with the revelations of the journal, but it was like the blinders had been lifted from her eyes. She remembered how much Enzo and Bianca meant to her. She wouldn’t forget again.

“You...you keep them. They are devoted to you.”

She didn’t know what she expected him to say, but he said nothing.

She clutched the suitcase. This was it. This was the last time she would ever see him. And yet she didn’t have the strength, the courage to lift her gaze to his. She knew once she did that the wall she’d built up, damming up her emotions, would come crumbling down. She would be a wet, blubbering mess. And that was not how she wanted to end things.

“Thank you,” she said, trying to maintain a level voice. “I appreciate everything you did for me. As for the villa, it’s nearly done. I’ll be in contact with the contractor about the final details.”

Still, Ric said nothing. He was not going to make this easy for her.

After asking him to forward her other pieces of luggage, she turned and headed for the door. She didn’t know what she expected—perhaps for Ric to come after her and ask her to stay. Not that it would be good for either of them. But he didn’t speak. He didn’t move. So she just kept going. Walking right out of his life. And she had never known such misery.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

HOME AT LAST.

Gia didn’t know how she’d feel when she returned, but it felt good to walk through the doors of the villa. Because no matter where she went in this world, returning to the Bartolini estate for her was still coming home.