Tempted by the Tycoon's Proposal

‘Yes.’ His eyes stayed fixed on the road. ‘She’d been in care for nearly as long as me.’

‘Did neither of you get adopted?’

‘No,’ he scoffed gently. ‘At first there was hope that I’d return home to my mother and Elena to her parents, but it never happened.’

‘I’m so sorry.’

He shrugged. ‘They had their reasons and then my mother was no longer around, so it wasn’t an option.’

She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she’d read about his mother, but he likely knew it anyway.

‘What about Elena’s parents?’

‘Her father’s in prison, as far as I’m aware, and her mother remarried. Last I knew, Isla had a whole other life—kids, family, all of it. Not that Elena ever became a part of that life again. She was an adult by the time her mother had sorted herself out and by then...’ His voice trailed off.

‘By then she had you?’

He gave her a soft smile but his eyes were sad, haunted. ‘Yes.’

‘She was lucky to have met you.’

He scoffed at that, his rejection making her frown. How could he even doubt it when he’d so obviously given them both a better life?

‘Does Elena’s mother see Lily?’

‘She saw her once, not long after Lily was born. Elena wanted to try and forge some kind of a relationship. Becoming a mother herself made her realise that it wasn’t a bond so easily forgotten, and she hoped Lily would help bring them back together.’

She could hear the bitter ring to his voice and knew that wasn’t how it had gone down. ‘But it didn’t?’

‘I think Isla saw Elena as a reminder of a past she wanted to forget. She was still young; she had Elena at fifteen.’

‘Fifteen?’

‘Far too young, which is why we understood her fear, her difficulty, her avoidance of it all, but...’

‘But she still didn’t want to know?’

‘It wasn’t so much that she didn’t, I don’t think. More that she was torn between her old life and the new. She had a husband by then, two children and another on the way.’

‘Poor Elena.’ She squeezed his arm tighter. ‘It must have been hard seeing her mother so settled with a new family.’

He gave an awkward shrug and she knew he was trying to make light of something that still hurt.

‘Isla did come to her funeral, but... I don’t know, too little too late, I guess.’

‘Does Lily know her?’

‘She’s knows of her, but she was just a baby when they met. It would be nice if things were different. It’s not like Lily has any other grandparents...’

‘Do you think you might try again in the future?’

‘Perhaps. It was all too raw at the funeral. She left her number with me and asked me to call but...’

‘You haven’t got around to it?’

He sighed. ‘Is it awful to say I haven’t?’

‘No, not really.’