‘Obviously this didn’t do our relationship much good, and by the time my brother left home it’s safe to say we hated each other’s guts. My father just assumed I would be joining him in his empire. He never listened to me long enough to know that I had no interest in his shipping business. I rebelled against that expectation. The business wasn’t even his—not rightfully. He was the second son and his brother had died at a young age, leaving him in line to take over. His own father hadn’t wanted it for him, but my father grabbed it with both hands and ousted my grandfather as soon as he could.’
Sidonie’s eyes grew wide. ‘But that’s so...’
‘Ruthless?’ Alexio interjected with a grim smile.
Sidonie nodded.
‘That’s my father’s way. To grab at things. Take them. He wanted me to inherit and join him—but not as an equal, as someone he could control.’ He sighed. ‘In the meantime I saw Rafaele, my brother, single-handedly resurrecting his own family name and business out of the ashes. All those years of rivalry were still in my blood—if he could do it so could I.’
Sidonie spoke softly. ‘So when your father expected you to follow in his footsteps you said no?’
Alexio looked into Sidonie’s clear eyes and felt in that moment as if he could just spill all the secrets in his guts and keep spilling. It was dangerous. Too dangerous. He stifled the impulse with effort.
‘I said no. And walked away. He disinherited me and now here I am.’
‘Probably more successful than he is...’
Alexio was surprised that she’d surmised that but it was true. What he didn’t tell her, though, was how his success hadn’t given him any measure of satisfaction where his father was concerned. It had never been about besting his father. It had been about distancing himself from a man who had made him fear he had the same lack of emotional control in his own make-up. Fear that he might be similarly greedy and never experience the thrill of making it on his own as his brother had. Fear that he’d never get away from that sterile house full of tension and hatred. Violence.
He felt cold inside all of a sudden.
Just then Alexio’s mobile phone beeped on the nearby bedside cabinet. He reached for it and saw the text message icon winking. He opened it and saw it was from his solicitor.
I have information about your Miss Fitzgerald. Call when you get a chance. D.
Instantly something cold slithered into Alexio’s gut.
‘What is it?’ Sidonie asked with obvious concern.
Alexio put the phone back, face down, and looked at her. ‘Nothing important.’
Guilt warred with something much deeper inside him. Superstitiously he wanted to pretend he hadn’t just seen that text and that there wasn’t something dark lurking in the wings.
He came up and hovered over her, feeling that familiar heady rush of desire when he looked at her body, breasts bared and tempting. Her mouth was enticing him ever downwards, where he wouldn’t have to think about anything...for a little longer.
* * *
‘What did you just say?’ Alexio asked faintly.
He was stunned. The sun was high outside his villa’s office. His body was still humming in the aftermath of seriously pleasurable lovemaking and he couldn’t really compute this information.
His solicitor repeated himself. ‘Her mother went to jail for two years.’
Alexio went cold all over. ‘Jail? Why?’
Demetrius sighed. ‘I really wish I didn’t have to tell you this. Her mother was prosecuted for stalking and blackmailing her married lover. She’d been doing it for years, in ever increasing amounts. It would appear that her husband, Miss Fitzgerald’s father, wasn’t making enough to keep her in the style to which she wanted to be accustomed. Even though it also appears he did his best to try and keep both his wife and daughter in comfort and relative luxury.’
Alexio struggled against the shock. This information was not pleasant, but it hardly condemned Sidonie.
His friend continued, ‘When her mother was released they moved to another part of the country to avoid the scandal and Miss Fitzgerald’s father’s business started to boom. Sidonie went to one of the best local schools, had a pony...the works. Her mother was a regular on the social scene...designer clothes and jewellery. They managed to keep her past a secret for the most part. When the property market collapsed so did her father’s business and they lost everything.’
Alexio was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. ‘Demetrius, is that it? I think I’ve heard enough.’
‘Well, not quite. I think you should hear the rest. After Mr Fitzgerald died his wife went back to Paris to move in with her younger sister.’
‘Demetrius—’
The man butted in. ‘Alexio, I did some more digging via some colleagues in Paris and you need to hear this... Sidonie’s mother persuaded her sister to take out a mortgage on a flat her husband had bought and paid for years before. She also maxed out credit cards in her sister’s name. She died leaving the woman in so much debt that she’ll never recover.’