Claimed by the Wealthy Magnate

Yet for so long to him it had been... But now here he was—he had no idea if he would be allowed entry, but at least he would have tried.

More than aware that there would be people watching his every move, he moved away from the car and walked to the door.

Walk as though you have the right to be here.

He could only hope his stepbrother could see him now. Knocking on the door with the shiny brass knocker, he could feel the accelerated thud of his heart as he heard the approach of footsteps.

The door swung open and shock glanced through him. Shock and relief and near disbelief.

‘Danny...’ His mother’s soft voice, her lavender scent, her beauty that had worn the scourges of time. ‘Come in.’

‘I wasn’t sure if you would see me.’

‘You asked for an hour of my time, a chance to say the goodbye we never had time to say before. What mother could refuse that? Let me look at you, Danny. You have grown into a fine man.’

‘My stepfather doesn’t think so.’ The words of bitterness were out before he could stop them.

‘Antonio knows you are here. He understands that I need to see you.’

‘But just this once?’

‘That is my will, Danny.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I look at you and see all you have achieved. We are your skeletons in the closet—the people who can bring you down. How would it look if your colleagues, your clients, discovered you were once part of the Russo family?’

‘That is my look-out, Mamma. If the choice now is between my family and my career I choose my family. I don’t want to walk away again.’

‘You don’t understand.’

‘Then explain to me.’

‘When I married Antonio I made a deal, knowing what I knew about him. I will not renege on the deal I made when he has kept his part. Your stepfather is not a bad man, though he has done bad things. But things have changed since you left. Your brother, your sister—they will not enter the family business. This he agreed. Because he did not want to lose them like he lost you. Antonio was born into the business and he did not have the strength to break away like you did—part of his anger was because of that. I know my marriage was not based on love, but we have a bond, your stepfather and I, and I have loyalty. I am not choosing him over you, Danny. Try to understand that. And understand something else as well. I never once regretted the deal I made—I love you, and love is a joyful, wonderful emotion. Even when your father died I could never regret loving him, knowing him. And without that love I wouldn’t have you. Is there love in your life, Danny? All you have told me in your letters is about material success—incredible achievements—but I want there to be love in your life...’

Daniel looked across at Kaitlin. ‘It was as if the scales had dropped from my eyes and instead of black and white I could see the world in shades of colour.’

He gestured to the fountains, where the show had begun. Thousands of jets of water shot skyward, illuminated in various transitory hues and shades of colour.

‘And I realised that to have love in my life is a glorious thing. And I could see you—an image of you by my side—loving, talking, laughing.’

‘Then why didn’t you come and find me?’

‘Because I didn’t want to complicate your life. You were so sure of your path, so sure you didn’t want love, and I was...scared. But then I saw the article about you and the Prince. If you hadn’t asked me here I would have come to find you, because I couldn’t let you go through with it without telling you that I love you. Give me a chance, Kaitlin, and I swear I’ll win your love.’

Now laughter bubbled up inside her. ‘Daniel, you...you idiot. Why do you think I asked you back to Barcelona? To tell you that I love you! That I am not going to marry Prince Frederick.’

‘You love me?’

Surprise flitted across his face and then he smiled—a smile that curled her toes and frizzed her hair.

‘I do. With all my heart. You showed me how to be myself, how to stop hiding behind a façade, a persona that wasn’t real. I didn’t want love because I didn’t feel I could handle the rollercoaster of emotions. After the kidnap all I wanted to do was shut my feelings down—all of them: the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s how I coped.’

‘Oh, sweetheart. That is understandable.’

‘Maybe, but until I met you I’d succeeded only in achieving lockdown. Then Barcelona happened, and the feelings started, and I panicked, suppressed them. And then you arrived at Gabe’s wedding... Since then, however hard I’ve tried—and, believe me, I’ve tried—I haven’t been able to stop them. It’s like the hydra—I chop one down and two more sprout in their place. That’s why I had to get away after Venice—to try and build Lady Kaitlin back up.’

‘What happened?’