Chapter 6 #3
“I don’t think even he knows why, but he’s always hated me, and I stopped caring about his reasons a long time ago.
I’ve made my own way in life without him, and I’m not ashamed to admit that if an opportunity comes to do something that will piss him off, then I take it…
” He closed his eyes with a grimace. “But I took it too far when I walked into Lorenzo’s trap.
I knew he was dangerous. I knew the stories about him, and I ignored them all because I imagined my father’s anger when he heard about our venture. ”
His gorgeous face twisted into something ugly.
“I allowed myself to be suckered by Lorenzo’s charm.
I got to know his family – say what you like about him, he loved his children.
I was envious of his relationship with them.
To him, family was everything, and it felt good to be embraced into his.
When he suggested we go into partnership, I was flattered to be asked.
My investment portfolio was suffering a slump…
” He shook his head and downed the last of his water before looking at the glass as if surprised it hadn’t contained alcohol.
“Was he behind that slump?” Georgia’s question rolled off her tongue as the thought struck her.
He raised his empty glass with another grimace.
“I can’t prove it, but that’s where my money would go.
He wanted me indebted to him. I’m certain his plan from the start was for me to marry Siena, but there was no chemistry between us, no romance, nothing.
And so he engineered it. The debt didn’t just include my financial liability for The Diamond venture, but my entire portfolio.
He engineered it so I stood to lose everything. ”
Georgia’s heart had flipped over at the mention of Siena’s name, and now it was all she could do to keep her voice steady. “Couldn’t your brother or Dante have helped you?” Both men had serious wealth.
“They could have,” he agreed. “They both offered. But my pride wouldn’t allow me to accept.
I’d walked into the mess with my eyes open.
I had no one to blame but myself.” He blew out a puff of air.
“It wasn’t just pride. I didn’t want them involved in it, full stop.
I couldn’t predict what Lorenzo would do.
” He shook his head. “Anyone who ever tried to predict how Lorenzo would react in any given situation was a damned fool.”
She forced another mouthful of risotto into her churning stomach.
There was such a lot to take in, but all she could think of was what he’d just said about Siena.
Niccolo had made the lack of romance between him and Siena clear when he’d dropped the bombshell in Paris about marrying her, but that had been four months ago.
Who was to say a romance hadn’t developed since?
After all, Niccolo had jilted Siena at the altar because he couldn’t marry into the Esposito family.
That’s what he’d said. He hadn’t mentioned being unable to marry the bride.
Imagining Niccolo and Siena together had been a torture Georgia had lived with every minute of every day since Paris.
Unable to stomach another mouthful, she put her spoon in the bowl and pushed it away with the same force she pushed away the thoughts of Niccolo and Siena in bed together.
His dark eyes creased with concern. “Are you okay? You’ve gone very pale.”
She tried to smile. “Just trying to make sense of everything.”
The last thing either of them needed was for Georgia to turn into a jealousy-riven banshee. When Niccolo had driven away from her flat, she’d lost any claim to him.
How different would her life be if her boss had ignored her pleadings all those long months ago and refused to allow her to attend the pitch for The Diamond skyscraper project?
If her boss had stuck to his guns, she would never have met Niccolo.
His eyes wouldn’t have locked onto hers the moment he’d walked into the conference room.
And she wouldn’t be carrying his child.
For all the pain that had come from being allowed to attend that meeting, Georgia would never wish their child away. She had to keep faith that Niccolo would protect them all from Lorenzo’s vengeance.
“Nic…” A thought occurred to her, a thought that made her straighten. “Why do you keep referring to Lorenzo in the past tense?”
He blinked. His forehead furrowed. “You don’t know?”
“Know what? Is he dead?” She was only half serious.
He swore under his breath. “I thought you knew. Lorenzo went into cardiac arrest in the church yesterday, a few minutes after I made my escape.”
She stared at him blankly. “So he is dead?”
“Yes. Dante told me, and then it was confirmed in Rico’s message. By the time I drove off the Shuttle, it was all over the news.”
Comprehension was still an alien entity to her swirling mind. “Then… then who’s after us? If he’d dead, why are we in hiding?”
Guilt and pity combined and flashed over his face.
“His family are blaming me for his death. It’s why we’re here and why I’m not in Switzerland arranging the transfer of my debt.
They don’t want me to repay it – they want me to pay with my blood.
” His throat moved numerous times before he added, “And yours.”