Chapter Ten
CHAPTER TEN
Normally, when Jasmine travelled, Jenna booked her in business class. And, while she enjoyed the luxury, the priority status, she was still just another person.
Not Emilio.
A large private jet stood waiting for them on the airport tarmac. Their luggage was already loaded, without any instruction. When the driver opened Emilio’s door first, he stepped out and offered Jasmine his hand. She took it.
She had been the one to say there would be no physicality, but she found herself not minding his touches all that much.
In fact, after each one she would only crave the next.
It was frustrating. She kept reminding herself that they were only marrying because of the baby.
They didn’t feel anything for each other—apart from an irresistible, devastating attraction. Like moths drawn to a flame.
But, with Emilio’s power and influence, she was likely to be the moth and she would not allow her wings to be singed by him.
Seeing him in front of his private plane now, in a dark suit and a pair of aviators, drove home just how far removed the two of them were, despite Jasmine’s success.
It was confirmation that she had been right to marry him for the sake of their child, but that she could never trust or rely on him, because Emilio could destroy her more utterly than anyone else.
I shouldn’t be going on honeymoon, she thought as they climbed the stairs into the plane. I should stay here and build SOP.
But she couldn’t leave.
Emilio was still holding on to her hand. She understood why he’d done it outside: they needed to look like a real couple, a growing family. But in here, when it was just the two of them and his driver, all it did was needlessly torture them with a passion she wouldn’t allow.
She looked around her, taking in the smell of expensive leather and the vast array of seating. A polished wooden wall stood at the back, obscuring her view.
Emilio saw her looking. ‘The bedroom is back there.’
The bedroom —as in, singular. After an entire day spent in close proximity to Emilio, after kissing him and drowning in that kiss, if they shared a bed Jasmine wasn’t sure that she would be able to fight this thing between them.
She needed to sit alone, or she needed to leave.
***
Emilio could see a mess of thoughts in Jasmine’s eyes. It was why he’d kept hold of her hand. He didn’t know how she would react to such a show of his wealth. If she would want to flee.
As soon as the doors closed, she pulled her hand from his and moved to one of the single seats towards the front of the plane which forced James, his trusted driver, to sit all the way at the rear.
Like a sentry at the bedroom door. She was still trying exceptionally hard to maintain their distance, then.
Of course, if that was what she wanted, he would respect it. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
He settled into the seat closest to hers, swivelling them both so that he could see her. Waited for her to voice her thoughts.
‘I don’t see why we need to go on a honeymoon,’ she finally said. ‘Why are we even bothering? The wedding is over; we’re married. Everyone in New York knows I’m Jasmine De Luca now. We live together. I don’t see why we need to play this game any more when we could just go about our lives.’
‘You’re right, everyone knows we’re married. And the expectation is that newlyweds would have a honeymoon. It would be particularly strange for us not to have one.’
‘I’m not buying it, Emilio. We’re both busy people; it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that we would be too busy to have one. So what’s the real reason?’
The real reason was that Emilio needed to visit the vineyards.
He needed to deal with his mother’s will.
And he wasn’t going to leave his pregnant wife alone while he did so.
He didn’t know exactly when his father’s indifference for him had started but, having seen the way his parents lived, he was sure his father would not have been attentive to his mother during her pregnancy.
He’d still been young when he’d noticed how separate their lives were.
Nobody had ever acknowledged it—he wasn’t sure his brother had even realised it—but once Emilio had spotted the divide it had been obvious.
His father hadn’t allowed the contessa into the affairs of Perlano.
She’d had no say in De Luca and Co, despite how much she’d loved the vineyards.
She’d never gone to his father with any matters concerning her own businesses.
She’d insisted they ate together as family, but that had come about because it was the only time they were a family.
Even then, Emilio’s father had barely looked at him.
The life Jasmine had laid out for them, the rules he had agreed to, meant there would be so much distance between them too. They would be leading separate lives. Just like his parents.
Emilio wanted to be a better man, be everything his father wasn’t. And, even though there was no love in this marriage, there was respect, there was attraction. Jasmine was his wife. And he would do everything in his power to make up for that distance between them.
Which meant he had to start being open with her, where he could.
‘We’re going to Perlano.’
Jasmine didn’t say anything for a moment. A crease formed between her eyebrows, and he knew she was trying to piece things together. It would be interesting to see what she came up with.
‘You said this baby is a De Luca heir. Are you taking me there to show me what they’ll inherit? Because I already know about the estate.’
Emilio gave a bitter laugh. ‘How much research did you do on me?’
‘Enough.’
‘You don’t know anything, Jasmine,’ he said gently.
‘Then tell me. I want us to be honest. I want us to know each other better. We’re going to be a family. We can make life or death decisions for each other; surely, we need honesty and trust?’
Emilio took a deep breath. ‘You’re right. And you’re partly correct about Perlano. I was born there. My father was Conte di Perlano. He died eight years ago, and the title and estate were passed down to my brother.’
‘Enzo.’
Emilio nodded.
‘Our family legacy is hundreds of years old. The companies, estates, and wealth all belong to the conte .’
‘Wait,’ Jasmine said, sounding shocked. ‘Are you telling me you get nothing?’
‘Yes. That is, until recently.’
‘What happened?’
‘It’s a long story, Jasmine.’
‘We’re forty thousand feet in the air, Emilio, we’ve got nothing but time.’
This was too much. Telling Jasmine about the will would mean revealing so much more about his childhood, his family. He’d never been this vulnerable with anyone. Not since Gia. But he knew Jasmine wouldn’t stop until she knew. And she had a right to push: this included their child.
It was the comforting hand she placed on his thigh that finally made him speak. No partner, Gia included, had offered him that before.
‘When we were younger, much younger, my father gifted the vineyards to my mother. Everyone knew how much she loved them. In fact, for years I suspected that the only reason she stayed married to my father was because of them. Growing up, we all knew there was a condition attached to her ownership—that upon her death Enzo would receive them.’
‘That way the legacy would be whole again,’ Jasmine guessed.
‘Yes. When she died, her will was read. She had honoured my father’s wishes.’
‘So what happened?’
‘The day you came to my office, I had received a different version of her will, a later version. Her lawyer says it’s valid. In it, she has left the vineyards to me.’
Understanding dawned on Jasmine’s face. ‘And our baby will inherit them.’
Emilio nodded.
‘There’s more you aren’t telling me… What was in the wills—both your father’s and mother’s?’
‘My father left everything to my brother.’
‘And nothing to you. Like, at all?’ Jasmine was outraged and it filled him with a bitter sort of happiness to have someone upset for him.
He shrugged. ‘In death as in life.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Emilio appreciated her concern, but it wouldn’t fix anything.
It wouldn’t heal the hurt from his childhood.
It wouldn’t make him any more worthy of love now.
He was who he was, the sum total of all the rejection he’d experienced.
‘My mother left everything to me. I think it was her way of trying to balance things.’
‘Is this why you’re being so pig-headed about being there for our child?’
‘I know what it’s like to have a father around and not have him care.’
‘And I know what it’s like to watch a father walk away. That doesn’t mean we would ever do those things.’
‘I know we won’t, belleza , because I won’t let that happen.’
Jasmine leaned forward, taking Emilio’s hands. He wanted to pull her off her seat and onto his lap, but he couldn’t. Not without breaking his promise to her.
So, as he did every day, he fought his impulses.
***
Jasmine knew there was so much Emilio must be leaving unsaid, but for once she was happy to allow it. He had already revealed so much, especially about his father. How ironic that the man she found most irresistible had had a disappointment for a father too.
Emilio wouldn’t be like that. She could see how much he was trying to be there for their child.
After this conversation, even his insistence that she move into his home looked a little different.
Had he been difficult? Yes. But the way he spoke of his mother and of wanting to fight for his child’s inheritance told her that the move hadn’t just been for appearances.
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Anything, belleza ,’ Emilio replied.
‘When you insisted we move in with you, was it so you could keep an eye on us?’ She placed one hand on her stomach, her tiny bump. ‘Take care of us?’
Emilio looked out of the window, refusing to answer. But it was answer enough for her.
‘I thought so. You’re a good man, Emilio.’
‘Don’t.’ He closed his eyes tightly, as if that would erase the words’ existence.
Why wouldn’t he hear them? Jasmine was determined to find out. To seek out the real man he had buried away.