“Sunning yourself on the French Riviera?” She said, only half-joking.
“Hardly.” His dark eyes held hers earnestly. “I had just cut business and personal ties from my father, and set out on my own. I had only my name to recommend me. I didn’t know how I’d feed myself month to month.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “That seems overly dramatic.”
He shook his head. “With all due respect, it is the truth. From the day I found out about my father’s affair, I have not taken a penny from him.”
Emily was shaken out of her own reverie to contemplate this revelation. “I didn’t know,” she said finally. “You never mentioned that you’re estranged.” The wealth of information she didn’t possess about this man would have depressed Emily if she’d let it.
“We no longer are,” his smile was grim. “Eventually I came to peace with the situation. My mother forgave him. My brother forgave him. It seemed churlish for me to hold a grudge. But by the time I welcomed him back into my life, I had built my own business interests. When I made the decision to cut all ties from him, and my family’s wealth, I had no idea it would work out as it has. I had no guarantees.”
“It was a leap of faith,” Emily murmured thoughtfully. “I see what you’re saying. But you had only yourself to consider. And, I don’t mean to belittle what you went through, but surely at the back of your mind was the knowledge that you could always go home, cap in hand.”
Sabato looked at her ironically. “Do you really think that is something I would do?”
Her heartbeat accelerated dramatically. “No.”
“Sign the contract and believe everything will work out.”
“But …”
“But nothing. There are no guarantees, Emily. I am offering you something that has the potential to transform your life. Are you brave enough to step into the unknown?”
She thought of the last time she’d done so – the night she’d met Sabato and accompanied him to his suite. It had been the beginning of the most amazing few days of her life. No matter how painful the following months of desperate loneliness had been, she would never take back that decision. Her mouth felt dry. “Do you have a pen?”
His smile was loaded with relief. He handed her his own and wa
tched as she scrawled her name over the page. Even her signature was a work of art. He stood, and put his arms around her waist. “I am very pleased, Emily.”
Speech was impossible. Her body was churning with so many feelings, desire chief amongst them.
“And now that it is official, I have a request for your first commission.”
His body was warm and strong. She ached to run her fingers over his chest and down lower still, but she didn’t. He’d offered her a lifeline, and she wanted him to see how seriously she would take it. She stepped out of his embrace, putting some vital distance between them. “What is it?”
“My mother’s birthday is in a month. My father has organised a weekend of celebrations. Come, and begin work on her portrait. It will be my gift to her.”
“Oh,” she nodded swiftly. “That’s a wonderful idea. But surely I don’t need to be there while all the celebrations are going on. I’d just be in the way. I could go earlier, so that you could present it to her on the weekend.”
Anger surged inside his gut at another statement of hers that belittled her place in the world. “You would not be in the way.”
“Oh, you know what I mean,” she waved her hand through the air. “It should just be family and guests. Not someone like me. I could even get started from photographs – get my sketching done, so that I don’t have to keep your mother for too many sittings.”
“Emily,” he interrupted, holding a hand up. “I am very pleased you’ve accepted this arrangement. However else I might feel about you, I am still your boss, and I am explaining what I require of you. It is not negotiable.”
“Oh.” Her stomach lurched at the coldness of his words. She’d disappointed him already. This was never going to work. She turned away, pretending to study the murky grey sky beyond the apartment, but her insides were far, far darker. “Of course. Please just let me know the details and I’ll be there.”
Sabato could have ripped his hair out. He was handling it all so badly. The hurt in her voice was like a tiny little arrow plunging through his heart. He crossed towards her and put a hand gently on her shoulder. “My assistant will send you an itinerary closer to the date. Will Andrew be joining you?”
Emily couldn’t meet his eyes. “When did you say?”
“In a month.”
“That’s school holidays. I can ask Milly and Jacob to have him for a visit. He likes to stay with them.” Her lips lifted in a deflated smile. “They spoil him with chocolate and movies that are far too old for him. I’ll come alone.”
And with that simple concession, the die was cast. All Emily had to do was wait out the time. A month. A whole month. How would she cope?
“There must be some mistake,” Emily’s face was white, her eyes enormous in her face.