He didn’t want to hear her sobbing or begging for forgiveness, except Gian received neither. Instead he was tapped smartly on the shoulder and was somewhat surprised by the calm stare that met him when he turned around.
‘You should be thanking me, Gian.’
‘Thanking you?’
‘Absolutely,’ she responded. ‘You were about to give me my marching orders this morning, and you were fumbling for an excuse. I handed you this on a plate.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘But I do.’ Ariana was certain, for she could clearly recall the heavy atmosphere and the absolute certainty that Gian had been about to end things. Well, she’d given him the perfect reason to now. ‘It isn’t a relationship you’re avoiding, Gian; it’s emotion.’
Ariana struck like a cobra, right to the heart of his soul. He looked at her and all he could see was the chaos she left in her wake. He thought of the knife edge he had grown up on, the eternal threat of disaster that had hung over his family, and the eternal calm he now sought.
‘Don’t worry, Gian,’ she said to his silence. ‘I’m out of here. You keep your cold black heart and I’ll carry right on.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
ITWOULDBENICE, Ariana thought early the next morning, to pull the covers over her head as she nursed her first ever broken heart.
Officially broken.
She knew that since they had first made love she had been holding onto a dream. The fantasy that Gian would bend his rules for her and decide it was time to give love a chance...
Because it felt like love to Ariana.
Now she had to let go of that dream. Her mother called and then called again, but Ariana ignored it.
But then Stefano called and Ariana could never ignore a call from her twin...
‘There’s an extraordinary board meeting at nine,’ he told her.
‘Pass on my apologies,’ Ariana mumbled, but Stefano was having none of it. ‘We are to meet at the offices at eight,’ Stefano told her. ‘A driver has been ordered for you; he should be with you soon.’
‘Eight?’ Ariana checked.
‘Mamma wants to speak to the three of us before the board meeting.’
‘She’s coming to the offices?’ Ariana frowned. ‘But she hasn’t been there since...’
Since the news of her father and Mia’s affair had broken.
This was big, Ariana knew as she quickly showered, squeezing in eye drops to erase all evidence of tears. She selected a navy linen suit and ran the straightening iron through her hair, trying to look somewhat put-together while she pondered what was about to take place. Ariana arrived at Romano Holdings and took the elevator up to where her family were waiting for her.
Hermammawas as pale as she had ever seen her, and Stefano looked grey. She could barely bring herself to look at Dante, but when she did she saw the bruise beneath his eye and felt sick that it had come from her own hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said to Dante. ‘I just...’
‘I get it,’ Dante said, and gave her a hug. ‘Ariana, I know how confusing this has all been, but there’s something you need to hear, both you and Stefano...’ He turned to their mother. ‘It’s time, Mamma,’ he said.
Thiswasbig.
Gian knew that, because even as he tried to focus on his weekly planning meeting with Luna, little pings from his computer had him looking over. The press were gathered outside Romano Holdings, where an extraordinary meeting was being held, and in an unprecedented move Angela Romano was seen entering the building.
Gian watched as Ariana duly arrived in a silver car and he scanned the short piece of footage for a clue, a glimpse, as to what lay behind the mask she most certainly wore.
Her parting shot to him yesterday had seriously rattled him and he had spent most of the night simultaneously disregarding and dwelling on her words.
You keep your cold black heart and I’ll carry right on.