Stefano’s anger spiked then, mingled with the pain of the things he’d thrown away. A picture of his last moments with Lucy was filling his head. Her face... How wounded she’d been...
He launched himself from his seat, unable to sit still, to sit being...judged. Alessio leaned back a little to let him pass, as if Stefano might lash out. It made him wonder how he looked, because in this moment he felt feral. He began to pace, to burn off the excess energy that welled inside, clawing at him, wanting to tear free.
‘Doesn’tanyof this matter to you?’
‘Many things matter. Love, friendship. The rest is ephemeral. Right now, you’re trying to buy redemption. Trust me—redemption won’t come until you’ve forgiven yourself.’
Stefano stared at the man who had once been his closest friend. Everything ached, as if nothing would sit right with him ever again.
Alessio sighed. ‘Hannah warned me about writing missives, but I didn’t know how else to reach you when you wouldn’t take my calls. I’ve failed as a monarch and now as a friend. I should have listened to your counsel. You were right about the press. So what do you need to end this distance between us? Because I miss you. Hannah misses you.’
Stefano stopped dead, not sure of what he was hearing. ‘It can’t be this easy.’
‘None of it has been. I’ve been enraged, hurt—and confused by what you did. You blindsided me. But in the end I’ve learned a great deal about love, generosity and forgiveness from my wife. Though Iwouldappreciate another grovelling apology.’ Alessio smirked. ‘It only seems right.’
Of all the things to be asked of him, an apology was the easiest to give. Stefano walked over to Alessio and stood in front of him, head bowed, paying due respect to his monarch and to the friend he’d wronged. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve regretted my actions every day since I walked from this room.’
‘I guessed. Locking yourself in your castle and taking to Lasserno’s aristocracy like an avenging angel suggested a great deal of contrition. But that’s in the past. It’s time to turn to the present and the future. Now you’ve told me what your siblings want, what doyouwant? Your old job?’
Stefano rocked back on his heels. Months ago this would have been like an answer to his every prayer. Now...? Now nothing seemed right without Lucy in his life.
‘No.’
Alessio flinched, pain etched over his face. Stefano didn’t wish to hurt his friend again, but he needed to find his future rather than step back into the past, which was what Alessio offered.
‘The things I want aren’t in your power to grant, because they involve someone else.’
Lucy.She was all he desired. Since she’d left the castle he’d been plunged into a silence so stark that in the absence of her music it was as if he was the only living being left on earth.
‘Ah... I think I know where you are and I sympathise,’ Alessio said. ‘Though I do have a request. Hannah’s due to give birth any day, and we want you as the godfather of our child. I have a suspicion she’s holding on until you say yes...until I make this right.’
The roiling emotions inside Stefano stilled. He was having trouble making sense of the question—such a privilege being asked of him after all that had passed between them.
Then those words of Celine’s crept back, whispering in his ear... ‘What if I’m not worthy of the role?’
‘Listen to what I’m saying.’ Alessio laid his hand on Stefano’s shoulder, the comfort of one friend to another. ‘You’re worth more than you ever knew. I’m sorry that you ever felt less, but you are and will remain my closest friend. I don’t care about your role as Shield of the Crown, or your title. It was your friendship that I needed, and you gave me that unfailingly. What you did—misplaced as it was—freed me to follow my heart with Hannah. Although the execution was poor, your intentions were good, and in the end that’s all that matters.’
‘Intention is everything.’
They were Lucy’s words. She’d been right. He should have listened to her. Instead he’d cast her aside, because he hadn’t been able to trust or forgive himself. He’d been inexcusably cruel when she’d handed him his means of salvation. She’d handedeverythingto him, without asking for anything in return, and he’d thrown it back in her face.
Stefano couldn’t ignore the truth. He loved her. He didn’t deserve her.
And yet if Alessio could forgive him, then perhaps Lucy could too.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BRIGHTLIGHTSBOREdown on her as Lucy stood on the stage. The applause from the Parisian crowd was thunderous as she took a deep bow. She’d been asked to perform a single concert on a Stradivarius that was being sold by a consortium, to showcase the instrument for potential purchasers. By the measure of the applause she’d done the violin justice.
It had been an extraordinary instrument to play—a thrill all its own—but it hadn’t beenhers. The tone was still magical, but subtly different, without the same sense of wonder and joy attached to every note.
It had been easy enough, though, to pour the emotions of grief and loss into the mournful music she’d played. Once, she’d thought she understood those feelings. Yet until she’d walked away from Stefano she’d hadnoreal idea of pain’s true depths. They’d had so little time together, and still his impact was like being hit by a meteor.
World-ending.
She was left with a deep and unrelenting ache. Missing him. Missing her violin.
She had many regrets, but in the end leaving the violin she’d played for years was not one of them. Her father was furious, but he and his solicitors couldn’t argue against the evidence. The violin was Lasserno’s heart, and she’d given it back. It was now safe from a fate similar to that of the violin she’d just performed with: being seen as an investment rather than the treasure it was.