‘IT’SQUITESIMPLE,’ Daniele told his captivated audience.
And it struck him like a thunderbolt that itwassimple. He loved Paloma. But he had fought his feelings and denied them to himself and to her because hereallydid not want to fall in love. He had numerous examples of how love was transient. His parents’ doomed marriage, his mother, who had left him when he was a child, his grandmother, who had lied to him. Only a fool would fall in love. Or a man whose heart was pounding so hard in his chest as his gaze sought the intensely blue eyes of the love of his life. Paloma. His wife.
‘I married Paloma for one reason only. I fell in love with her.’ He wondered why she looked away from him. Addressing the shareholders again, he continued, ‘The phone recording has made me realise that I did not make it clear to her how much she means to me. But I hope she understands that I would give my life for her.’
‘Don’t!’
Paloma stood up, and Daniele’s heart cracked open when he saw tears streaming down her face. ‘I know what you’re trying to do.’ Her lips quivered and black tracks of mascara ran down her face. She was a heartbreakingly beautiful mess. He took a step towards her, but she spun around and ran out of the boardroom.
She had lost everything. The realisation made Paloma feel sick. Her grandfather’s company, the charitable foundation, the support of the trustees. But worst and most devastating by far was that she had lost Daniele. You couldn’t lose what you had never had, her brain reminded her.Oh, God!
She dropped her hands away from her face and forced herself to breathe as the car drew up outside the palazzo and the driver, Bruno, came round and opened her door. In the midst of her agony, she noticed that he looked tense.
‘My wife is in labour,’ he told her. ‘Apparently it’s happening very quickly. Sofia’s mother is driving her to the hospital.’
‘What are you doing here? Go to your wife and baby.’
‘Are you sure you won’t need me to drive you somewhere?’
‘Go!’
Bruno needed no persuading. Paloma ran into the house and up to the master bedroom that she would never share with Daniele. She packed a small suitcase and scrolled through her phone, searching for the next available flight to England. She had sent a frantic text to Laura explaining that her marriage was over.
The car her grandfather had bought her a few years ago was parked in the garage. She was backing it onto the driveway when a taxi swept through the gates. Paloma’s heart missed a beat when Daniele got out and strode towards her. She could not face him after her public humiliation at the shareholders’ meeting. How Franco had recorded her phone conversation with Laura was a mystery. The memory of hearing her voice through the speakers stating her love for Daniele sent a shudder of embarrassment through Paloma. But even though she had lost everything that mattered to her, there was a sense of relief that she had found the courage to be honest about how she felt. There was no shame in falling in love. Just heartache.
She gripped the steering wheel tightly when Daniele leaned down so that his head was level with the car’s open window. ‘I’m going to stay with Laura in London,’ she said before he asked.
He looked slightly stunned. ‘Did you hear what I said in the boardroom?’
‘Of course I heard. Everyone there did, but that was the point, wasn’t it? I suppose I should thank you.’
His amber eyes flashed. ‘Thank me for what?Dio,’ he growled, his control clearly under strain. ‘Will you get out of the car so that we can talk properly?’
‘No. I don’t want to talk. There’s no point. I know you said all that stuff about being in love with me to try to convince the trustees and shareholders that our marriage is genuine. But I can’t live a lie any more. We both know you will never love me.’ Tears brimmed in her eyes. She could not bear to break down in front of him. ‘I have to go.’ She bit her lip when he did not move away from the car. His expression was shuttered as always. ‘You have to let me go, Daniele.’
‘Is that what you want?’ His voice sounded odd, as if he had swallowed broken glass.
Paloma stared through the windscreen. ‘Yes.’
Daniele stood up straight and dropped his hand down from the car. ‘Then go,mio piccola.’
Why had he called her his little one, and sounded so wrecked, as if she had ripped his heart out? It must have been her imagination. Daniele did not have a heart. Paloma wiped her eyes and concentrated on the road. The traffic was busy on the way to the airport. She drove for a few miles on the highway and noticed that a black car was close behind. She kept glancing in her rear-view mirror and became convinced that she was being followed.
Fear cramped in her stomach at the memory of when a car had tried to force the motorbike off the road. She had been so desperate to leave the palazzo that she’d forgotten the threat to her safety, especially as she was without a bodyguard. Making a quick decision, she left the highway at the next junction and sped down a lane leading to a village. The black car was some way behind her. She shot down a side road and pulled over, relieved when she saw her pursuer drive past the turning to the road. Her hands shook as she fumbled in her handbag for her phone. There was only one person she wanted to call.
‘Cara?’
‘Daniele, I’m being followed. It could be the same people who tried to run us off the road near the farmhouse.’ Paloma’s fragile composure cracked. ‘Suppose they try to kidnap me?’
‘It’s all right. You are safe. The threat to you is over,’ Daniele said quickly. ‘The kidnappers have been arrested. The leader of the criminal gang is a man called Alberto Facchetti, who is the board member Gianluca Orsi’s son-in-law. Gianluca knew the contents of your grandfather’s will and he let slip to Facchetti that if you died, the fortune you had inherited from Marcello would be split between the trustees. I guess that after Gianluca had received his share of the money, his son-in-law planned to get rid of him too. I remembered Facchetti’s name from when I’d foiled the Mafia plot to kidnap Marcello years ago.’ He paused. ‘I planned to tell you all of this, but when I got back to the palazzo, I was shocked that you were leaving me.’
‘So who has been following me?’ Paloma asked shakily.
Daniele hesitated. ‘Purely for my peace of mind, I asked one of my security guys to make sure you arrived at the airport safely.’
‘Because my grandfather asked you to protect me,’ she muttered.
‘I would gladly spend the rest of my life taking care of you,’ Daniele said roughly. ‘There is more to tell you. When your great-uncle Franco learned of the threats against you and the suspicion that he was behind your kidnapping in Mali, he was horrified that you could think he would want to harm you. He is deeply sorry that he had bugged your office and has given an assurance that he will destroy the recording of your phone conversation. Franco withdrew his bid to become the head of Morante Group, and the trustees and shareholders have agreed that you will be your grandfather’s successor immediately. I will retain my place as a lifelong member of the board and act as your advisor if you want me to. It all means that you do not have to stay married to me. We can divorce and you will be free to fall in love and find the happiness you deserve.’