His ex-wife was very good when it came to laying down ground rules, only to break them. She was very good when it came to blatantly defying the court order on shared custody, just keeping on the right side of his tipping point. She knew how to use his workaholic’s schedule against him, just as she knew that the women he dated, the relationships that never matured into anything permanent, put him at a distinct disadvantage when it came to fighting her in a court of law for more custody of Rosa. She knew his weaknesses and she knew how to exploit them. And Bella could always be relied upon to ferry news back to her.
He looked under his lashes at the blonde helping herself to what seemed a vast amount of food for someone who weighed nothing. Momentarily distracted, he watched as she heaped her plate, before raising apologetic eyes to him.
‘I’m hungrier than I thought,’ she muttered.
‘A woman with a hearty appetite. That’s a first for me. Tell me what you did today with Rosa.’
Gabriel listened intently while she went through the events of her day with his daughter. He relaxed because, although he only had a scant idea of what life might be like for Rosa with his ex-wife, he knew what it was like with Bella and it warmed him to hear an account of what had been quite a different day for his daughter with Izzy.
His jaw hardened. He had been patient for a very long time with Bianca. Now he had the scent of payback in the air because, if his ex could play dirty, then he could return the favour if there was any suspicion that her parenting was below par.
The information he would never have prised from his daughter now hovered tantalisingly within reach because it was apparent that Rosa was building a close and confiding relationship with the woman opposite him tucking into her food with gusto. He thought that his daughter, like any other child her age, would be good at unconditionally giving affection to someone they immediately took a liking to.
‘You asked about Bella,’ he introduced when there was a lull in the conversation.
Dinner at an end, he pushed aside his plate, shoved back his chair and relaxed, linking his fingers on his stomach and watching her with lazy interest.
She looked so damnedfresh.She looked like what he had first thought her to be—someone without the tiresome airs and graces that came with privilege...someone not yet cynical enough to think that money bought everything. He dropped his eyes and recalled the very expensive Louis Vuitton case that had accompanied her into his house. He had glimpsed her earlier from the window of the room he currently used as his office as she had stepped out of her taxi.
‘You don’t have to answer,’ Izzy shrugged once again, and regretfully closed her knife and fork.
‘Bella is a relative of my ex-wife,’ Gabriel expanded, ignoring the uneasy tug inside him at this innocuous exchange of information. So unaccustomed was he to sharing any aspect of his private life with anyone, the admission felt oddly disconcerting. It felt like a tacit admission oftrust, and yet it surely couldn’t be? Trust was something that had been taken from him through those bitter years when he had discovered just how fragile it was.
‘So I guess you had to employ her if your...ex-wife...asked,’ Izzy mused sympathetically. ‘It’s tempting to give jobs to people you’re related to.’
‘I wouldn’t have, given half a chance,’ Gabriel grated. ‘But unfortunately my ex-wife can be vindictive and is fond of playing games.’ He looked away briefly. ‘Including those that use Rosa as a pawn.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Izzy said, aghast and not hiding it. She felt a warm, protective rush towards her little charge and knew that it was because there was a meeting of mutual ground here. A daughter without her mother, whatever the reasons behind it might be, was a child set up to experience loss. She should know.
‘Don’t be. As you’ve said, this is hardly your concern.’ He stood up and stretched before removing the crockery to the sink, where he proceeded haphazardly to stack the lot at the side. ‘Bella’s methods are draconian when applied to a six-year-old, which is why Rosa is so rebellious. She may do everything by the book but, when it comes to kids, that’s not always the right way.’
‘Couldn’t you talk to your wife, yourex-wife, about that? It doesn’t matter how vindictive she is, surely the main thing is Rosa’s happiness?’
‘In an ideal world, I would.’ Gabriel said wryly. ‘Unfortunately, the world is rarely ideal. I am just pleased that my daughter is having fun with you.’
‘I’m not engaging her in any educational activities, though...’
‘You mean like Bella?’
‘There is a timetable from the sounds of it, and quite a gruelling one. No subject is left unexplored, even during the holidays.’ She relaxed and grinned. That glass of wine had taken the edge off her nervous tension, as had the fact that they were on neutral territory, discussing something other than the contentious issue of the cottage. ‘I guess I would be able to do homework with her, but I wouldn’t enjoy it. I did business studies at university but...’
Gabriel tilted his head to one side. ‘But...?’
‘But it was the wrong choice,’ Izzy mumbled.
‘Why?’
Izzy shrugged and swept her hair over one shoulder, a nervous gesture, because she needed to do something with her hands. ‘I’m happy to keep to my side of the bargain.’ She changed the subject. ‘But will you really consider backing down on the business with the cottage? At least try and stand back and see it from a different perspective?’
‘Of course,’ Gabriel lied magnanimously.
Her non-answer to his question intrigued him. It was easy to pigeonhole rich young women because he personally had had a great deal of experience with them. Hell, he’d made the colossal mistake of marrying one of them!
Rich young women, he had found over the years, enjoyed talking about themselves and were always happy to fill in the blanks with minimum encouragement from him.
He had no problem with that. Bianca had put him off the institution of marriage for good. The experience had also taught him something very valuable about himself: he would always put work ahead of everyone and everything, with the exception of his daughter. Even so, with some guilt he knew that there was more he could do with her.
But for women? They would always take a back seat. He had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks and knew, from experience, just how tough life could be when you could barely afford to put food on your plate. His parents had worked their fingers to the bone, had done their best for him, but still they had been suffocated by a society that only recognised people with money. Their ambition had been to give him the opportunity to escape the trap into which they had been born and there was no way he had ever had any intention of disappointing on that front.
