‘Aside from involving you in something that is not your concern,’ he continued, the sincerity in his deep, sexy voice keeping her pinned to the spot, ‘I want to apologise for the fact that she insulted you. I would have laid into her, but my darling ex-wife can be explosive when the mood takes her, and I was simply not in the mood for thrown crockery and shrieking that could wake the dead, never mind Rosa. That’s the last thing I want to subject my daughter to.
‘I’ve had experiences of that behaviour in the past and there was no way I wanted a repeat performance. She can get...unpredictable when riled. Physical. It’s something that has always been at the back of my mind in my dealings with her. If I rile her, how much would she take her frustration and anger out on Rosa? I avoid courting any situation that could...lead to any unfortunate situations. Like most kids, Rosa is loyal. She would never say anything to me. I live with the reality that it is best to avoid inciting potential unpleasantness.’
He paused and said with rough honesty, ‘The truth is, between you and Bianca, there is an ocean of difference.’
Izzy did not want to be tempted into hearing what he had to say. ‘I don’t want excuses and I don’t want lies. I think it’s time for me to get back to Hawaii and finish the job I started. My brother’s been patient but he won’t be patient for ever. I’ve done what I could for Evelyn, and my heart breaks for her, but if you can’t be persuaded then there’s nothing left I can do.’
‘I... I don’t want you to go.’
‘And I don’t care what you want.’
‘I can’t stop you, Izzy, but...’
‘But what, Gabriel?’
‘This isn’t a conversation to have standing up. Let’s go into the sitting room.’
‘I’m tired, Gabriel. I just want to go to my bedroom and go to sleep.’
‘Please...’
It was so unusual to hear this strong, proud man plead that she hesitated, then nodded without smiling and followed him into one of the many sitting rooms on the ground floor.
Like the majority of the rooms in this wing of the mansion, the view was of the vast rows of vines, bearing the grapes that yielded the fine wines that graced so many tables up and down the country. Gabriel moved to snap shut the heavy cream curtains then he hesitated and looked to where she was perched formally on one of the sofas.
Finally, he walked towards her and sat close, so that their knees were touching.
Izzy stiffened. With every ounce of willpower inside her, she wanted to ignore the strain etched in his face, but it was hard. He had climbed under her skin, crept into her heart and she felt that she was now conditioned to reach towards him instead of drawing away. And what he had said about his ex-wife and Rosa...how could she fail to be moved?
Gabriel could feel the tension in her. Could he blame her? Not at all. His fury when he thought of Bianca showing up in his house, availing herself of a key she should not have had, was overpowering.
And when he thought of her standing there, addressing Izzy with contempt, he wanted to punch something. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that he knew what sort of scenes his ex was capable of and neither had he been exaggerating when he’d told Izzy that he had endured Rosa being caught in the middle of warfare, baffled and terrified by Bianca in the midst of one of her scenes.
Never again.
He’d remained silent but Izzy deserved more than his silence now.
‘I should never have married Bianca,’ he confessed, fumbling his way, because discussing feelings and emotions had never been his thing. ‘But I did. I suppose part of the attraction was the fact that our backgrounds were so different.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I may be able to buy the world now,’ he said drily, dark eyes keenly watching the delicate bloom of colour in her cheeks, ‘but I came from the wrong side of the tracks. Bianca comes from Italian royalty and at first I found it amusing to be pursued by her. I would have broken up with her, but she fell pregnant, and naturally there was no way I could walk away. We married, but it proved to be a calamitous mistake from day one. By the time Rosa was born, it was clear that everything was unravelling at pace.’
‘I’m sorry.’ She thought that if theword ‘royalty’could be used to define anyone it should be him and not his screaming ex-wife, which just went to show that nobility and dignity could thrive anywhere and in anyone. She itched to question him further about his childhood but remained silent, fighting the temptation to sink right back into him.
Gabriel shrugged and looked at her. ‘Why? None of this is your concern, as you made clear.’
Izzy reddened.
‘She will use this against me,’ Gabriel told her bluntly. ‘You leave now, and she will see it as a passport to make things as uncomfortable for me as she can because she will deduce that you were what she expected you to be—a one-night stand, something seedy I allowed to happen while I was in charge of Rosa.’
‘We don’t live in Victorian times,’ Izzy pointed out flatly. ‘People actually do continue to have lives post-divorce without hiding those lives away from their kids.’
‘It’s not so simple for me. At any rate, that’s one reason why I would rather you stay. It’s selfish, and asking much, but for my daughter I would do anything.’ He paused and then said, flushing darkly, ‘I would also miss you if you choose to go.’
‘You wouldmissme?’ Izzy scoffed. Their eyes met and she held his dark gaze with difficulty. It was hard maintaining her tough stance. Was this what love did to you? she floundered desperately. What was the point of it if it turned you into a rag doll, at the mercy of someone you wanted to walk away from? Gabriel didn’t love her. That should have been her cue to turn her back and leave after that uncomfortable scene, but she was still nailed to the spot, and when she thought about walking away she quailed inside.
‘I would miss you, Izzy.’ He looked at her in silence for a few moments. ‘Can I offer you a deal?’
