Cecilia dropped her gaze to her lap. “I suppose she is still in love with you.”
“She hinted as much,” he nodded absently. “And I feel like the lowest bastard leaving her to think I might return when I knew I wouldn’t. I suppose naïve old me thought she would move on as I did… but her letter tells me she has not.”
He sighed. “She is here, Cecilia, at her brother’s home, and it bowled me over. I never thought she would come to me.”
“…Iwould have,” she whispered at last. “Any lady who knows her worth would.”
“I suppose all that is left is to see her now,” he sighed before turning to her. “Could you please come with me?”
CHAPTER 28
The evening soirée at Frederico’s chalet was already well underway when they arrived. Cassian had foolishly imagined this would be a private affair—a quiet reunion where difficult truths could be spoken without an audience. Instead, stepping into the salon the butler led him into, he found himself in his worst nightmare.
The room blazed with candlelight and conversation. At least two dozen guests filled the crimson damask salon—gentlemen clustered near card tables with brandy in hand, ladies arranged on settees nearby like exotic birds in silk.
Cassian’s hands unconsciously flexed at his side.
“Cassian, you came.Thank you.” The lightly accented voice had him turning from the window. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Cecilia straighten too as the raven-haired woman entered.
She remained every inch the vision that had once undone him—tall and elegant, her royal blue gown molded to slender curves and a nipped-in waist.
“Isabella…” he managed as he inclined his head.
The lady’s hazel eyes flickered to Cecilia while she tucked an errant dark lock behind an ear adorned with delicate gold filigree. “And who is your companion, may I ask?”
Cassian braced himself for her reaction. “This is my wife, Cecilia.”
“Tua moglie!”Shock painted Isabella’s feline eyes. “I did not realize you were… married.”
“That is why I came. Isabella—”
The signoria started to backtrack toward the door, her unorthodox reaction drawing a couple of eyes to her, and when she spun on her heel and dashed out, about half the room had begun prying into the conversation. After muttering a curse, Cassian was a few steps behind her, feeling cut right down in the middle that he had caused more shame upon Cecilia.
He caught up with her as she slipped through the doors to a room a floor above, and he took the steps two at a time. Rushing to the doors, Cassian slowed as Isabella spun around in the small drawing room, tears in her eyes.
“Isa—”
“Férmati!” she cried out. “All this time, Cassian, all this time I hoped you were not one of those… thoseciarlataniwho give their word to a lady with no intention of making it true. But now—” her voice broke—“you have a wife? I…Iwas meant to be your wife!”
She drifted languidly to a nearby chair and sank into it while Cassian sought for the right words. Her shoulders wilted into herself, as did her face. A tear escaped her red-rimmed eyes as she whispered, “A part of me always believed you were too much of a wild horse to tame, but I—I’d hoped… You said you loved me.”
“I…” Cassian tried as he kept his distance. “It burns my heart to say this, Isabella, but as I reflected on it, I realized that I did not love you. I thought I did, but your home and presence were simply a safe haven—comfort in a time when everything else was falling apart.”
“…But no longer, I suppose,” Isabella swiped a knuckle under her eye.
“No,” Cassian replied quietly, guilt and pain cutting through him. “I apologize.”
She breathed in softly. “This is why I had to try and speak with you. I had to see if there was still a chance.”
Cassian rubbed his face. “There are no words I can give you to make up for the hurt I have inflicted upon you over the past years, and I only hope that one day you’ll find a man who will treat you as you deserve and not be a coward as I was.”
She shook her head. “No, I…Ifeel the fool. My head was telling the truth, but my heart could not hold onto it.”
Dragging a hand through his tousled hair, Cassian asked rather futilely, “Is there any way I can make this right?”
“Unless you can rewind the wheels of time and undo the thoughtless words you said, non credo che tu possa,” Isabella mumbled.
Cassian took her dismissal with grace and bowed away, heading to the door. Isabella stopped him the moment his hand landed on the doorknob, “Wait, thereisone thing you can do.”
