In the absence of any of those questions being answered, she had suggested the place and the time.
A well-known, mega-expensive restaurant in Manhattan. Georgie had vaguely heard of the place, which said something.
She returned the phone to Alessandro and the hope that she had locked away sent tendrils shooting out, curling through her misery and finding a way into her heart.
‘When I got to the restaurant,’ Alessandro said heavily, ‘I should have expected that something was going to happen because Sophia looked elated. She was dressed to kill and was the opposite of the belligerent, bitter woman I would have expected. Fool that I was, I actually breathed a sigh of relief.’
‘And then, once you were outside…’
‘You guessed it. The paparazzi were out in force. She’d tipped them off that we would be meeting at the restaurant and also hinted that a reconciliation was on the cards. Perhaps she really thought that that was going to be the case, but more likely she put two and two together, maybe gleaned from things Flora might have said, worked out that you and I had a serious connection, one that incorporated Flora, and she decided that she would have one last vicious stab at making my life as difficult as possible. As soon as we left the restaurant, she went into full acting mode and those, Georgie, were the pictures that you saw.’
‘I… I…’
‘I don’t want to put you in an awkward position, Georgie. I needed to explain what happened and I needed to tell you how I felt.’ He smiled at her and made to reach out to take her hand but instead drew back at the last minute and linked his fingers loosely between his thighs.
‘Don’t think I’m forcing myself on you,’ he continued gruffly, ‘because I’m not.’
‘But what on earth did your ex-wife think she would gain by doing what she did?’
Georgie looked at him, perplexed.
Questions were still there in her head but her mind was thrilling to what he’d said.
He loved her? Could she believe it? Why would he lie?
‘When you’re dealing with someone like Sophia, that’s a rational question to which there is no rational answer. It wasn’t about what she would gain but what I might lose. At the very least, she would have made my life as difficult as possible and that would have been enough for her. Malice can be an emotion that blinds a person, kills common sense. But you still haven’t answered my question. Do you want to believe what I’m telling you? Because if you can bring yourself to believe me, to know that I’m telling you the truth, then I might see some hope that you could give me a chance.’
‘I believe you,’ Georgie said simply.
She reached out to curve her hand on his cheek and he caught it in his and kissed her palm, raising his eyes to hers while his mouth remained pressed against her skin.
‘I was devastated leaving you, Alessandro. I’d fallen in love with you even though I told myself that you were the least suitable person on the planet to fall in love with.’
‘Georgie…my darling…’
‘My heart stopped when you told me that you didn’t want what we had to end, until you added that you just meant that we would continue being lovers until it fizzled out. I knew that I could never have done that. It was so hard making love to you once I knew that we’d be walking away from one another.’
‘I wish you’d said. No. It was me. Up to me to have told you how I felt. I’d been the one to lay down all those ground rules. I should have been the one to admit that they’d been broken. By me. I didn’t realise at the time how I felt about you. Never put two and two together and worked out that I would only spend half my time confiding if the person I was confiding in was also the person I’d fallen head over heels in love with.’
He shook his head and smiled.
He stood up, pulled her to her feet and, for a few seconds, buried his head in her hair, then he tilted her face and looked down at her.
‘I became a different person when I met you. The minute I saw you flash across outside the sitting room, in a world of your own, I got caught up in a place that was alien to me. And I liked it and then I loved it, loved you.’ He paused and looked at her seriously. ‘We love each other, Georgie, but I’d understand if you still need time to think about marrying me. I’ve sprung this on you but I’m a man of action and it didn’t occur to me to take things a step at a time. I had to see you, had to tell you how I felt and had to ask for your hand in marriage.’
‘Maybe I could see that ring of yours…’
Her heart carried on filling up with love, unstoppable, as she watched him reach into his pocket and hand her the small black box she had gaped at earlier with suspicion and disbelief.
She opened it and there it was, the ring she had been dreaming of all her life.
A solitary circular diamond on its thin band of rose gold.
‘Do you like it?’
Georgie looked at him and smiled. ‘I adore it, Alessandro. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen because you’re the man who gave it to me.’
He slipped it onto her finger.
