She blinked. ‘I didn’t realise I had.’
‘People seem to think we’re getting married.’
‘By people, do you mean that blonde-haired woman you’ve been seeing? Isshethe reason you don’t want to sell?’
‘Who I date is no concern of yours.’ How did she know about Giselle, he wondered, then guessed his mother must have told her. ‘Did Beverly put you up to it?’
‘She only wants what’s best for you.’
His motherhadput her up to it! The pair of them were in cahoots. ‘What’s best for me is that she stays out of my private life.’
Claire studied him, her brown eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve done some rough calculations on the value of the estate,’ she said calmly, moving the laptop closer and turning the screen to face him. ‘Do you want to know how much it’s worth, approximately?’
‘I don’t care. I’m not selling,’ he declared, but he looked anyway.
The figure on the screen astounded him. He’d thought it was worth a fair bit, but not that much. Dear God…
Rocco collapsed into a chair as the enormity struck him. ‘Are you sure?’ he croaked.
‘As I said, it’s a rough calculation, but it’ll be there or thereabouts.’
He felt sick. There was no way he could keep the castle.No way. Even with the sale of his house and the liquidation of every stock and share he owned, he couldn’t afford to keep it.
The forty per cent inheritance tax would ensure that.
Chapter 26
Giselle was in shock. Her instinct had been to go after Rocco, but she held back, wondering whether she’d misheard him. ‘Did he say what I thought he said?’ she asked Izzy in disbelief.
‘I believe he did.’ Izzy was staring at her, agog.
‘He said he loves me. You definitely heard him, right? I’m not imagining it?’
‘You’re not imagining it,’ Izzy confirmed.
‘And he’s not selling the castle. Did you hear that bit, too?’
‘I heard.’
On shaking legs, Giselle staggered over to the plastic chair and plopped onto it. ‘He said he loves me.’ Her voice was flat.
Izzy’s expression was wary. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I don’t know.’ Her hands were shaking, and she thrust them under her thighs and sat on them.
‘Don’t you think you’d better find out?’
‘I’m scared,’ Giselle confessed. ‘What if he didn’t mean it?’
‘Do you honestly think he’d say something like that if he didn’t mean it?’
Giselle didn’t know what to think, but a spark of hope had ignited in her chest and was fast taking hold. ‘Oh, my God,’ she muttered, and a smile spread across her face as the reality sank in. ‘I can’t believe it! He’s really here.’
‘He is!’ Izzy was giggling. ‘This is the best news ever!’
‘What do I do now?’
‘Go after him. Tell him how you feel.’
