The Best Of The Year - Modern Romance 2016. Кейт Хьюит

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      NOT ONLY WAS her father waiting for her, so was her mother. And, even more ominous, so was Theo’s father. All three were hovering by the door, and she got the uneasy feeling that they had been waiting for their arrival.

      Alexa automatically stepped a shade closer to Theo, who had sized up the situation and taken charge, smoothly querying their joint presence by the front door with the quirk of an eyebrow but not commenting on it, instead leading the way into the kitchen while conducting a running commentary on their trip, omitting the salacious details and focusing on filling his father in on Bob and Felicity.

      They followed him like sheep.

      The man was a born leader, and she could understand why her father had dangled the carrot of shares in the family firm, ensuring that he would oversee holding its reins in the years to come. A true marriage of convenience.

      ‘So...’

      Somehow, without her noticing, Theo had managed to pour their collected parents glasses of wine and put the kettle on for coffee for both of them. He sauntered towards the kitchen table, which was a long oak affair that could comfortably seat twelve. He looked perfectly relaxed and utterly in charge.

      ‘Which lucky family member gets to tell us what’s going on...?’ he drawled, patting the chair next to him, into which Alexa sank with a sigh of relief, because nervous tension at this new, unsettling situation had piled up on top of the nervous tension already wreaking havoc inside her. He looked narrowly from face to face and his father cleared his throat.

      ‘We have been talking, son—’ Stefano said, sitting at the head of the table while the other two followed suit, flanking him on either side. Alexa’s mother nervously twirled the stem of her wine glass and looked at her daughter,

      ‘Let me, Stefano,’ Cora interrupted. ‘Now, Alexa, your father’s come clean and told me everything. I know you two have been worried sick about me, and I understand that you reached this...this...arrangement with poor Theo for the best possible reasons, but I don’t need protecting as much as you think.’

      She looked lovingly at her husband, who looked away sheepishly.

      Alexa’s brain had stopped at the description of Theo as ‘poor’, as in helpless, and she wanted to burst into hysterical laughter.

      ‘I’ve had health problems, all three of you know that, but they’ve been physical—not emotional. Yes, I’ll admit that I may have told your father, Alexa, that I longed for a grandchild—longed to see you settled down with a nice man—but what mother doesn’t wish that for her child? There was no need for you to concoct this silly scheme...’

      ‘So what are you saying?’ Alexa looked between the three parents in bewilderment. She was trying to follow what her mother was saying, but it was like walking in treacle. When she looked at Theo he was frowning, his brooding eyes speculative. It hit her just how much she had come to admire the silent strength of his personality, and was floored by how much it hurt to love him when her love wasn’t returned.

      Stefano picked up the thread of the conversation. ‘We’re saying that there’s no need for this charade any longer. Certain things will remain in place...’

      ‘I promised you shares in my company,’ Carlo said, addressing Theo, ‘and that stays in place. I won’t pretend that I didn’t...’ he cleared his throat ‘...see certain advantages to helping your father out financially...’

      ‘Because you’re a manipulative old man.’ Cora smiled indulgently at her husband. ‘But, Alexa, darling, I don’t understand why you didn’t put your foot down and refuse to go through with this silly pretence. No...’ She sighed. ‘I do understand, and for that I have only love for you...’

      Alexa’s head was swimming. She was now grasping exactly what was being said. She had been looking at the prospect of a year with Theo—a year trying to fight the impulses that were so much bigger than her...a year knowing that every time he crooked his finger it would take all the strength at her disposal not to go running...a year of knowing that she would walk away from their relationship battered and hurt beyond comprehension.

      That year wasn’t going to happen now. She was being given her Get Out Of Jail Free card—and so was Theo.

      And the future yawned in front of her like a black, empty void.

      ‘So...’ she said slowly.

      ‘Yes, my darling.’ Cora reached across the width of the kitchen table to pat her daughter’s hand. ‘And of course the press have hounded you both. You will simply tell them that the engagement’s off and so is the marriage...’

      * * *

      Alexa headed for the most secluded seat in the first class lounge at the airport. She didn’t want to be near anyone because she didn’t want to be dragged into making small talk. She’d been operating on automatic for the past three weeks and she planned on carrying on doing just that—at least until she reached London, when she was banking on new surroundings and the thrill of her new job to rescue her from the zombie-like torpor into which she had sunk.

      Where had Theo gone? She didn’t know, and of course she had been too proud to ask her parents. She had moaned and railed against the situation in which she had found herself, and yet when that situation had been whipped out from under her feet she had been lost because she had become so dependent on him.

      In the blink of an eye he had gone from being just the sort of guy she would run a mile from to being just the sort of guy she couldn’t imagine living without.

      But live without him she would, and it hurt more than she could ever have contemplated in those carefree first few days when she had actually disliked him.

      The press, predictably, had passed a few days speculating on the break-up of the perfectly matched couple and then, just as predictably, new scandals and gossip had drawn them away.

      Now, staring down at the book on her lap, and with two hours of waiting ahead of her because she had been itching to leave, she thought back to the brief conversation she had had with Theo after his father and her parents had fled the scene, leaving them stranded in the kitchen like a couple of castaways, washed up on a beach after being stuck on a raft together but with nothing to say now that the storm had passed.

      The passionate lover had gone. He had carefully asked her what her plans were now. One minute he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her—the next minute, freed from the shackles of a union he’d never asked for, he’d been coolly indifferent.

      Of course she had gone on about the relief of not having to face a marriage neither of them had wanted. The more indifferent he’d seemed, the more she had sparkled, voicing the joys of her newfound freedom.

      And then he’d gone, and she’d been left in an empty kitchen contemplating the horror of her newfound freedom.

      London. Her parents had an apartment there. It was where she had lived before she had left for Italy and she would go back there. She had phoned her old company, who had remembered her, and after a million calls they had found her a job.

      The change of scene would do her good—she knew that. Just being in her parents’ house had reminded her of Theo. And in the dead of night, her whole body ached for him.

      Right, she thought severely, think about the good stuff.

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