Page 58 of The Tycoon's Shock Heir

‘There’s no reason why it shouldn’t,’ she said quietly. ‘You’ve done everything you could.’

He heard the wistful tone in her voice. The note of self-sacrifice was like a soprano’s aria, cutting through the crystal of his own determination. She was sacrificing everything for him and their baby. Her career was effectively over for months. All she could do was cling on to the company by teaching at the school.

And what of them? Of their relationship? It was as vulnerable and beautiful and new as the baby growing inside her. He would do anything to nurture it and bring it fully to life. He wanted to do the right thing for Ruby, but that meant doing this first. Doing his duty. Once all that was dealt with, then he could finally relax...

‘You know this won’t last for ever,’ he said, trying to cheer her up. ‘We’ll come out the other side and get back on track with our lives.’

‘Yes, I know.’

‘I won’t hold you back, Ruby. I want you to be happy too. I want both of us to get what we want out of this. Your career, the bank secure, Claudio a distant memory—all of it.’

‘And you really think that your having the biggest, most successful private bank in Europe is going to make Claudio disappear? Don’t you think that if the merger goes ahead he’ll find even more reasons to hate you? From what you’ve told me about him, I think he’ll make it his life’s work to destroy your bank. This isn’t going to make him go away—it’s going to make him worse.’

Matteo frowned and shook his head as he spotted the signs for the airport and turned off.

‘No,’ he said, dismissing the thought. ‘He’ll leave well alone. And anyway—this isn’t about him. This is about doing the right thing for the Rossinis. I’ve got to get the bank—’

‘Back to where it was,’ she finished for him, in a resigned voice. ‘I know. I get it. I just wish you did.’

She’d muttered the last words under her breath, but he’d caught them. Why was she being like this? His plan was sound—solid. Why was she poking holes in the one thing that he knew was completely right?

He parked the car, cut the engine and got out. He walked round the other side to help her out, but she was on her feet and had slammed the door already.

Hearing the roar of the jets and feeling the warm summer wind whipping at his face, he followed her into the building.

‘I don’t expect you to see it like I do, Ruby. Nobody can know what it has been like.’

In the cool air-conditioned lobby she spun to face him. ‘You were a rugby player, for God’s sake, Matteo. You’re only a banker because you were forced to be, and you’re never going to be free of this until you give it up. Just give it up! You’re running face-first into a wall that you’ve built for yourself when you should be running in the opposite direction.’

She pulled her sunglasses off as she spoke and he saw tears in her eyes and anger pinching at her mouth.

‘I don’t need you to marry me. I can cope perfectly well without all this. I’ll get by—you don’t need to give it a second thought on my account.’

‘What are you talking about? When did I ever give you the impression that I don’t want to do this? You’ve got it totally wrong. This is bigger than both of us. I don’t have any choice. There is no choice!’

As he said the words he heard himself. But there was no choice. There wasn’t...

‘There’s always a choice,’ she said quietly. ‘You just can’t see it.’

The nose of a jet pushed into view on the Tarmac. Three uniformed staff in pristine navy and white walked past, trundling little carry-on cases. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He turned away and pulled it out.

‘David,’ he said. ‘What’s up?’

‘I thought you’d want to know. Your stock has just gone up—I’ve heard from the Levinson Group that they’ve finished with Claudio’s operation and they’re moving back to us. And with them will come others. You’re in a really strong position now to go into the final stages of negotiation with Arturo. But you’ll need to come back as soon as you can to keep this moving. Can you do a dinner tonight? And some meetings on Monday? I know you wanted me to keep a few days free for your little holiday, but this is all happening now and we can’t afford to miss a trick.’

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