Page 56 of ‘I Do’ for Revenge
Vito forced it all out of his mind. He’d been invited here to Black’s office in London ahead of their dinner. They hadn’t signed anything yet but his conscience rose up like bile in his throat.
He faced the man and said, ‘There’s something you need to know.’
Black raised a brow. ‘Like the fact that you’re no longer in a relationship?’
Vito couldn’t have been more stunned if the man had just landed a blow to his gut. He felt winded. ‘How do you know?’ Had it got to the papers? He hadn’t released a statement yet, telling himself he’d wanted to tell Black in person first, but also because another part of him had resisted it.
Black took a sip of his drink. ‘Carrie got a phone call from Flora, who wanted to pass on a message to me.’
Black came to stand beside Vito at the window. Vito asked as politely as he could, ‘What did she say?’
What he really wanted to ask was,Was she all right? Where did she say she was?
He knew she’d left the apartment in Rome because Sofia had told him she’d moved out, with no forwarding address. Was she homeless again? Was she—?
‘She said that even though you were no longer in a relationship she hoped it wouldn’t affect my judgement of your reputation, and that I’d be a fool to not go into business with you.’
Vito felt a rush of warmth around his chest at the thought of Flora advocating for him.
‘I love the bones of you...’
He said, more tersely than he’d intended, ‘And?’
Black gave him a look. ‘I won’t lie—if headlines in the paper feature your love affairs over your business affairs, I won’t be inclined to continue investment. I favour discretion above all things.’
The bile stayed stuck in Vito’s throat. The thought of even looking at another woman or taking another woman to his bed was almost repugnant to him. He muttered, ‘I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that.’
‘So why...? If you don’t mind me asking.’
Vito chased the bile down his throat with a gulp of whiskey, and then, knowing he could very well be losing the best prospect of investment he could ever get, he said, ‘I do mind you asking, actually.’ Because he had no answers any more. He’d been so sure when he’d stood in front of Flora after she’d told him she loved him, but now that certainty was far less...certain.
Black said, ‘Fair enough.’
‘Do you still want to do business with me?’ Vito would prefer to know now.
Black looked at him for a long moment and then said, ‘Yes, I do, and this might sound crazy but, even though I only met her a couple of times, I trust Flora’s judgement of you as a person. But I won’t tolerate bad press going forward, Vitale, understood?’
‘Understood,’ Vito said, feeling grim, when he should be feeling ecstatic. But all he could think about was the fact that this man, who was little more than a stranger really, trusted Flora more than Vito had.
When Vito returned to the apartment in Rome a couple of days later, he expected that being back in the city would make him feel more settled. After all, he’d just spent time in the two places where he’d so recently had Flora on his arm and in his bed—he’d been bound to miss her presence.
Her scent, her smile, her infectious enthusiasm, her joy in everything, even the damned dog.
Vito scowled as he removed his tie and jacket. The apartment felt empty. Like a void.Lonely.In all his years since losing his parents he’d never felt lonely. He’d been too preoccupied.And then obsessed, with Flora.But now he felt it and it wasn’t welcome.
He saw a box on the main table in the reception room and went over. A small black box. And a note. He picked it up.
Vito, I couldn’t seem to take these back. Please accept them now as my thank-you. I hope you find happiness in your life, Flora. And Benji.
Vito opened the box but he already knew what it was. The cufflinks Flora had tried to gift him in New York. The eagles. Soaring high above it all, with that eagle-eyed vision. And suddenly Vito realised that the landscape below had become very barren and desolate.
I hope you find happiness...
It might never have occurred to him that it was a state he wanted to achieve, if he hadn’t met Flora. It might never have been something he wanted to aspire to more than professional success. Because it hit him now that, for the last weeks...he’d been happy. For the first time in a long time. Since the tragedy of losing his parents. It had sneaked under his skin and into his head and heart without him even noticing. Teasing him with the possibility that he might have that again, in his life.
It was ironic. The Gavias had got the final word. The final revenge. Because Flora had cursed him, without even knowing it. Because now he knew what he wanted and needed and that the only way he’d ever find it was with her. But she deserved nothing less than his full surrender and the question Vito had to face was this: was he brave enough to admit that, in the end, after all he’d done and achieved, that he was still defeated? Because he hadn’t realised until now where true success and fulfilment lay.
‘I love it, Flora, you’re a genius.’