Page 138 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

Certainly he never shared how he was feeling with another.

The client, though, was more than ready to share his!

And, rather loudly, he did.

Dante’s haughty face remained impassive throughout the rant, and finally he was winding up.

‘No, absolutely not!’ the client concluded. ‘She’s not getting her hands on the chalet in Switzerland. Hell, she doesn’t even ski.’

Still Dante said nothing.

‘I can’t believe you’re charging me for this so-called advice...’ He sneered and tossed the file towards Dante. ‘I thought I was hiring the best in Italy.’

There were many people sitting in the boardroom.

The best of the best.

Attorneys, paralegals, a psychologist, his client’s PR, as well as his assistant... This eleventh-hour meeting was well attended, by the best of the best, and yet a year on they were getting precisely nowhere.

Dante was rarely wrong—but his client was not concluding his rant. He was escalating.

‘I made one mistake!’ he shouted. ‘One!’

As a colleague tried to defuse the situation with calming words, Dante resisted rolling his eyes.

One mistake?

Please...

As a very sought-after and rather infamous family law attorney, Dante was cynical to the extreme—and he didn’t believe a word anyone said. Whether directly, or by omission, Dante knew full well that everyone lied.

Himself included.

But more to the point...

‘It’s irrelevant,’ he said.

His measured, sparse words only further incensed the client, and a vein bulged on his forehead as he refused to accept the fact Dante had calmly delivered—even if his client had strayed, in Italy it was no-fault divorce.

‘Legally, your extramarital affair is irrelevant.’

In the heightened emotional world of family law Dante’s stony logic was invaluable, and that was why, despite his enormous fees, he was incredibly sought after.

He was not, though, famed for hand-holding.

Dante left that to others.

‘You’ve hired me to deal with financial, property and succession matters. That I can do. However, if you feel you need more time with the practice psychologist...’

‘I don’t need to see a damn psychologist. I need to speak with my wife.’

‘That’s the last thing you should do,’ Dante warned him sharply. ‘The very last thing. Do not contact your soon-to-beex-wife.’

His client sucked in his breath at this reminder of the status of his marriage. ‘You’re a cold bastard, Casadio.’

Indeed, he was.

As his client thumped the gleaming table Dante Casadio did not flinch.