Page 36 of Dario

I assumed he meant Imelda, but I stood. “Have you been in the pool?”

He shook his head and took a step back. “You promised I could go see my mom.”

I nodded. “Her new home is called Ashford Grange. I will give you their number and you can inform Alvize you wish to visit tomorrow. It’s less than thirty minutes from here so you can go either before or after your lunch.”

“Not today?” He bit his lip. “I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

I was a selfish bastard and put my arms around him. “I want you all to myself for one afternoon. We will try the pool, the jacuzzi, then I have every intention of spending the rest of theevening in bed.” I wasn’t surprised Nonna’s lunch orpranzohad taken nearly two hours.

Color immediately heated his skin, and I ignored his protests. I guided him to our room and watched, unrepentantly, as he held up two very small Speedo-type trunks from a now much fuller dressing room drawer. Crossing over, I glanced in and picked out a third. The two he held were black. The one I chose was red and my favorite color on him. It also left little to the imagination.

He stared at them like I was handing him a bomb, but I leaned forward and whispered. “Bello mio. You won’t be wearing them for long anyway.” I felt the shiver go through him and smirked. I didn’t bother finding anything for myself because I had no intention of wearing anything in the pool. I silently cursed as I heard the ringing of my cell phone. I had instructed Lucio that I wasn’t to be interrupted and I knew he would reroute the dozens of calls I got on a daily basis. For him to call it must be important.

I stepped out of the bedroom and barked a yes down the phone.

“Boss, the home Alessandro’s mom is in has just called you.” My heart beat once.

“What is it?”

“She usually has a rest after her lunch and the nurse just went to wake her up.” He paused and my hand tightened. “She’d died. In her sleep. The doctor was called but saw no sign of anything unusual. Death isn’t uncommon with these patients, and he wants to know if you need...”

But I’d stopped listening. Alessandro had asked me to take him to see his mom and while I knew even if I’d agreed we wouldn’t have gotten there in time, the fact was I still said no.

And that was all Alessandro would remember.

18

Alessandro

Istared at Dario. I could see his lips moving, feel the tight grip he had on my arm, but I wasn’t hearing anything he said. Well, after he told me he had some bad news.

That Mom was dead.

After that, I didn’t take anything in. He held a glass of water to my lips and I swallowed obediently, then choked, because it was liquor, and all the sounds that had felt muted swept back in and crashed over me. I would have dropped the glass if he hadn’t taken it from me. Not that I cared. In a small part of my mind, I should be furious. I hadn’t seen her, touched or held her, in nearly six years and I’d been so close. So close.

I focused on his dark gaze. “What happened?”

“She went to rest after her lunch as usual, but when the nurse went to wake her, she’d passed in her sleep.” I dropped my gaze to the hand holding mine, Dario’s thumb stroking my knuckles and, suddenly revolted, I snatched it away.

“Amore mio. She didn’t suffer. It was peaceful.”

Fury swept through me. “How do you know? She was on her own. She died alone. She could have had a heart attack, been in pain, been frightened—”

My throat closed and his arms came around me, but I pushed him away. “Let go of me. This is your fault,” I spat. “If you hadn’t forced me to marry you, she wouldn’t have had to move. I would have seen her. I should have seen her today.” I leapt to my feet, and ran back to the dressing room, tearing the stupid trunks off, sickened at the sight of them.

“Alessandro—”

“Don’t touch me,” my voice rose. “Don’t talk to me. I’m not interested in a word you have to say. Nothing you ever do could make up for this.” I yanked Nonna's ring off my finger and flung it at his chest. He picked it up and slipped it in his pocket. My chest heaved. Hot, scalding tears burned my eyes but I blinked them away, pulling underwear on, uncaring that he watched. I grabbed a pair of jeans and tore the tag off, yanking them on. I reached for the nearest shirt and pushed my head and arms in, then stormed past him to the stairs.

“Alessandro?” His voice contained a question. Both Lucio and Alvize were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I ignored Lucio and snapped at Alvize. “I need a ride.”

His eyes slid to Dario’s.

“Either take me or I fucking walk,” I thundered, and Alvize nodded and turned. I followed him out of the door and to the car, but just as I got in, Lucio took the seat next to Alvize and Dario opened the other door.

“I don’t want you there,” I snapped. “You’ve done enough, and I want to see her alone.”

“You can see her alone,” Dario confirmed and slid in next to me. “But I will accompany you there.”