hated the answer he was going to have to give. ‘The day before the accident.’ It took huge effort to keep his voice calm, to keep it steady, but even to his ears each word he’d just said sounded cold. He’d studied the photo since then, shocked to see a hint of trouble in Seb’s eyes. Would she notice too?
She looked up at him and tears filled her eyes, making them shine like gemstones. Before he’d thought about the consequences, he moved around the desk and took her in his arms. Without hesitation, she sought the comfort he offered and pressed her face in her hands, her forehead on his chest as sobs racked her body.
‘Dio mio. This is too much for you.’ He wanted to clench his fists in anger but instead spread them over her back as the sobs continued, smoothing them over her and pulling her closer against him.
‘No, it’s not.’ The strangled words came out in a rush, muffled by her hands and his body.
‘It is, cara, it is,’ he soothed, just as he’d done for his sister many times as they’d grown up, but this wasn’t his sister. This was a woman he desired with every nerve in his body.
‘I should, I should.’ Sobs prevented her words from coming out and, without thinking, he lowered his head, pressing his lips into her hair. She stilled in his arms momentarily and he closed his eyes against the memories of when he’d thought his life was complete. He pushed back the knowledge that he’d failed to be the man his wife had wanted, lifted his chin and took in a deep breath.
It seemed like for ever that he held Charlie as she cried, each sob transferring her pain to him, increasing his guilt for not having been there the night Seb had decided to take the car out again. He would have seen the drink-and drugs-induced euphoria and could have stopped him. The discovery still shocked him now. How had they worked so closely together for all those months without him noticing Seb had such a problem?
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