such thoughts out of her mind as she turned to the bathroom, taking in the sunken marble bathtub, the shower big enough for two, the double sinks. She turned on the taps to fill the tub, and added nearly half a bottle of high-end bubble bath. She was going to have a good, long soak, and try not to think for a while, because if she did, her head might explode.
Twenty minutes later, having submerged herself in hot, soapy bubbles and nearly fallen asleep, Mia sat up suddenly as her breasts prickled and her body tensed. Faintly, so faintly, she heard Ella cry.
With a sigh she pulled the plug on the bath and swathed herself in the thick, velvet-soft terrycloth dressing gown she’d found hanging on the back of the bathroom door. She finger-combed her hair as she walked through the bedroom and then downstairs, following the sound of Ella’s now shrill cries.
She wandered through several empty, elegant rooms before she spied Alessandro rocking Ella in the kitchen, a cheerful and comfortable room at the back of the house, with French windows leading out to a wide terrace with steps down to the garden.
Mia paused in the doorway, spellbound by the simple yet heart-warming scene. Ella was crying with determination, while Alessandro danced around the kitchen, jiggling her rather desperately against his shoulder.
‘Now, bambina, you need to settle down or you’ll wake your mamma. Why are you upset, eh? What is there to be so sad about?’ He pressed a kiss to Ella’s cheek. ‘Are you hungry, cara? Is that the problem? Am I going to have to wake your mamma, after all?’
‘I’m already awake.’
Mia’s voice came out scratchy as she absorbed the scene in front of her, let it squeeze her heart. She’d never seen Alessandro look so gentle, or approachable, or…loving. He’d been loving. And it gave her a glimpse of a future that didn’t look as unfathomable or impossible as she’d assumed it would be. In a strange and surprising way, for a few seconds it had looked…wonderful. And that scared her too, because it was not what she’d expected, and it made her want things she was afraid to try for or even to dream about.
What if Alessandro was right, and they could have a relationship, a marriage, that was strong and true and good? Based on companionship and affection? What if that was possible?
Why did that thought both terrify and thrill her in equal measure?
Alessandro gave her an endearingly self-conscious smile. ‘I guess she is hungry, as you said she would be. I’ve been trying to calm her, but no luck.’
‘You can’t provide the goods in this case,’ Mia answered as she held her arms out, and Alessandro danced his way over to her, making her smile.
‘Here she is.’
‘Has she had a change?’
‘Her nappy? Yes.’
‘You changed it?’ Mia couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.
‘It took a few tries, I admit. Thankfully there were enough nappies. Those tapes…’ He shook his head. ‘They were not designed for durability. I might have to take over the company that makes them, to ensure a stronger design.’
Mia laughed at such an outrageous suggestion. ‘Is that how you decide what companies to take over?’
‘Actually, no.’ He looked serious for a moment before he deliberately lightened his expression. ‘But perhaps it will be, as far as nappies are concerned.’
‘So how do you choose the companies?’ she asked as she settled in a sofa in the cosy nook off the kitchen. Alessandro joined her, sitting on the sofa opposite. Conscious of his gaze on her, Mia bent her head, her damp hair falling forward as she brought Ella to her breast. When she was sure she was presentable and Ella feeding discreetly, she looked up, everything in her jolting at the sudden, blazing look in Alessandro’s eyes…a look of pride and possession that made her feel a welter of unsettling sensations.
As he caught her gaze, it faded, leaving scorch marks on her soul. He gave her a small smile. ‘I choose companies that have corrupt and weak leadership.’
Startled, she shook her head. ‘But Henry wasn’t…’
‘Corrupt? No, perhaps not. But he was weak and lazy, and he was running Dillard’s into the red. I estimated that in another eighteen months, none of you would have had jobs.’
‘Surely not…’
He shrugged. ‘Two years, at the maximum.’
‘I always knew he was a bit old-fashioned,’ Mia said slowly. ‘And he did like his golf game…’ But she’d considered those qualities endearing, rather than damaging. Now she wondered.
‘As affable as he could be, he was a weak leader,’ Alessandro responded firmly. ‘And he would have proved disastrous for the company and its employees.’
‘And you care about the employees.’ Once she would have said as much incredulously, but now there was the lilt of a question in her tone. ‘Because I don’t understand that—your reputation is so ruthless, firing most of the employees of the companies you take over. And yet…’
Alessandro smiled wryly as he raised his eyebrows. ‘And yet?’
‘And yet that didn’t seem to be the case with Dillard’s. Most of the staff were given jobs elsewhere, better jobs by the sounds of it, and the people who were let go had very generous redundancy packages, which has to cut into your profit. But none of that seems to make it into the press.’
‘No,’ he agreed, sounding unbothered by that fact.
‘Why? Don’t you mind being portrayed as some ruthless monster?’
‘No, because I can hardly be a teddy bear if I’m going to take over a company. Having a reputation helps.’
‘But why do you do it?’ Mia pressed. ‘What are you trying to achieve?’ He hesitated for a long moment, and Mia had the sense they were on the cusp of some great and terrible revelation.
‘I do it,’ he finally said, ‘because I cannot abide having weak or corrupt people in leadership, and I will not stand by and allow them to ruin people’s lives.’ He paused. ‘Like my father did.’
Alessandro gazed at Mia, noticing the way her hair, like a golden slide of silk, hid her face, so he couldn’t gauge her expression. He hadn’t meant to make that admission, but now that he had he was glad he had. He could hardly expect Mia to come to trust him if he didn’t share something of his life and past with her…even if doing so made him feel uncomfortably exposed.
‘Your father?’ she repeated softly. ‘How…?’
‘He was the CEO of a company in Rome. My mother was a cleaner in his office.’ He could not keep the old bitterness from twisting his words. ‘It was, as I’m sure you can imagine, a short-lived affair. He made my mother promises he never intended on keeping. And when he found out she was pregnant, he fired her.’
‘Oh, Alessandro.’ His name was a soft cry of distress. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He
