before him.
Mattia stepped back from them—way back. ‘Congratulations on your child. How old is she?’
Denial to the fore. ‘This is Aimee. She’s twelve months old.’ Do the sums. Believe your gut reaction.
But Mattia wasn’t playing that game. He had one of his own on the go. ‘Twelve months, eh? You kept your relationship quiet. I thought you were sworn to a single life.’
She still was. Which was none of his business. Careful, you have to talk with Mattia about some serious stuff in the coming days. ‘I wasn’t dating anyone when you were with Danielle.’
‘How is Danielle?’ His gaze flicked to Aimee, immediately looked away.
Oh, no. She was about to leap right into the middle of the deepest pool without a lifebelt. Her heart was already diving. Inclining her head towards the door that led into his office, she whispered, ‘Can we?’
‘I think we must.’ He turned to his secretary, who hadn’t done as requested and left. ‘Sonia, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ His tone brooked no argument, yet the woman didn’t leap up to leave. Brave lady. Or did she have something on him?
Could she share it with me? Gathering strength from Sonia’s attitude, Elene stepped past Mattia. Then faltered. He had never seemed so tall, nor his frame so solid and imposing. Not even when he’d held her, been about to kiss her. Then, when the office door clicked shut behind them, the air evaporated, leaving her lungs struggling to do their job. Without invitation, she sank onto the nearest chair and settled Aimee on her lap, an arm around her tiny waist.
Mattia crossed purposefully to his desk but didn’t sit, instead staring down at her. At them.
Too late, Elene realised she should’ve remained on her feet. Down here, she was at a disadvantage. No change then. But, for a moment, under that unnerving gaze locked on her, she’d forgotten how to fight her corner.
Two words cracked across the silence. ‘So? Danielle?’
No easy way to say this. ‘Died. Cancer.’ Two months down the track, it hurt like yesterday. The pain was a rock behind her heart. She missed her friend so much. There was anger at Danielle being taken so young, when she had so much to look forward to and a daughter who needed her and who’d barely got to know her mother.
A breath hissed over Mattia’s lips. ‘That I did not expect.’
‘Who would?’ Danielle had been thirty-four, fit, supposedly healthy, with everything ahead of her.
His fingers raked his dark hair. ‘Can I ask what type?’
‘Cervical. It was rapid.’ And brutal. A familiar nausea soured her mouth. Caring for her best friend in those last months had been the hardest thing she’d ever done.
Aimee squawked.
Grateful for the interruption, Elene lightened her grip and kissed Aimee’s cheek. ‘Sorry, darling.’ When she looked up there was no avoiding that dark, inscrutable gaze fixed on them. She had to get this over with. ‘The cancer was discovered before Aimee was born.’
One abrupt nod. ‘So the child is Danielle’s?’
You’ve already figured that out. ‘Aimee. Her name is Aimee.’ Elene leapt up and strode across to stand right in front of him. ‘Get it?’
She had to give him credit. He didn’t back away or make a dash for the door. ‘Yes, I get it.’
That stole her thunder. Did he really understand what she’d been saying without putting it into words? Probably not. Why would he? It wasn’t as though Danielle had rung and told him the instant she’d found out. She hadn’t told him at all. But there’d been that moment of recognition in Mattia’s eyes. Could be she’d misinterpreted it.
Returning to the chair, Elene sat down and tried to relax. Getting angry or upset wasn’t going to achieve a thing, and she hadn’t been kicked out—yet. ‘Aimee’s nearly one, was born on the third of May last year.’
‘Taurus.’
‘What?’ This man with a scientific mind knew his star signs? She’d thought she was beyond being surprised.
‘The bull. Deliberate in actions, methodical. Likes luxury.’
Surprise got the better of her. ‘You know this how?’
‘I too am Taurus. You’ve got your hands full with this one.’
‘We have.’ I want Aimee full-time, but I can’t deny your role.
‘Now we’re getting to the crux of your visit.’ Mattia parked his honed butt on the corner of his desk. ‘Tell me exactly why you’re here.’
* * *
Truthfully? Mattia did not want to know. He really, really didn’t. Sure, he’d made a summation of the situation, but to hear Elene confirm it would mean there’d be no way out. No going back to the life he’d had up until ten minutes ago. At this moment, there was still hope.
So Mattia focused on Elene instead. The instant he’d seen her standing in his reception area, that long auburn hair all askew, escaping the band meant to keep it in place, the slump in her small shoulders, the curve of her hips against the light fabric of her baggy trousers, he’d felt something he shouldn’t have. A wave of lust. For Elene? Couldn’t be, when they’d kept each other at arm’s length, especially after the night he’d come within a whisker of kissing her. Yet the tightening in his crotch was definitely the sensation that went with sexual need. The woman who’d done nothing but annoy the hell out of him had found another way to vex him.
Danielle Hicks had always laughed at how he got so uptight around her friend, said he should get to know Elene properly because she was the best. Sadness engulfed him. Danielle. No one deserved her fate. She’d been such a vibrant woman, bigger than life, fun with a capital F. Being a doctor, he knew there were no boundaries when it came to life dishing out bad calls, but that didn’t mean he had to like them. ‘I’m sorry about Danielle,’ he told Elene with all sincerity. She must’ve been devastated, still would be.
‘Thank you.’ Sì, definitely a wealth of pain and passion in those two simple words.
Mattia found his eyes tracking to the child now starting to grizzle.
Instantly Elene was cuddling and kissing her, before placing her on the floor to crawl. ‘There you go, sweetheart. Freedom at last. All that flying’s over. For now.’
Mattia ignored the ‘for now’. ‘You came straight through?’ That’d be some haul for anyone, let alone a toddler.
‘Yes. It might’ve been better to stop overnight in Hong Kong, but I thought I’d get here, then relax. A prolonged stop mightn’t have worked for Aimee. Then again, I could be wrong.’
The child sank onto her butt and stared around the room, finally bringing dark eyes to rest on him. His eyes. Mattia fought the stab of wonder hitting his belly. But she was his. No denying the toddler came from his gene pool. There were photos on his desk showing almost identical faces—only those belonged
