Ceo's Marriage Miracle
Sophie Pembroke
The CEO’s contract to save his marriage!Sebastian’s greatest mistake was watching his wife walk away with their young child. Now he has until Christmas to win Maria back. So Sebastian signs a contract with date night clauses and family time. But will it be enough to save his family for Christmas and for ever?
The CEO’s contract...
To save his marriage!
In this The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles story, Sebastian’s greatest mistake was watching his wife walk away with their young child. Now he has until Christmas to win Maria back. To prove his workaholic ways are behind him, Sebastian signs a new contract—complete with date-night clauses and family-time amendments! Will it be enough to get this CEO back together with his family for Christmas and forever?
SOPHIE PEMBROKE has been dreaming, reading and writing romance ever since she read her first Mills & Boon as part of her English Literature degree at Lancaster University, so getting to write romantic fiction for a living really is a dream come true! Born in Abu Dhabi, Sophie grew up in Wales and now lives in a little Hertfordshire market town with her scientist husband, her incredibly imaginative eight-year-old daughter and her adventurous, adorable two-year-old son. In Sophie’s world, happy is for ever after, everything stops for tea, and there’s always time for one more page…
Also by Sophie Pembroke (#u8a69bd25-8d4b-5cd4-bdb9-242d27cc18bb)
Island Fling to Forever
Road Trip with the Best Man
Wedding of the Year miniseries
Slow Dance with the Best Man
Proposal for the Wedding Planner
The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles collection
Cinderella’s New York Christmas by Scarlet Wilson
Heiress’s Royal Baby Bombshell by Jennifer Faye
CEO’s Marriage Miracle
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
CEO’s Marriage Miracle
Sophie Pembroke
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07842-9
CEO's MARRIAGE MIRACLE
© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is dedicated to Auntie Barbara Roberts,
for always being my biggest fan.
Contents
Cover (#ua6a84ae9-60e7-54a8-880c-ee5b52640116)
Back Cover Text (#u0ae02a1d-672c-5a0d-b78c-9043a259ec21)
About the Author (#u337eea80-db89-5bd6-af5a-a4aeeff47441)
Booklist (#ub43ebb45-5e6e-52b5-98dc-b106b963a869)
Title Page (#u4a97cc91-7d9b-5599-bb3d-f871652c1043)
Copyright (#u1e1db979-f3de-5f52-b038-4a9363702e5e)
Dedication (#u5a87ef09-4808-560a-9cee-9bf9884eed4c)
CHAPTER ONE (#ud4449829-c06d-59bb-8d98-ccb8c25ca3e1)
CHAPTER TWO (#uee5f5b74-398f-58af-aecf-edd02c4ee02e)
CHAPTER THREE (#u081c11d4-5ea5-52b4-9446-951716a9af5b)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u14d2d108-640d-5393-9d8c-7a2a288f53f8)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u8a69bd25-8d4b-5cd4-bdb9-242d27cc18bb)
MARIA CATTANEO—NO, she reminded herself, she was going by Rossi again now, even if it wouldn’t officially be her name until after the divorce—gripped her son’s tiny hand a little tighter as she stared up at the luxury chalet before her. How could something so familiar feel so strange at the same time? She’d spent Christmases and ski trips at the Cattaneo chalet in Mont Coeur for years—long before she and Sebastian had married—and on the outside, at least, the chalet had hardly changed a bit in all that time.
The same wooden veranda surrounded the oversized but traditional-style chalet, with festive greenery and berries wrapped around its beams in celebration of the season. A large green-and-red wreath hung on the front door. Inside, Maria could see lights twinkling through the windows, and knew that an absurdly huge Christmas tree would be decked out in red and gold, somewhere out of her line of sight.
Everything was the same. Everything, except her.
‘Mamma?’ At her side, Frankie looked up, his little face almost hidden by the hood of his snowsuit. It was freezing out, and darkness was falling; she needed to get him inside.
Which meant knocking on the door.
‘Are you ready, piccolo?’ Maria asked, forcing a smile. If Frankie sensed her unease and discomfort, he would only become distressed himself. And that wasn’t going to make this enforced homecoming any easier on either of them.
‘To see Papà?’ Frankie nodded, his expression strangely set and serious for a two-year-old.
I’m glad one of us is ready, Maria thought, as she swept him up in her arms and climbed the steps. Then, with a deep breath, she knocked on the chalet door.
Maybe her sister-in-law Noemi would answer. Or even the mysterious new brother her husband and sister-in-law appeared to have acquired since Maria had left. Basically, anyone would be better than—
Sebastian.
The door swung open to reveal the familiar, muscular frame of her husband, and for a moment Maria was certain that nothing at all had changed. That she’d never left, that she was still in love with him, that they were happy...
She snapped out of it. She hadn’t been happy. That was why she’d left.
Happiness was hundreds of kilometres away, back at the small cottage on the edge of her parents’ estate, where she and Frankie had been living for the last year. It wasn’t here, in the Swiss Alps, at the Cattaneos’ luxury chalet. And it certainly wasn’t with Sebastian, whatever her younger self might have hoped and dreamed.
He couldn’t give her what she needed. If she’d thought for a moment that he could, there was no way Maria would have left at all. But the Sebastian she’d walked away from hadn’t been capable of the love she needed. She had to keep that thought at the front of her mind this whole visit, otherwise there was just no way she would make it through with her heart intact.
When Sebastian had called and asked her to come for Christmas, with Frankie, her first instinct had been to refuse. Every other visit Sebastian had spent with his son, she’d managed to avoid, sending Frankie with his grandmother, or with Seb arranging to collect him from her parents’ house when Maria was out. There’d only been two or three visits in the whole year, so it hadn’t been hard to arrange.
But as difficult as it might be to go back, Maria also knew it was the right thing. Her son needed his father in his life. And Sebastian had been through so much lately...a Christmas visit from Frankie was the least she could do.
And then there had been that cryptic voicemail from Noemi on her phone when she’d landed, saying she hoped that Maria would be there tonight as she had something to discuss with the whole family.
As if Maria still counted as family. Even now.
Sebastian took a small step forward, and the light from the veranda illuminated his face. Maria held back a gasp, but only just. It had been twelve short months since she’d seen her husband, but from the weariness in his deep green eyes, and the lines forming between his brows, it could have been a decade or more. Sebastian had never really been the carefree, light-hearted sort—not like his sister Noemi—but Maria had never seen him looking quite so beaten down by the world before.
Was this because of her? She bit her lip as she waited for him to say something, but for a long moment he seemed content to just stare at her, and at Frankie, drinking them in. And she couldn’t help but do the same, looking up into his once beloved face. His dark brown hair was cropped close to his head, shorter than she remembered it ever being before, and somehow it made him look even taller—although at six foot one he had always been almost a foot taller than her. She’d liked that, she remembered despite herself. Had liked resting her head against his chest and feeling his heart beat against her cheek. As if they had been connected in a way much deeper than the wedding vows their families had arranged for them to take.
This man had been such a huge part of her life for as long as she could remember. They’d grown up together, in all the ways that mattered. How could she have imagined she could cut him out completely, however far she ran?
‘You came,’ Sebastian said, at last, his deep voice reverberating through her body. Maria bit back a curse. She’d forgotten too how much just being near him, just hearing him speak, could affect her.
This was why she should have stayed away. But she had been unable to because...
‘You asked me to.’
He gave her a small, uneven smile. ‘That was by no means a guarantee that you would.’
Another sign of how little he’d really known her, Maria thought. If he’d understood how much she’d loved him once, he’d have known she could never have turned down that request. Not when he’d sounded so desperate.
‘Please, Maria. I need you and little Francesco here for Christmas. Everything is different now. Please come.’
So, of course, she had. And at the back of her mind she had to admit that partly it was to see if ‘different’ meant what she’d always hoped it would. That their marriage could be what she’d once dreamed it would be.
Also because she still felt guilty—for leaving in the first place, and for not coming back sooner, when Noemi had first called with the terrible news.
‘I almost came before,’ Maria said, ‘when I heard about your parents.’ Salvo and Nicole Cattaneo had been second parents to her, too, and when she’d heard of their deaths in a helicopter accident in New York, Maria had thought she’d never stop crying. But, just like when she’d left Sebastian, she’d eventually straightened her spine and started over. The world didn’t stop for grief, however much she might wish it would.
It couldn’t have stopped for Sebastian either, she realised. He’d have been left dealing with not only the emotional fallout from his parents’ deaths but also the practical side. Keeping the business—the world-famous Cattaneo Jewels—running like he always had would probably have proved a happy distraction from his grief, knowing Sebastian the way she did. But the news that he had a secret brother he’d never known about—one who, according to Noemi, had been left a controlling share in the family business—that couldn’t have been easy for Sebastian to swallow.
She’d known how much he must be suffering, and her heart had ached for him. But still she hadn’t been able to make herself return to Mont Coeur until Sebastian himself had called and asked.
After all, it was the first real sign she’d had that he’d even registered that she’d left him, that she hadn’t just gone away for an extended holiday.
‘Why didn’t you come? For the funerals, at least?’ Sebastian asked. There was no accusation in his voice, no implication that she should have been there, as his wife. Just normal curiosity.
She supposed she had to give him points for that.
‘I wasn’t sure it was my place. Any more.’
I wasn’t sure you’d even notice if I was there.
‘Maria.’ Sebastian’s eyes turned darker, even more serious, in the snow-lit gleam of the winter’s early evening. ‘There is always a home for you here. For you and for Frankie. Whatever happens. That much I can promise you.’
It’s not enough. It had never been enough.
But if he hadn’t understood that when she left, he wasn’t going to suddenly get it now. Especially when he had so much other stuff going on in his life. So she said simply, ‘Thank you.’
Sebastian turned his gaze to Frankie, whose eyes widened under the scrutiny. As Seb reached out to take him from her, Maria’s hands tightened instinctively, even though her arms were aching from holding him for so long.
Frankie turned to hide his face against her shoulder with a tiny squeak of a whimper. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. He’d only just turned one the last time they’d been here at Mont Coeur. His visits with his papà had been in Milan, close to the main offices of Cattaneo Jewels, or the villa the Cattaneos owned near her parents’ estate. For all that the place and its people stirred up constant memories for Maria, for Frankie this must all seem so new and strange—and a little scary.
Seb’s hand flinched away, the pain clear in his eyes.
‘It’s been a long day. We’re both a little tired,’ Maria said, trying to ease it for him, as she always had.
Seb’s sad smile told her he appreciated the lie. They both knew that Frankie’s real reluctance had far more to do with hardly having seen his father in a year, and then mostly on a computer screen, if Seb had managed to video chat when his son was still awake.
Maria forced the guilt to the back of her mind. It wasn’t her fault that Sebastian had never lived up to his promise as a father—or as a husband. Just like she refused to feel guilty about leaving and seeking her own happiness.
How could she have possibly stayed, when staying had meant accepting that the love of her life could never truly love her back?
Knowing that Sebastian had only married her because his father had told him to was one thing. Hearing him throw it in her face that awful night before she’d left was another.
‘Come on, Maria. You knew what you were signing up for when you agreed to our fathers’ plans. You married me to save your family business, just like I married you to get the merger between our companies. And now you’re complaining that I’m spending too much time working at that same business?’
Except she hadn’t, of course. Yes, she might never have gone along with her father’s insistence on the merger if the family hadn’t been in such dire straits. But she’d had other plans, other ways to save it—if only they’d let her.
Instead, she’d left her business degree, come home, and married Sebastian to give her family a physical stake in the newly merged business, taking the name Cattaneo as the name Rossi had disappeared from the company letterhead.
It hadn’t been how she’d wanted to do it. But she never would have done it if she hadn’t already been in love with Sebastian Cattaneo—and if she hadn’t believed that one day he might come to love her back.
Accepting that the love she had given him so freely and fully would never have been more than a convenience for him...that had been by far the bitterest pill to swallow. But swallow it she had—even if it had taken several years and a child to do so. She couldn’t go backwards now, not when she’d worked so hard to move on.
‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be keeping either of you on the doorstep in this cold.’ Sebastian stepped back, ingrained politeness obviously kicking in. He opened the door wider until the light from inside the chalet flooded out to encompass them all. ‘Come in, both of you. Everyone’s waiting to see you. And...welcome home.’
Maria’s chest tightened just a little more as she stepped over the threshold. Mont Coeur could never be home again, even if she wished it could be otherwise.
As soon as Christmas was over, she and Frankie would be on their own again. Sebastian could keep the company—she had something far more important. Their son. And together she and Frankie would concentrate on building their own lives, far away from the Cattaneos and Mont Coeur.
And that was the best thing for all of them.
However much it hurt.
* * *
She’d cut her hair.
Seb was sure there were other changes in his wife—and heaven knew he could see the incredible difference in his son, from the one-year-old baby he’d been when Maria had left to the two-year-old toddler in Maria’s arms now.
But the only one he could focus on right now was the fact that she’d cut her hair.
Those long, long ribbons of jet-black waves that had hung almost to her waist were gone. Now her hair sat neatly on her shoulders, curled under at the ends. Still thick and glossy and vibrant as always, just...shorter.
And he was staring. He had to be, because Maria was starting to actually look concerned about him, which she hadn’t been at any other point in the last year, not even when his parents had died and he’d acquired a new sibling out of nowhere and lost control of the business and—
Hell, now he was rambling. In his mind. Which he supposed was slightly better than doing it out loud.
What had happened to the calm, collected businessman he’d been a year ago? Oh, yes, his entire life had unravelled, that was what.
And it had all started the day he’d come home to find Maria packing sleepsuits and her favourite pyjamas into the suitcases he’d bought for their honeymoon years earlier.
‘Sebastian?’ Maria placed Frankie on his feet on the floor as Seb shut the door behind them. Across the large, open living space of the chalet stood his sister and surprise brother, along with their new partners. More new people in his life to replace all those he’d lost.
But he wasn’t ready to share Maria and Frankie with them just yet.
Maria began stripping off Frankie’s bulky snowsuit. But her questioning eyes stayed on Seb, and he felt the weight in them.
‘You cut your hair,’ he said, with an apologetic half-smile. ‘It suits you.’
‘My life now suits me,’ she said simply. The life in which she avoided him at all costs, managing to be elsewhere even when he arrived to collect Frankie from her parents’ house. That life.
He was so glad it suited one of them, at least.
Then, as Frankie—free from his confining winter wear at last—wriggled free of his mother’s grasp and took a couple of steps forward to investigate the antique nativity crib scene set up on a console table, Maria straightened and looked him in the eye.
‘I want to be clear about one thing,’ she said. ‘Before we join the others or unpack or settle in or anything.’
Sebastian ignored the growing feeling of dread in his stomach as she spoke. ‘Go on.’
‘This is a visit. Nothing more. Once Christmas is over, Frankie and I will be heading home again, back to my parents’ estate.’ The emphasis she’d placed on home cut deep. This had been one of her homes once.
He had been her home.
‘We’re not staying, Sebastian,’ she went on. ‘I want that understood from the start.’
Seb forced a smile. ‘Of course.’ Maria’s expression relaxed, and he knew he should leave it there, that to push it further would only ruin the fragile peace they seemed to have achieved.
But he couldn’t help himself. He always had to try a little harder, a little longer. That was who he was. Who his father had raised him to be.
Oh, Papà, I wish you were here now to tell me what to do.
‘But if you change your mind,’ Seb said, ignoring the look on Maria’s face, ‘I wasn’t just being polite when I said you always have a home here.’
‘Seb...’ Maria groaned.
‘I know Noemi would love to have you around more. She misses you.’ They’d always been close, his sister and his wife. He’d taken it as a sign that Maria was a rightful part of his family, as much as any of them.
But now Maria had gone and they had Leo in her place, which, as much as he’d reached a sort of truce with his unexpected brother, wasn’t at all the same thing.
And apparently he’d said something wrong again, as Maria had frozen and was staring pointedly at where Frankie was about to denude the stable of sheep.
‘I miss Noemi, too,’ she said stiffly. ‘We should go and say hello.’
Then, without looking back, she crossed the room with swift steps and removed Frankie from the antique ornaments, and carried him over to where their family was waiting instead.
At least she missed one of them, Seb supposed. It was too much to hope that she might have missed him, too, when she’d made it so clear she didn’t. If she had, she’d have wanted to see him on one of his few visits. The same way he’d spent them hoping to get just a glimpse of her.
Noemi rushed forward to greet them, a huge smile on her lips, and embraced Maria immediately. Sebastian trailed behind, watching as his wife greeted his sister with considerably more enthusiasm than she had greeted him.
Then Noemi knelt down in front of Frankie. As he moved to their side, Seb could see that his son’s eyes were wide as he glanced around the large room and all of the people that he didn’t know. Including his own father, it seemed.
‘Hey, Frankie,’ Noemi said, trying to gain his attention. When he looked at her, she said, ‘Can I have a hug?’
Frankie glanced up at Maria, apparently for permission.
‘It’s okay,’ Maria said.
That was all it took for Frankie to release his mother’s hand and let Noemi draw his little body to her. ‘I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve missed you tons.’
Seb’s heart felt heavy in his chest. Maybe Frankie didn’t truly remember his aunt Noemi either, but he’d still allowed her to hug him.
He’d been almost afraid of him. How could he have let that happen? He’d hoped his visits and video calls would have kept his memory fresh in Frankie’s little mind, but apparently they hadn’t been enough.
And Seb knew that those few stolen days hadn’t been anywhere near enough for him. He’d missed so much already. How could he let Maria go again, knowing how much more he would miss? Just like his own parents had missed Leo’s childhood when they’d sent him away for adoption.
Frankie pulled back and returned to his mother’s side, and Noemi stood again, turning her attention back to Maria.
Unable to watch any longer, Seb moved away to join Leo and the others. Hopefully Noemi would get to the point of whatever it was she’d called them all there to talk about soon, and then he could pour himself a large drink and feel depressed about his life choices again. That was always a good time.
‘Noemi,’ Sebastian said, ‘why did you call us all here? We weren’t supposed to meet for another week. Is it the attorney? Does he have news for us?’
Noemi shook her head. ‘This isn’t about the will.’
‘Then what is it about?’ Sebastian’s gaze moved to the man who had his arm around his sister, and then back to Noemi. ‘You know I don’t like guessing games.’
A sharp elbow in his ribs told him that Maria had come to stand beside him. Oh, good. She’d retained one wifely habit at least.
‘Maybe we shouldn’t be here,’ Leo said, presumably meaning him and Anissa.
‘Of course you should,’ Noemi said. ‘You are my brother as much as Sebastian is. Our separation as kids was a horrible mistake, but I hope that in the future there will be no distance. Because I’m going to need all of you.’
Oh, God. What now? How much more disaster could this family take?
But then Noemi smiled. ‘It’s nothing bad. I promise. I... I’m pregnant. You’re going to be uncles.’ And then glancing at the women, she added, ‘And aunts.’
For a moment there was silence as everyone took in the news.
His little sister. A mother.
‘And we’re having twins,’ Noemi added. As if one baby wasn’t enough of a shock.
But she was still his sister. Stepping forward, Seb stared her in the eye and tried to think what their father would have said. Salvo Cattaneo had always known what to say.
‘Are you happy?’ Because, in the end, that was what mattered, wasn’t it?
Noemi smiled at him. ‘I’ve never been happier.’
He studied her face for a moment to make sure she was telling him the truth. And then he put his hands on her shoulders, like he remembered their father doing. ‘Then I am happy for you, too. Congratulations.’
He pulled her into his arms and gave her a tight hug—something he wasn’t sure he’d done since they’d learned of their parents’ deaths. His relationship with Noemi hadn’t always been without tension or frustration but he did love her, even if he didn’t always understand her, or what she wanted from him.
When Sebastian released her and backed away, Leo stepped up to her, and Seb watched to see how the new brother would deal with the news. ‘You do know that I have no idea about children or how to be a cool uncle, right?’
She smiled and nodded. ‘I think you’ll figure it out. In fact, I’ll insist.’
She reached out and hugged him, too, which seemed to take Leo by surprise.
When they pulled apart, Noemi moved to Max’s side. She placed her hand in his, lacing her fingers with his. ‘Do you want to tell the rest?’
‘You’re doing fine,’ Max replied, sounding laid-back about the whole twin situation. Really, at this point, what more news could there be?
‘First, I should probably introduce Max by his proper name,’ Noemi said. Sebastian frowned. ‘I’d like you to meet Crown Prince Maximilian Steiner-Wolf. He is the heir to the throne of the European principality of Ostania.’
A prince? His baby sister was pregnant by a prince? Seb knew he’d been distracted lately, but how had he missed this much?
Noemi drew in a deep breath and then slowly expelled it. ‘And he has asked me to marry him.’
Well, that was something, otherwise Max and he would have had to have words.
Then Maria said, ‘You’ll be a princess,’ and the reality of the situation set in fully. His wife always saw to the heart of a matter first.
‘Wow,’ Anissa said in awe, which pretty much covered Seb’s thoughts on the subject.
‘Yes, she will.’ Max spoke up. ‘She will be the most beautiful and compassionate princess. And I couldn’t be luckier. I promise you that I will do my best to make her happy.’
Sebastian looked between Noemi and Max. ‘So you’re moving to Ostania?’ He wasn’t sure how he felt about her being so far away. On the one hand, maybe they’d argue less. On the other, without Maria, and with his parents gone, and no commitment from Leo to hang around past Christmas, Seb would be on his own. Completely alone, for the first time ever.
His head spun at the thought.
‘I’m afraid that my duties are increasing and after Christmas I will need to spend the bulk of my time in Ostania,’ Max explained. ‘I’m sorry to take your sister away from you all, but you will always be welcome at our home.’
‘Don’t you mean your palace?’ Maria asked.
Max nodded. ‘Yes. And it has a lot of guest rooms.’
‘Guest rooms that I expect all of you to use regularly,’ Noemi said firmly. ‘Wait until you see this place. It’s beautiful. And they have great skiing. But I wanted you all to know that we will be here for Christmas. It’ll be a family Christmas just like Mamma and Papà would have wanted.’
With all them together—including Maria and Frankie. Even if it might be the last time it ever happened.
No. He wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t.
He had to fix things. And without his papà there to guide him, he was going to have to figure it out on his own.
‘Now you all know everything, we can concentrate on celebrating,’ Noemi said, clapping her hands together. ‘Max, I haven’t even properly introduced you to Sebastian’s wife. This is Maria.’
‘Mrs Cattaneo,’ Max said, with princely suaveness as he took her hand.
‘Not Cattaneo,’ Maria said, too fast. ‘I’m going by Rossi again now.’ Wait. She’d given up his name now, too? They weren’t divorced; legally she was still a Cattaneo. But the fact that she’d chosen her maiden name over his stung. Even worse was the way she’d said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious.
Sebastian shot her a look. ‘Did we get divorced without me noticing?’
He saw Maria’s temper flare in her eyes. Good. He shouldn’t be the only one angry here. ‘Given everything else that happened in our marriage without you noticing, it wouldn’t surprise me,’ she said caustically.
‘And now it definitely feels like a proper family Christmas.’ Noemi rolled her eyes. ‘Come on, Maria. Let’s go show Frankie the master suite. I’ve had them set up the second bedroom there for the two of you.’
The second bedroom? Something primal rose up in Sebastian’s chest at the idea. Maria was his wife, and he wanted her back where she belonged, in his bed. In his arms.
Was that so much to ask?
His objections must have shown on his face because Noemi arched her perfect eyebrows at him in amusement.
‘What?’ Noemi asked her brother. ‘You didn’t really think she was going to just move back into your room, did you?’
Yes, of course he had, when he’d let himself think about it all. Which hadn’t been often. He hadn’t truly believed Maria would come home until he’d opened the door to find her standing there with Frankie.
But he’d hoped. And when he’d hoped, this hadn’t at all been the homecoming he’d imagined.
‘Frankie can stay here with me,’ he said softly. Another wish he’d had dashed this evening—a joyous reunion with his son.
He hadn’t thought it possible to miss such a little human as much as he had. But now it seemed that Frankie barely even knew who he was.
‘Frankie wants to see his room,’ Noemi said, sweeping aside his suggestion. ‘Don’t you, Frankie? Come on. You come with Auntie Noemi and Uncle Max and leave Papà to sulk here alone.’ She put one arm around Maria’s waist, guiding Frankie forward with her other hand until he stumbled. Maria swooped down to pick up the little boy, laughing and kissing him as she did so.
None of them looked back at Sebastian.
And then they were gone, his whole family disappearing through the door in a whirl of excitement and leaving him behind.
Leaving him alone.
Again.
CHAPTER TWO (#u8a69bd25-8d4b-5cd4-bdb9-242d27cc18bb)
MARIA KNEW SEBASTIAN probably better than anyone in the world, even—or perhaps especially—his sister. And she was almost certain that slipping back neatly into his life, into his bed, was exactly what Sebastian had expected. That she’d give up her little rebellion now she’d remembered what she’d walked away from. Or that she’d have forgotten the arguments, and the loneliness, that had made her leave in the first place.
Well. The bedroom situation was only the first of many disappointments he was likely to experience during her visit, then.
‘Are you okay?’ Noemi whispered in her ear, quietly enough that Frankie—who was playing a peek-a-boo game with his new uncle Max—wouldn’t hear.
Maria nodded, not trusting herself to tell the lie aloud.
Of course she wasn’t okay. She’d never be okay as long as she was here.
How could everything have changed so much? A new brother in Leo—and soon a sister-in-law, too, given how he was looking at Anissa—Noemi becoming a princess and mother to twins... And yet in some ways nothing had changed at all.
Not when it came to Seb, or their marriage, anyway.
Noemi sighed. ‘My brother is such an idiot.’
Maria didn’t argue with that.
The main staircase in the chalet wound up to the second floor, all warmth and wood and local charm. ‘Chalet’ was a ridiculous word for the Cattaneos’ home in the Alps, in Maria’s opinion. A chalet sounded like a small cosy wooden cabin or a rustic lodge you stopped in just long enough to grab a hot chocolate before heading home to a real house.
The Cattaneos’ chalet was neither small, cosy nor rustic. It was huge, spanning four floors with sprawling bedrooms with balconies, large, welcoming living spaces, a well-appointed kitchen and huge dining room for entertaining. Not to mention the heated indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool in the outbuilding.
Maria’s parents had always been wealthy enough—their own business portfolio had seen to that—but next to the Cattaneos they were paupers. And when their own business had gone through a difficult time—to the point of possible bankruptcy—well, it was no wonder her father had been so keen to marry his only daughter off to the Cattaneos’ only son and heir, in a merger that could not only save them but strengthen both their companies.
In her father’s mind, Maria had been nothing more than a means to an end, she realised now. While she’d been away, studying business, discovering a flair and aptitude for it that had surprised even her, he’d been making other plans for her future. His only child, his heiress—but only if there was a business left to inherit.
Except, while she was still an only child, Sebastian was anything but. Even if she discounted Noemi—who not only had no interest in the family business, according to Sebastian, but was now apparently running off to be a princess in Ostania, wherever that was—there was Leo to take into account, too.
It had taken a lot of questions to get the full story of Leo’s existence from Noemi. Maria’s father had returned from Salvo’s and Nicole’s funerals with news of a rumour—another Cattaneo child—and had demanded that Maria stop sulking and call her husband to find out the truth of it. She hadn’t, of course. She’d called Noemi instead.
It seemed that Salvo and Nicole had conceived a son together, out of wedlock, when they had been only teenagers. Their families had been scandalised and, never imagining that the couple would actually stay together, had demanded that the baby be given up for adoption.
But once they had been free of their parents’ oppression, married to each other and still madly in love, Salvo and Nicole had searched for their lost son. Even after they’d had Sebastian and Noemi, for more than thirty years they’d searched. And finally they’d found him—only for them to be killed in a helicopter crash on their way to see him.
It was tragic. Heartbreaking, even.
But the only thing Maria’s father had taken away from the story was that there was another Cattaneo heir now. One who, if reports were correct, had been left a controlling share in the hugely successful jewellery business.
‘Maybe you were right to leave him after all,’ Maria’s father had said, when he’d heard the story just a few weeks ago. ‘The divorce settlement should be good, and you’re still young enough to marry again. We’ll choose better next time.’
Maria hadn’t spoken to him since.
‘Here we are!’ Noemi’s bright and cheerful tone caught Maria by surprise, and she almost slipped on the final step leading up to the top floor.
Sebastian’s floor. The one they had shared ever since their marriage. Salvo and Nicole had taken one of the smaller suites on a lower floor, smiling knowingly as they’d declared that Seb and Maria might ‘need the extra room’ up there sooner or later. Preferably sooner.
This particular reason probably wasn’t what they’d had in mind.
She bit her lip. How could she move back in here, even into a separate bed, and pretend that things were different? That she didn’t still love her husband—and he wasn’t still so indifferent to her?
But Frankie was excited to see his room and, one small hand in his aunt Noemi’s, he’d barrelled on through to find out where he would be sleeping, Uncle Max chuckling as he followed behind.
Imagining their future probably—his and Noemi’s. Noemi’s baby bump was still relatively small, but it was there—as obvious as her excitement at starting a family with the man she loved.
And she did love Max, Maria could tell. And he loved Noemi—that was clear in every look, every smile he gave her. They would live happily ever after, just like Maria had once imagined she and Sebastian would.
How foolish she had been. Foolish, young and naive.
She knew better now, at least.
Sucking in a deep breath, Maria trailed after the others through the large open living space to the second bedroom—pointedly ignoring the archway that led to the main bedroom and the king-sized bed she remembered so well. The one where Frankie had actually been conceived, now she thought about it...
Except she wasn’t—thinking about it, that was. That way madness lay.
‘Well, what do you think, Frankie?’ Maria asked, forcing a smile for the sake of her son. ‘Will the chalet be a fun place to spend Christmas?’
Frankie, already bouncing on one of the twin beds, nodded excitedly. ‘And with Papà and Auntie Noemi and Uncle Max?’
‘Of course!’ Maria took his hands in hers to try to calm the bouncing. ‘And with Uncle Leo and Aunt Anissa, I suppose, too?’
Noemi nodded. ‘We hope so, anyway. It was Mamma and Papà’s last wish—to have all their children around the table for Christmas.’ Her permanent smile turned a little sad. ‘I just wish they were here to see it.’
Max wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close against his side, and despite her best efforts Maria felt a pang of jealousy run through her. When had Sebastian ever instinctively comforted her like that?
Never. Because that would involve understanding what she was feeling. And Seb had never drawn his attention away from the family business long enough to even try to do that.
She looked away, but apparently not fast enough. Noemi, obviously having caught her expression, stepped out of the circle of Max’s arms, looking concerned.
Max looked between them. ‘Frankie, how about you and I go downstairs and explore the kitchen? I think I saw some delicious-looking Christmas cookies in there earlier.’
Frankie’s eyes widened at the mention of sugary treats.
‘If that’s okay with your mamma,’ Max added, too late for her to possibly say no.
Maria felt a tightening around her heart, and it had nothing to do with Frankie eating too much sugar before bedtime. It had been just the two of them for so long now that the idea of being separated—even just by a few floors—felt strange.
‘We’re all family here,’ Noemi murmured, taking Maria’s hand and squeezing it. Her sister-in-law always had been too good at reading her. ‘And Max needs the practice anyway.’
Maria gave a stiff nod, placed a kiss on Frankie’s cheek, and watched as Max swept the toddler up into his arms, already talking about chocolate chips and candies baked into cookies.
‘He’ll be fine.’ Noemi squeezed her hand one more time before dropping it.
Maria sighed. ‘I know.’
‘The more important question is, will you?’ Noemi asked.
Sinking down onto the bed, Maria covered her face with her hands. Would she? Would she be okay, spending Christmas with the husband—and family—she’d left behind?
‘I have no idea,’ she admitted.
* * *
Alone.
Seb watched Maria and Frankie walk away, and felt the terrible word echoing around his mind. Through his heart.
Frankie hadn’t even known him when he’d answered the door, had shied away from him when he’d tried to hold him. He’d wanted to video call more often, but it was always so hard to find a time during his son’s waking hours. Maria didn’t even bother answering if Frankie was already asleep, usually sending a text later to explain.
But, looking at his son now, Seb wondered how he could ever have imagined that ten minutes of video once every week or so could ever be enough. The baby he’d held in his arms last Christmas had gone for ever. When Maria had left, Frankie had only just begun to crawl—now he seemed to run everywhere on sturdy legs that were nothing like the podgy, squidgy baby ones he remembered. Even in the four months since he’d last visited, Frankie had grown so much. His eyes were the same bright hazel as in the photo on his desk, but they no longer gazed trustingly up at him. Instead, they were puzzled, even wary.
As if he didn’t know Sebastian, his own papà, at all.
Seb clutched at the back of the nearest chair to steady himself. How had this happened? How could he have missed so much? And how could he ever get that time back?
You can’t.
The voice in his head sounded like Maria’s, like the day she’d left.
‘You can’t understand,’ she’d said that day. ‘You’re not capable of it. I see that now.’
Capable of what? he’d wanted to ask. But she had already gone, leaving him behind to deal with the business, and his family, and everything else that fell on his shoulders.
But none of it, he realised suddenly, mattered as much as the year he had lost. A whole year of his son’s life that he could never get back. Never experience as a father should.
That realisation hurt a thousand times more than learning that he had an older brother, that his parents had lied to him his whole life by never telling him about it. Hurt a million times more than learning that they’d left Leo the controlling share of the company that should have been his.
Hurt almost as much as hearing Noemi sobbing as she’d told him their parents were dead.
His parents were gone, soon Noemi would be disappearing with Max to wherever on earth his tiny country was, Maria would take Frankie away again, and all Seb would be left with was Leo—the brother he’d only discovered existed a month or so ago. And even he would probably head back to New York, and take the company Seb had given up his whole life for with him.
How had his life unravelled so completely in so little time?
Seb could feel it, spiralling out of his control, spinning his mind in tight circles until his head ached from trying to understand it all. His heart was too heavy in his chest, beating a sluggish, determined rhythm, reminding him that he, at least, still lived—even if his parents didn’t. That he still had a job to do, even if the one he’d expected had been taken away. That he still wanted, and felt, even loved—even if his wife had left him and his son didn’t recognise him.
God, Frankie. Maria.
He needed air. Cold, shocking, numbing air.
Good job he was in Mont Coeur.
Letting go of his support sofa, Seb staggered to the door and flung it open, gulping in the icy breeze as it hit his face. Then he stepped through onto the veranda, and stared out at the darkening mountains.
There was a whole world out there. So why did it feel like his had disappeared for good?
‘Sebastian?’ Leo’s voice came from behind him as he joined him on the veranda. ‘Are you okay? You look... Is it Noemi’s news?’
Seb barked a laugh. Noemi, his baby sister, a princess. A pregnant princess, at that.
At least one of them had gone after the life they’d wanted and had found it.
No, two of them. Leo seemed almost offensively happy with his new girlfriend, Anissa. They’d shared secret smiles and small touches and whispered jokes since they’d arrived, too, just like Noemi and Max. So clearly a pair, a couple—in a way he and Maria never had been. No doubt Max and his sister would be settling into what had once been his master suite in the chalet with babies and joy, taking over his home as easily as Leo had taken over his business.
‘Okay, look, why don’t we sit for a moment?’ Leo’s voice, calm and soothing, made Seb feel instantly guilty for his thoughts. As much as Seb resented being pushed out of the family business, even he had to admit it wasn’t Leo’s fault. He couldn’t blame his brother for the circumstances of his birth, the lies their parents had told, or even the will they had left behind them.
Much as he might wish he could.
Seb was a logical, rational man. He had to be, to be a success in his business. His father had instilled in him from birth the weight of expectation, the obligations Seb had to his family. And Seb had given everything he could to live up to them. He’d worked hard, done everything that had been asked of him.
And still it hadn’t been enough.
Not for his father, not for Maria, not for anybody.
He wasn’t enough.
Leo’s arm over his shoulder was a heavy weight leading him to the wooden bench on the veranda and pressing him down onto it.
Maybe if he’d had a big brother all along, rather than discovering him at the age of thirty-two, things would have been different. But he hadn’t.
‘Do you ever feel like your whole life is unravelling in front of you, and you can’t move fast enough to piece it back together?’ His voice didn’t even sound like his, Seb realised. Too low, too raw. Too desperate.
But Leo just laughed, a darkly amused sound Seb hadn’t heard from him before.
‘What do you think?’ Leo asked. ‘I spent my whole life thinking that no one wanted me, that my own parents had thrown me away, only to discover one day that they’d been searching for me almost my whole life. And then, when I was ready to meet them, they died before I got the chance.’
‘And you got stuck with me and Noemi instead.’ Yeah, that must have been a pretty big let-down.
‘Actually, I kind of think of the two of you as an unexpected bonus. A silver lining maybe,’ Leo said, and Seb looked up, surprised.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I thought I’d lost any chance of ever having a family. Then I came here and met you two, and then Anissa...and now there’s Max and Maria and Frankie, plus Noemi’s babies. Suddenly I have more family than I know what to do with.’
‘Maria and Frankie aren’t staying.’ Seb’s mood dropped again at the reminder.
‘Ah.’
‘Yeah.’
Leo stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back against the bench. Almost unconsciously, Sebastian followed suit. Leo’s legs were longer than his, he realised, even though they were more or less the same height. Yeah, being the little brother really was going to take some getting used to.
‘Do you remember what you told me when I called you from New York?’ Leo asked, after a long moment of silence.
Seb tipped his head back and tried to remember. It had only been a handful of weeks ago now, but somehow it felt longer. Like his whole world had shifted again since then, with everyone coming home to Mont Coeur.
Leo had been in New York with Anissa, wooing her, or whatever it was that smooth, American-raised secret older brothers did. But he’d screwed it up—Seb had to admit that slight sign of fallibility had made it easier to warm to Leo—and Anissa had run when Leo had asked her to stay with him.
‘I told you to wait,’ he said finally.
‘You said that if I loved her, I had to give her space and respect her decision,’ Leo corrected. ‘That I had to let love decide what happened next. And that I should let Anissa come back to me—if she wanted to.’
‘And she did, of course.’ And now they were blissfully happy. Good for them.
‘So did Maria,’ Leo pointed out. ‘I mean, she’s here for Christmas, isn’t she?’
‘Only because I called and asked her to come.’ Okay, begged. It wasn’t a moment his pride felt particularly good about. ‘And like I said, she’s not staying.’
He’d given her space. He’d respected her choices. And it hadn’t made one bit of difference.
Leo sighed, and Seb couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t getting whatever point his older brother was trying to make.
‘What I’m saying is...you gave me some good advice, and I’m glad I followed it. But I can’t help but think you’ve been following your own advice a little too long.’
‘Too long?’ Seb frowned.
‘Maria’s been gone for, what? A year?’ Leo asked.
‘About that.’ Sebastian couldn’t bring himself to admit that he knew it was, in fact, twelve months and fifteen days.
‘Well, waiting on love is all very well and good. But maybe sometimes love needs a bit of a push. A bit of effort.’
Love. He loved Maria—of course he did. She’d always been a part of his life, part of the family, and he loved her as much as he loved Noemi or his parents. But theirs had never been a romance as such.
Maybe that was what had been missing. Something to think about at least.
Leo cleared his throat, obviously a little uncomfortable about the very personal turn the conversation had taken. They didn’t really know each other well enough to be baring their souls, Sebastian thought. He’d been astonished when Leo had called him from New York to ask what he should do about Anissa—until he’d realised that his brother simply didn’t have anyone else to talk to about such things.
And neither, it seemed, did he. Noemi would be firmly on Maria’s side, as always. His parents were gone, and his other friends, business acquaintances...he’d never even told them Maria had left in the first place. He’d had to keep up the facade of the perfect businessman and family man after all, even if everything about his life, family and business was crumbling around him. If anyone had asked, he’d just told them Maria and Frankie were visiting her parents for a few weeks. Making sure Frankie’s grandparents didn’t miss out on watching him grow up.
The way his own papà had.
‘Actually, I didn’t track you down out here to talk about your love life,’ Leo said.
‘I appreciate you not adding the word “dismal” in there,’ Seb joked, making Leo smile. ‘So, what did you want to talk to me about?’ Whatever it was had to be better than the unending panic and echoing sorrow about the state of his family.
Leo took a long breath. Then he said, ‘The business.’
CHAPTER THREE (#u8a69bd25-8d4b-5cd4-bdb9-242d27cc18bb)
WITH A SIGH, Noemi settled onto the bed beside her, and Maria smiled gratefully as her sister-in-law wrapped an elegant arm around her shoulder.
‘So, are we finally going to talk about why you left?’ Noemi asked. ‘I mean, apart from the fact that my brother is an idiot.’
Maria felt a stab of guilt. It wasn’t just Sebastian she’d left behind when she’d run—it had been her best friend, her whole family. She’d always felt closer to the Cattaneos than her own parents, and not having any siblings of her own, Noemi and Sebastian had filled that gap.
Yet every time Noemi had tried to talk to her about Sebastian over the last year, Maria had changed the subject. She just hadn’t been ready to admit how stupid she’d been over the whole thing.
Who expected a marriage of convenience to blossom into true love, outside the movies and romance novels, anyway?
‘Why do you think I left?’ Maria stalled, knowing it was cowardly even as she did it.
‘Why do I think you left? Or why does Sebastian think you left?’ Noemi always had been too perceptive for her own good.
‘Both, I guess.’ Maria couldn’t deny a certain curiosity as to Sebastian’s reaction to her departure. And heaven knew he’d never talk to her about it.
When he’d found her packing, the day after that awful argument, he’d asked her to stay. And when she’d refused, told him he’d never understand, he’d stood aside and watched her go. But she knew he’d been thinking she’d come back soon enough and he just had to wait her out.
Well, he’d been wrong, hadn’t he? And then he’d been too proud to ask her to come back. Until now.
Noemi tilted her head to the side as she studied her, then nodded, as if satisfied by what she saw. Maria didn’t dare ask exactly what that was.
‘I think he thought that you were feeling neglected,’ Noemi said. ‘I mean, the moment you came back from your honeymoon he threw himself into the expansion, folding your family’s business into Cattaneo Jewels. Even I noticed that he was working all hours—more than he had before, ever—and that didn’t change when you had Frankie.’
‘No. It didn’t.’ The memory of those lonely days was too close to the surface for her not to feel it all over again. The aching loneliness that came from being with a baby, all day long, with no support. Seb had suggested they hire a nanny, of course, so she’d have some help—it wasn’t as though they couldn’t afford it. But since Seb had stopped involving her in any of his business dealings or conversations the minute she’d fallen pregnant—claiming he didn’t want her suffering any stress at all—she hadn’t seen the point. She loved looking after Frankie, even when it was hard and lonely.
Next, he’d suggested baby groups, which she’d tried but had never really felt she’d fitted in with. Besides, all the other mums and babies in the world had been unable to give her what she’d really wanted. Needed, even.
Sebastian’s support.
Sebastian’s love.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Sebastian was incapable of giving her that.
At least until then he’d made her feel part of his family. They’d sat up talking for hours, about the business, of course, but about so many other things, too. The world around them, places they’d like to travel to, things they’d like to do.
She’d imagined them doing them all together once they were married. But for Sebastian it seemed they were only daydreams.
‘As for me...’ Noemi trailed off, watching Maria with a sad look on her face. ‘I didn’t think you wanted to go at all.’
Far, far too perceptive.
‘I didn’t,’ Maria admitted with a sigh. ‘But at the same time... I knew I had to, and I’m glad now that I did. It was the right decision for me, and for Frankie.’
‘You definitely seem more...certain, if that makes sense,’ Noemi said. ‘Like you know what you want your life to be now.’
‘Maybe I do.’ It was just a shame she couldn’t see any way to make sure she got it. But even if a happy-ever-after with Sebastian was off the table, that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a full and happy life without him. ‘I’ve been learning a lot about myself since I’ve been away. I mean, Seb and I got married when I was so young... I’d never really been alone before. And this time I was alone with Frankie, taking care of him every day, learning what he needed—and what I needed. It’s definitely been...educational.’
And hard and lonely and difficult—but also fulfilling, rewarding and so full of love that some days Maria just cried because of how lucky she was, instead of for everything she’d lost.
But she didn’t tell Noemi that part.
‘Maybe that’s what seems so different about you,’ Noemi said reflectively. ‘You seem grown up. Not that you weren’t before, of course, but it’s different now. Like you’re the adult in the room. The mother, I suppose.’
‘Not the only one for long,’ Maria said, with a soft smile. ‘Did I tell you how incredibly happy I am for you? And for Max, of course.’
Noemi’s face lit up at the mention of her fiancé and their babies. ‘You did. But I’m always happy to hear it again!’
Impulsively, Maria threw her arms around her sister-in-law’s shoulders and held her tight. ‘I’m so happy for you. You give me hope.’
‘Hope?’ Noemi asked, frowning as she pulled away. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, if everything can work out so perfectly for you, maybe I can still find that sort of happiness one day.’
‘Just not with Sebastian?’ Noemi said sadly. ‘Maria... I know he’s a pig-headed idiot a lot of the time, but Sebastian... He means well, I think. And this last year, without you...he’s just been so sad. And annoying and irritable, of course, but mostly sad.’
Maria looked down at her hands. Annoyed or angry, she’d expected. She hadn’t expected sad. In fact, she’d imagined he’d have been frustrated for a few days and crash around the place in a black mood, then he’d get distracted by some work crisis or another and forget he’d ever had a wife or child until it was all over.
That was what he’d done when she’d been there, after all.
‘Yeah, well. I was sad when I was with him, but he didn’t notice that. He didn’t notice anything, really. It was as if...the moment we were married I became invisible to him. Another item ticked off his “must do before thirty” list, or something. Even Frankie... I know he loves him, but sometimes I think he sees him more as an heir than a son.’
She knew why, of course, as well as Noemi did. That was how Salvo had always treated Seb—the same way Maria’s father had always treated her, as an asset, to marry off as he saw best, to further his own business endeavours. That was one of the things they’d had in common as teenagers—the knowledge that their function was more important than who they were as a person.
The only difference was that Seb’s parents had adored and loved him—even as they’d pushed him to greater heights and bigger achievements. For Maria’s father, marrying Seb was the best she could ever hope for—her entire self-worth wrapped up in someone else’s abilities.
‘Maria...you know what it was like for Seb growing up. Our parents were wonderful, loving people—especially to me. But for Seb...our father was different with him. Seb was in training from the moment he could see over the counter in Cattaneo Jewels HQ. He had so much to learn, you see, and it was so important to Papà that Seb know everything he needed to take over the business one day—’
‘And then they left the controlling share to the son they’d not seen since the day he was born,’ Maria finished, surprised at the anger she felt on Seb’s behalf.
It seemed however hard she tried to leave her marriage behind, the emotions it brought up in her still remained.
Noemi pulled a face. ‘Yeah, that’s all...messy. But I’m hoping we can find a way to work it all out. I mean, we’re a family, right?’ The look she gave Maria made it very clear that she was including her sister-in-law in that statement.
A messed-up, separated, bizarre family with history and baggage. But a family.
‘Yes, we are,’ Maria agreed with a sigh. The Cattaneos had been her family long before she’d married Seb. They’d given her a place that had felt like home when her own had felt cold and empty, when her parents had gone away on trips without her, or been too busy with the business to pay her any attention. Despite Salvo’s focus on training Seb, he’d always made sure they’d had time as a family, too. It was just a shame that seemed to be the one thing he hadn’t taught his son.
Salvo and Nicole might be gone, but their children remained—and from the look in Noemi’s eye, Maria knew her friend wouldn’t let them all drift apart without their parents there. And because of Frankie, Maria would always be tied to them, whatever happened between her and her husband.
Noemi beamed, her radiant glow almost too bright to look at. ‘I’m sorry. I just want everyone I love to be as happy as I am.’
‘Trust me, I want that, too,’ Maria replied. ‘But right now I’d settle for just getting through this Christmas without having my heart broken.’ Again.
Taking her arm, Noemi pulled Maria up from the bed. ‘Come on. We’re going to go downstairs and find your gorgeous little boy, pour you a glass of wine, and just enjoy all being together for Christmas. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ Resigned to making the most of her visit, Maria smiled and followed her sister-in-law back down the stairs.
And really, when Noemi put it like that, Christmas at the chalet sounded pretty good. She could enjoy this Christmas. Frankie could get to know his papà again, and maybe they could find middle ground between the past year and the one before it. One that gave them all what they needed to feel content at least, if not the incandescent happiness Noemi had found.
Maria could get back to the new life she’d forged for herself, and even if it never felt totally complete without Seb, perhaps he could still be enough a part of their lives to satisfy him and give Frankie the father he deserved.
It wouldn’t be everything. But maybe it would be enough.
It would have to be.
* * *
Seb felt an icy chill that had nothing to do with the Mont Coeur snow sneak up his spine at his brother’s words. ‘The business?’ he echoed.
This was it. This was when Leo told him that he wanted more than just a controlling share of Cattaneo Jewels—this was where his big brother took it over completely. Pushed him out and made the company his own.
And then what would he have left?
It made sense, in a way. Leo was the hotshot businessman—and he’d made it by himself. All his successes, wealth, everything were down to Leo. He hadn’t had Salvo Cattaneo guiding his every move, telling him when he was about to screw up and helping him fix it. Leo hadn’t had anyone. Not their parents, not his useless-sounding adoptive family. All he’d been able to rely on—and put his success down to—was his own hard work and natural talent.
Sebastian, on the other hand... His father had spent years drilling him in exactly what was expected from the heir to the family business, and Seb had worked like hell to prove himself. But it hadn’t been enough, had it? Salvo had still left the controlling share of the business to Leo, not Seb.
No wonder Leo wanted to shake things up. He’d have his own ways of doing things, new ideas and exciting possibilities.
And, sure, Seb had kept things afloat in the meantime, kept the profits ticking over nicely, thank you. But he had just been building on what was already there, not creating anything new. Even Noemi, as the face of Cattaneo Jewels, had had more influence on the shape of the company, from the outside, anyway. She’d been pushing for more, too, and as much as Seb had known she was capable of it, he’d been holding back on letting her in.
This was his responsibility, Salvo had always told him. It was up to Seb to make the company a success, to look after his sister and his mother if anything happened to him.
How badly must he have failed for things to have come to this?
But then Leo spoke again, and Seb’s understanding of the world shifted once more.
‘I want to sign my shares in the family business over to you.’
Seb turned to stare at his brother in astonishment. ‘You’re walking away? After everything, you’re turning your back on your family?’
How? Leo had admitted he’d spent his whole life without a family. How could he walk away just when he’d found them? Just when Sebastian had thought they might be finding some common ground...
But Leo was smiling. Indulgently, even.
Wait. What was he missing?
Apart from the opportunity to get back what he’d always wanted—control of Cattaneo Jewels. How was it possible that he’d missed the implications of that, even for a moment? He’d been too concerned with the idea of losing his brother when he’d only just found him.
Huh. That was a surprise.
‘I’m not walking away from our family, Seb,’ Leo said. ‘I’m just putting the responsibility for the business back where it belongs.’
‘With...me?’
Leo nodded. ‘You’re the one who has worked so hard to build the business up, to keep it flourishing even when you were grieving for our parents. You’re the one who deserves it.’
‘But our parents... This was their dying wish.’ And as much as Seb wanted to reach out and grab what Leo was offering, now he knew it didn’t mean his brother leaving, and as great as it would be to take back control of his life in some small way, he knew he couldn’t deny his parents’ desires like that.
‘I don’t think it was,’ Leo said, shaking his head. He sat forward, angling his body towards Seb as he spoke, and for a moment Seb could imagine that they were young boys together, plotting an adventure behind their parents’ backs.
‘It was in the will,’ Seb said stubbornly.
‘A will that was written years ago,’ Leo pointed out. ‘Before they ever knew if they would find me. I’ve been thinking about this a lot—hell, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately.’
‘Ever since you met Anissa,’ Seb guessed.
Leo laughed. ‘Yeah, perhaps. Anyway, the point is, that will...it was a way to bring our family together if our parents weren’t there to do it themselves. And it’s done that, right? We’re all here, at Mont Coeur, in time for Christmas.’
‘I...guess so.’
‘So it’s done its job. I don’t need those shares to remind me I’m your brother, or that Noemi is my sister. And I hope I don’t need them to earn my place in this family.’
‘Of course not!’ However badly he might have reacted to the discovery of a secret brother, now that Leo was there, Seb would fight anyone who said he wasn’t a Cattaneo or didn’t belong with them.
Leo grinned. ‘Then why keep them? I’ve got my own businesses to run and, to be honest, you know more about the jewellery industry than I ever will. Or even want to. Jewellery isn’t my thing.’
‘That’s true.’ Seb could feel his spirits rising for the first time since he’d seen Maria standing on the doorstep and Frankie hiding his face against her coat.
‘I’ll speak to the lawyer tomorrow.’ Getting to his feet, Leo clapped a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. ‘Make it all legal as soon as the terms of the will allow me to.’
‘Thanks.’ Seb stared up at Leo, hoping his brother could see the sincerity in his eyes in the fading light. ‘I mean it, Leo. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ Leo started to move away towards the door of the chalet but then stopped and looked back. ‘And you know, Seb, I may not have been your big brother for the last thirty-odd years. But if you need one, I’ll take up the job any time you ask.’
He turned and walked away into the chalet before Seb had to come up with a response to that. Which was probably for the best, as he definitely didn’t have one.
He hadn’t known what to expect, meeting Leo. All he’d been told to start with was that he had a brother he’d never known existed. Then the particulars had trickled in—hotshot, self-made New York businessman. It wasn’t until he’d met Leo that he’d understood some of the other aspects of his life without his family. And not until his parents’ will had been read that he’d understood what Leo had meant to them.
When his parents had died, Seb had felt like he’d lost everything. After Maria leaving, and then later with the will...everything had seemed so changed and beyond his control.
But maybe he needed to start focusing on what he had left. Counting his blessings, so to speak. A sister, who was truly blissfully happy for the first time in who knew how long, and a new brother-in-law and twin nieces or nephews to go with it. A big brother, who knew when to talk and when to walk away, who wanted to be part of the family even though he had no ties to them. A business that he could take to new heights, he knew, now he had the chance.
A son he adored with every inch of his being, even if he didn’t always show it. And a chance to build the father-son relationship he’d always wanted. One that kept the best aspects of Salvo’s parenting but without all the pressure, perhaps.
And Maria. The only woman he’d ever imagined marrying, spending his life with. And still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Theirs may not have been a love story—no romantic nights out, falling in love—but it was their story, and Seb wasn’t ready for it to end. Maria was his wife, and he didn’t want that to change.
So maybe he didn’t have her, not any more. But he did have a second chance to win her back. If he could figure out how.
As Sebastian opened the front door to the chalet and stood, watching his blessings as they gathered around the huge Christmas tree, he knew he couldn’t squander that chance.
Maybe his marriage had been one of convenience to start with, but did that mean he couldn’t make it something more? Add a little romance, find out what Maria needed from him to be happy? If he could give it, he would, to keep one small aspect of his life in order. To stop one thing spiralling beyond his control.
But most of all to give him his son back.
Maria lifted Frankie to touch one of his parents’ favourite tree ornaments, his little face lit up with a joy that was reflected in Maria’s smile, and Seb felt his heart contract.
Maria seemed so much more confident, and even more content than she had before she’d left. He knew that proving to her—and maybe even to himself—that they could find that same happiness together wouldn’t be easy.
But he had to try.
It was what his parents would have wanted. It was what he wanted, if he was honest with himself. Leo was right. He’d spent too long waiting for Maria to realise that she wanted to come home. It was time to show her why she should. To prove to her that they could be happy again.
They’d been happy once, right? He smiled as he thought about their honeymoon. There had been romance then,at least, after their vows had been made—romantic walks on the beach, candlelit dinners and conversation, and long, lazy lovemaking at night.
That was what they needed again. What he needed to find here at Mont Coeur to remind her how they could be. Okay, maybe the beach was out—but snowy walks at Christmas in the Alps? What could be more romantic?
He could do it, he was sure. He just had to convince Maria to let him try.
‘What are you doing, lurking in doorways?’ Noemi asked, as she came up behind him. ‘Shouldn’t you be in there with your wife and son?’
Sebastian favoured her with a smile, realising that Noemi was someone else he needed to make more of an effort with. She’d be leaving with Max soon, after all. If he wanted to repair their sibling relationship, it had to be now—and when better than Christmas, anyway?
But first Maria and Frankie.
‘I’m going to win her back, Noemi,’ he murmured, excitement jangling through his veins at the idea. ‘We’re going to be happy again.’
Noemi beamed, and placed a kiss against his cheek. ‘Well, it’s about time,’ she whispered in his ear.
CHAPTER FOUR (#u8a69bd25-8d4b-5cd4-bdb9-242d27cc18bb)
IT WAS SO comfortable in many ways, being back in the chalet where she’d spent so many happy times before, that it came as a surprise over and over every time something jarred with her memories of the place. A reminder that she was a guest here only, or of all the things that had changed since she’d left a year ago.
They’d all enjoyed drinks and a sort of help-yourself supper, before settling down in the main living space of the chalet together. Leo and Anissa had headed back to their own chalet—apparently Leo didn’t feel completely at home with them just yet, Maria thought—but Max and Noemi had joined Seb, Frankie and her for the evening. Noemi had put some soft festive music on and kept the conversation light and inconsequential.
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