Max glanced at the militia men of the castle on either side of him. “Honestly no, not now. I was a stupid kid back then to think so. This place is too old-fashioned for me.”
Now that sounded just like the boy he’d met in college who'd decided to chase after his little sister for a fortune. Astorre quirked his eyebrow and asked, “Then why have you walked through our gates, sir? The lady in residence had banned you.”
Max pivoted toward Clara without moving his feet. “I knew you were the nice one, Clara. It must be hard to be something you don’t want to be.”
Max wasn’t wrong on that one. Astorre knew that he'd asked too much from Clara. She'd married him because he’d offered her a better life than her old one, but she likely wished their life was simple, like he'd promised her, where they’d leave once things were settled with Olivia.
But as he sat here he knew he’d put off his duty for too long and he couldn’t back out now.
Clara met his gaze and she had the look of an angel when she said, “I want to be a good wife and help my husband here.”
She’d be better than him at this job, that he now needed to keep.
Which meant he'd broken his promise to her. He couldn’t just offer an easy life of travel. This was his fate and now he'd forced this on her too.
Max’s voice was angry when he said, “The people in this town will never accept an American nobody as their lady of the manor.”
“As you knew when we met in Gibraltar.” Clara’s face turned bright red as she clutched her seat. “My parents were the Baron and Baroness of Dona, a neighboring estate.”
And she was fair, good, and sweet, all important qualities that he didn’t possess. Astorre reached across his huge seat and took her hand. “Max does not understand our people or our ways, Clara.”
With his brows tight, Max said, “And you could have chosen to live there and had whatever you wanted without any of this responsibility.”
Another point for Max. Astorre’s hair stood on end and he let Clara’s hand go as he said, “None of this answers my question to you. Why are you here?”
Max snapped his feet together and said, “I came to see Olivia and apologize to her.”
Max wasn't done causing trouble here and he wanted to hurt his sister. Astorre had failed in leading the conversation as intended--he needed to follow through and get Max to admit his supposed love for Olivia. “In Gibraltar you told my wife that you and Olivia were in love and that I'd ruined your chance at marriage.”
He gave a smug expression. “Glad to know you newlyweds keep no secrets…” And then Olivia came out from the secret room behind the tapestry, hidden by Astorre's chair. “I was absolutely in love with Olivia," Max said, "and that’s why I’m here now.”
Olivia took the lowered seat on Astorre's left and sat like a queen. “You loved me?”
“Olivia,” he said like he'd just glimpsed heaven itself. His sister was rigid in her seat as Max continued, “You never answered a phone, text, voicemail, or singing telegram I sent to you all these years.”
"Yes, in the weeks after I ended things, but that was followed with years of silence.” She kept her head high. “I’m not interested.”
Max stepped toward his sister. Astorre straightened and was ready to jump down in front of Olivia if necessary. The guards marched him backward a few steps and their boots echoed in the room. Max stopped and asked, “Olivia, is it true you had my child?”
His sister’s face drained of all color as she said, “No...”
That wasn’t a denial no, but an "I’ve been caught." She’d made the same sound when they’d played hide and seek and he’d won.
And his old room was now pink. His mind raced but he quickly said, “It doesn’t matter.”
Max answered in a belligerent tone, “It matters to me.”
“This is enough," Clara intoned. "Leave Montelino Bay and never come back, Mr. Fionalli.”
Astorre's skin was electrified. If he had a child in this world, he’d want to know. The anger inside him evaporated slightly when Max said, “I’d like to know if I had a son or daughter. Is that too much to ask of you?”
Astorre understood why his sister wouldn’t tell him and why she’d been okay with his long absences. He’d never questioned her and accepted her word on why she was leaving so fast the moment he’d arrived.
He’d never guessed his sister was a mom or that he was an uncle.
Olivia rose from her chair and decreed, “You forfeited any rights the moment you had sex with another woman while I was pregnant." Olivia's glance skimmed he and Clara to land on the waiting guards. "Now have him removed.”
It was all true.
