LITMIR.BIZ

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it manifested until I came home from college.”

      “Didn’t your father try to prepare you for his marriage to my mother?”

      “No, but to be honest, if he had tried, it wouldn’t have done any good. Be assured I’ll always love my father, but there was a gulf between us. While I was gone I stayed in touch with him and Dante, even made a few short visits on holidays. But it was four years later before I returned to Rimini to live.

      “By that time Dante no longer shared his innermost thoughts with me. The closeness we once enjoyed seemed to have vanished for good. I’m afraid that for him, it was a hurt that never went away.

      “He married Pia Rovere, a distant relative from our mother’s side of the family. They chose to live in another wing of the Malatesta palazzo. That arrangement pleased my father and suited me, since I preferred living on my own at the villa.”

      “She’s lovely.”

      “And very good for Dante, I think. Since then the three of us work in the family banking business. Unfortunately, the relations between my father and me continue to be frayed because of my marriage to Benedetta.”

      Belle’s delicately arched brows met. “I don’t understand.”

      “When I married her, I did something no other Malatesta has done, and took a woman without a title for my wife. I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with such an archaic custom. My father has had no choice but to look to Dante to follow in his footsteps.”

      “Which he has done by marrying Pia, who’s from a royal house.”

      Again Leon frowned. “But now that Benedetta is gone, Papà is counting on my marrying a titled woman he has in mind to be Concetta’s new mother. He’s made no secret about it. Every time he brings it up in front of Dante, which is often, I keep reminding him that even if I weren’t in mourning, I would never do as he wants. I’ve told him I’m not interested in marriage and only want to be a good father to my daughter.”

      Belle let out a troubled sigh. “Why do you think he’s so intent on it?”

      “Because I’m the firstborn son and the firstborn is supposed to inherit the title.”

      “In other words, he would prefer you to receive it over Dante.”

      “Yes. It isn’t that he loves Dante less, but he’s a stickler for duty. Luciana’s father was of that same ilk. It’s the one area where Father and I don’t get along.”

      “I’m surprised he didn’t forbid you to marry Benedetta.”

      “He did, but we got married in a private ceremony before he knew about it, and his hands were tied.”

      Belle studied him for a minute. “I’m sure you must miss your wife terribly. Tell me about her.”

      “I knew her from childhood. She was Dante’s age. Our mother was an animal lover. We spent hours at the kennel playing with the dogs. Benedetta was always there, helping her father. She’d lost her mother to pneumonia, and our mom took her under her wing. It was like having a sister.”

      “So your love for her was based on long-standing friendship first.”

      He nodded. “It wasn’t until several years after I returned from Rome that my feelings for her underwent a change.”

      “What happened?”

      “She worked for her father and had a Spinone who’d been her devoted pet for a long time. I happened to be at the palazzo one day in the fall when word came to us that her dog was missing. I knew how much she loved him, so I gathered some staff to go look for him. We found him shot dead by a hunter we presumed had trespassed on the property.”

      “What a dreadful thing to happen. I can’t bear it.”

      “Neither could I. When I saw him lying there, I felt like I’d been the one who’d received the bullet. Benedetta was so heartbroken, I didn’t think she’d recover. I dropped everything to be with her for the next week. We comforted each other. She’d always had a sweetness that drew me to her.”

      “You must have had a wonderful marriage.”

      “For the short time we were given, I was the happiest I’d ever been.”

      Leon heard Belle take a deep breath. “One day your daughter is going to love hearing about your love story.” After a slight hesitation, she added, “How hard for both of you to find out she had that disease. What was it like? I hope you don’t mind my asking.”

      For the first time since it happened, Leon felt like talking about it. “At first she grew very tired, and then suffered some hair loss. I came home from the office early many times to be with her, console her. After a while she couldn’t go out in the sun. As time passed, more symptoms occurred. She had painful swollen joints and fever, even kidney problems.”

      “That must have been so awful, Leon.”

      “I didn’t want to believe it would get worse. We prayed she’d get it under control, and were both looking forward to the baby. I never dreamed I’d lose her during the delivery. I was in shock for days.”

      “Of course. I’m so sorry. Did she suffer a long time?”

      “No, grazie a Dio.”

      “Then you received two blessings, one of them being your adorable daughter.” Belle shifted position and lowered her head. “How did you cope with a newborn?”

      “You’ve met Simona and Talia. They worked for my mother’s family and I trusted them implicitly. They fell in love with the baby and have been with me ever since. I couldn’t have made it without them.”

      “Did your father help?”

      “Yes. Everyone did what they could. Their love for Concetta brought us all a little closer together.”

      “Then you’d think that after a marriage like yours, and that sweet baby, your father would give up his futile desire and leave you alone to decide what you want from life.”

      Leon nodded. “That’s what a normal parent would do. Perhaps now you’re beginning to understand what I’ve always been up against. The point is, I would never choose a woman of rank.”

      “Why do you feel so strongly about it? I’m curious.”

      “My parents were officially betrothed before they ever met each other. They made their arranged marriage work. From what I saw, they were kind and decent to each other, sometimes showing each other affection. But until Mother was dying, I didn’t know she’d loved another man and had to give him up.”

      His mother had told him something else, too.

      “I can’t begin to imagine it,” Belle was saying.

      “After realizing the sacrifice she’d made to marry for duty, I made up my mind that her situation wasn’t going to happen to me. When the time came, I proposed to Benedetta without hesitation.”

      Belle shifted restlessly in her seat. “I guess that meant your father had to sacrifice, too.”

      Leon nodded. “You know what’s interesting? The other night Father told me that when he asked Luciana to marry him, he said, ‘Naturally, it wasn’t like the feelings I had for your mother, but then you can’t expect that.’”

      “So what do you think he was really saying?”

      “That he was still trying to protect me by pretending he’d loved our mother, but I knew it wasn’t true. They were never in love with each other. Do you want to know something else?”

      Her eyes fastened on him, revealing her concern in the reflection of the cruiser’s lights.

      “I think the real truth is he fell deeply in love with Luciana, enough to overlook everything in order to make her his wife.”

      After a slight hesitation,

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