CHAPTER THREE

      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