Italy's Most Scandalous Virgin - Carol Marinelli Page 0,63

We are a family business...’

‘Perhaps...’ Ariana offered a suggestion. ‘Perhaps you can say you were comforting Mia.’

‘Yes,’ Angela said, completely incapable of simply observing and clearly liking the sound of Ariana’s suggestion—anything to cover up the truth. ‘You could say Mia was crying for Rafael, and you were merely offering support.’

‘By pressing her against a column with his hips?’ Stefano said with a generous dash of Romano sarcasm. ‘No, I think we just have to ride it out.’

There had been no innuendo meant, but when he glanced up at his brother both men did share a slight smile.

And when the rest of the board had had their say, when they had all vented their emotions, and given their exceedingly low opinion of him, Dante stood and walked to the window, sorely tempted to say, To hell with the lot of you, for he knew he could walk away right now and be completely fine.

But, famiglia, famiglia, famiglia...

No, they weren’t the perfect family, but they were his and he loved them.

He gazed out towards the dome, to the Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo, only he wasn’t searching his mind as to how to answer the board.

Mia had just warned him she would be dated and if not by him, then...

‘Go for it,’ he had said, as he always did, refusing to be railroaded or backed into a corner, refusing even to consider a future. Yet here he stood, in the middle of a board meeting, and was deeply considering one.

‘Dante!’ Luigi said, but to Dante his uncle’s voice sounded like it came from underwater; instead it was Mia’s voice that rang clearly in his head, and her response to his suggestion that she annul the marriage.

‘I would never do that to your father and neither would you.’

That was having someone’s back.

That was family.

And at that precise moment the idea of love crystallised for Dante, and instead of a burden pressing even more heavily down on him, it felt as if one had been lifted.

It was more than just a thought, it was more certain and real than anything he had felt in his life.

All that he had for more than two years denied and resisted flew into him now. He turned and faced the board and offered his response.

‘I’m not going to discuss our relationship with you.’

‘Relationship?’ Luigi thundered. ‘Since when did you do relationships?’

But Dante refused to clarify. ‘I give enough of myself to the company without having to explain my personal life.’ But this time he did not give his usual rant about being single and sleeping with whoever he chose. ‘I will tell you only this: nothing took place while my father was alive, and it is my belief that I would have his full support.’

Dante turned in surprise as his mother then spoke. ‘You would have Rafael’s support, Dante.’

His mother could be difficult and self-serving at times, but she had his back now and he was grateful for that. ‘Thank you,’ Dante said. ‘Do I have the board’s support?’

‘You have mine,’ Ariana said.

‘Thank you.’

‘You always have mine,’ Stefano replied, and Dante thanked him too.

There was silence from everyone else.

‘Feel free to walk,’ Dante offered, though of course no one did. Instead, they sighed their passive-aggressive sighs and nodded their judgmental heads because the fact was they needed him, far more than he needed them, and they knew it.

‘Then that’s that,’ Dante said. ‘And from now on, if you can’t be nice to Mia, you will be polite or God help you when you have to answer to me.

‘Now,’ Dante said, ‘if you’ll excuse me, there is somewhere else I need to be.’

And that somewhere wasn’t his office, though of course he headed there first. ‘What did they say?’ Mia asked the second he came through the door.

‘The usual,’ Dante said. ‘Come on, I need some air. We can leave by a side exit if you prefer not to be seen with me.’

‘I already told you, I’m not going to hide.’

‘Good,’ Dante said as he guided her out.

‘Have you been fired?’ Mia asked as they took the lift down.

‘Fired!’ Dante gave a wry laugh. ‘They can’t fire me. They could ask me to step down, but of course they won’t. No, I will still be ensuring their pockets are lined for years to come...’

‘Do you hate your work?’ Mia asked as they headed through the foyer.

‘No, I love my work,’ Dante contradicted her. ‘It’s just a pain at times that I work with family members who think