Master of Her Virtue - By Miranda Lee Page 0,65

think I’ll hang on to that. It’s a good investment. Besides, I like working in the city. There are a lot more restaurants at hand for my client lunches.’

‘Oh, you and your client lunches!’

‘I’ll have you know, missy, I do my best work over lunch. Now, off you go. I’m sure you have better things to do than talk to your future father-in-law. Give my love to Leo and tell him that I think this is by far the best move he’s ever made in his life. I’m very proud of him.’

‘Your father said to tell you that he’s very proud of you,’ Violet said after she hung up.

‘Wow,’ Leo said. ‘He must really like you, my darling. So, do you want to ring your folks and tell them too?’

‘No. Not tonight. That can wait. They already know I’m here in Paris with you. I didn’t keep you a secret, Leo. What about your son?’

‘Liam can wait too. Tonight should be all about us, Violet. I just want to wallow in our love for each other. You sure you still want to go down to dinner?’

‘Yes, yes I do,’ she said after a moment’s temptation. ‘I’m starving.’

‘But I thought you had a stomach ache earlier.’

‘Nah. I was sitting on the edge of the bath, crying.’

‘Oh, Violet. I’m so sorry for letting you think I didn’t care about you. I always did, you know, right from the start. I just didn’t realise how much. But, when the penny dropped earlier this evening, I should have said I loved you straight away. I guess I was afraid to.’

Violet was touched that Leo would admit something like that. He always seemed so sure of himself. But it was a sign of her new found maturity that she understood that no one was perfect, even the man she’d imagined was just that.

‘Then tell me now, Leo,’ she said softly.

‘I love you, my darling Violet.’

‘And I love you, my darling Leo,’ she returned, entwining her arms around his neck and bringing her mouth up to his.

They kissed. Not wildly or hungrily, but lovingly. Then they went down to dinner where they sat at length over a magnificent meal, making plans for their future together.

‘What about children, Leo?’ she asked him over coffee and mints. ‘I would like to have at least one child.’

‘I can’t think of anything I’d like better. I’ve always enjoyed being a father. Liam was the best thing to come out of my first marriage.’

‘And your second marriage, Leo? Would you mind if I asked you about that?’

He sighed. ‘It’s not a pretty story.’

‘I don’t care. I need to know what happened or I’ll be curious about it for ever.’

‘Fair enough. Look, I fancied myself in love with Helene. It’s amazing the tricks a male ego can play on you. But love had nothing to do with that relationship. It was all about image and status. When we met, I’d just won another award for best picture and Helene had just been voted the most beautiful actress in the world by some glossy magazine. They forgot to mention that she was also the most vain, amoral, ambitious woman I have ever met. And, trust me, I’ve met quite a few.’

‘Heavens! That’s so different to what I imagined. So what happened?’

Leo shrugged. ‘Less than a year after we were married, I walked in on her screwing her latest leading man in her dressing room. She claimed it meant nothing.’

‘Oh, Leo. How distressing for you!’

‘Only for a few egotistical moments. Then I realised that I didn’t really give a damn. Though I have to confess my lack of emotion left me wondering if I had any feelings left in me at all. That’s one of the reasons I thought I’d never fall in love again. I had no idea till I met you that I’d never actually been in love.’

‘Oh...I like the sound of that. Okay, enough talk of the past. Back to us. When do you want to get married?’

‘I’d marry you tomorrow if we could. But I understand that weddings take a little longer than that to organise.’

‘True. And I would want to get married back in Australia, if you don’t mind, so that my family could attend.’

‘Fair enough. So, about this baby business. Do you want to wait till we get married or start trying straight away?’

‘I’m not sure. If I say yes to straight away, I’ll have to go off the pill.’

‘True. Is there a problem with that?’

‘Well, yes, sort