When she was at the Palazzo, Emma had spent the evening completely alone...but she was partly responsible for it. He had to redo the file that she had completely ruined. Anita, the woman in the service of the master of the house had welcomed him warmly, Emma was quickly taken to her room, and it had been more than an hour that she had been amazed by the finesse of the tapestries and the typically Italian decor that reigned in his room. From the balcony, she could smell the scent of flowering bushes and contemplate the vast park of the estate immersed in an idyllic and relaxing setting. Emma had even imagined ending her pregnancy here, lying by the pool, under the delicious scents that emanated from the place.
The accident in his office had made him miss hours to get to know him. She had ended up falling asleep without seeing him again. In reality, she hadn't had the strength to wait another hour for him. At midnight, like Cinderella, Emma had taken off her beautiful pale pink dress that she had long hesitated to put on to exchange it with cotton pajamas.
The next day, Emma slowly emerged from her wonderful night. She had never slept so well, the mattress was so comfortable that she no longer wanted to leave it.
She got up anyway and got ready quickly. Messy bun, loose locks, slightly neglected dress that had had its day, Emma pulled out all the stops to test the man. Was he still going to want her seeing her like this?
She looked in vain for the stairs before seeing Anita in the corridor who gently guided her through the maze of corridors.
Lord Dantes is in the kitchen. She said smiling.
What ? In cooking? Repeated Emma, looking around her.
'She said I was in the kitchen. Launched a strangely hoarse voice.
Emma swallowed as she turned around and saw him leaning against a doorway, looking as sexy as the day before, except he was wearing jeans and a black tshirt, revealing his tanned skin and muscular body. .
Each time she saw him, Emma was unable to repress the desires he aroused in her.
'When you're my wife, you'll have to learn Italian. He said in a hoarse voice.
She crossed her arms after recovering from her hot flash.
Don't go too fast, sir, he is...
I'm sorry to have let you down yesterday, I had to go over several files, including the one that...
He cleared his throat.
.... Has suffered from your nausea. He finished in a voice tinged with mockery.
Emma glared at him and followed him inside the kitchen, lit by the beautiful Tuscan winter sun.
His sense of smell didn't take long to spot the pastries laid out on the large table.
Please sit down.
Taken to the heart by his gallantry, Emma then followed his gaze when he pulled out the chair for her.
"Did you have a pleasant night?" He asked, pouring a cloud of milk into his tea. Sugar ? How much?
Two please and yes I slept wonderfully well.
When she slowly looked up at him, taking her time to observe every inch of his large body, she saw him smiling, visibly satisfied.
Does the smell of coffee bother you? he inquired.
No, only the smell of fish.
He put the coffee pot down, smiling.
"You forget the lingering smell of perfume from my secretary."
Emma couldn't help but smile.
Yes, it's true.
This brief, joyous exchange died down when he took a seat at the end of the table and fixed his serious gaze on hers.
How old are you ? he asked in a soft, suave voice.
"I'm curious, it surprises me that you haven't searched my life."
A soft evil laugh escaped his hard lips.
"I only do this as a last resort.
She took a sip of her tea.
"I'm going to be twentyfour in two weeks.
He remained silent and gazed pensively out at the bright outside.
And you ?
You guess mia dolce...
"I'd be tempted to say fortyfive." She launched for him to come out of his worrying torpor.
He bore his gaze into hers.
At last.
You are funny Emma. He said irritated.
He put his hands on the corners of the table, squinting.
"Is that the age you give me?"
"Of course not, but if you continue to be so tense, so hateful, you will end up disfiguring yourself.
He smiled bitterly.
So, what are you doing ? What are you waiting for to make me happy?
Emma skipped a few beats of her heart in front of her request which hid another.
She looked down at her tea without saying anything.
Eat now. He muttered, cutting the conversation short.
He slipped away into the garden, his gaze clouded. She felt the pain of the man and joined in his pain by getting up to try to catch up with him.
Wait !
He spun around to put his hands on her shoulders.
Eat Emma, I need to be alone. he whispered in a deep, authoritative voice.
Emma let him go gruffly.
And found herself alone.
Her pain was so perceptible that she held back a tear and complied, coming back to sit down, her heart pounding.
She touched her stomach and caressed it thoughtfully
A few hours later, such was the horrible disappointment of not seeing the man again. She had locked herself in the magnificent old library alone to read a book.
"You talk about getting to know each other. She mumbled, closing the book.
She got up with a sigh and left the silent room. She delicately closed the door and walked with a perky step on the beautiful carpet covering the old marble.
"You've lost your mind!"
Emma stopped on the landing and stuck to the wall just next to the half open door.
No, on the contrary I am very serious and you have no say.
Emma gasped.
"You can't marry that girl!" She is not capable of becoming a Dantes!
Emma applied her forehead and her hand to the wall and leaned over to peek into the office where he had first made this proposal to her, which her mother did not like.
"She's perfect and I urge you to straighten out what you said about her before I kick you out mother!" Don't push me away! he growled in a loud voice.
Emma put her free hand on her stomach, and felt her stomach knot.
"She's pregnant at last!"
Yes and it is not a problem for me quite the contrary. He replied in a deeply determined voice.
Damn Azzario, what are people, our entourage going to think?
At that moment, Emma felt that the situation was much more complicated than she had imagined.
She didn't have the desired rank at all.
And her child too.
But oddly, she clung to the hope that her child's father would fight for her. Even though they had only known each other for a few weeks.
I do not care about these people as you say will never make me happy, but I know that this young woman can! She resists me, I'm obsessed, she's different, and I'm sure her child could be mine, just tell the press that we met and I fell in love.
Emma couldn't hold back her tears.
Imagine that the father reappears, and that he comes to say that he is the father and that he can prove it!
"I'll shut that man up now!" He hissed between his teeth. No one will come near her unless they are allowed to!
When the man's shadow passed by the door, Emma stepped back slowly, wiping her eyes.
You are crazy Azzario!
No crazier than you, look at you, you're desperate to make me as crazy as dad! May God be my witness if you ever interfere once more in my life, I draw a line definitively on you! Now I understand why Dario left Italy and left me in charge of the family, probably to escape you!
His voice was so dripping with rage and anger that Emma backed up with a pounding heart to the library to lock herself in.
In the dim light of the dim light, Emma pulled the covers over her, and wiped away her tears. His fingers closed around the pen and the sheet of paper. Until then, she had had a choice. The choice to wait and find the right way to tell him the truth. And none of the recent events had helped him get started. She still remembered this tense atmosphere at the Palazzo after this exchange she had heard. Emma had braced herself and left, finding a lamentable excuse. An excuse that had earned her anger from the man as cold as when she had met him.
But now she had no choice.
Even though she was tempted to run as far away from him as possible, Emma had tricked herself into letting things drag on. She was not fooled, there was no place for her in this family. But she hoped at least that he could assume his role and help her.
Emma placed the tip of the pen on the sheet of paper.
You no longer have a choice. She whispered as she slowly wrote the first lines.
Azzario rubbed his temples and inhaled loudly. His little business trip had not gone as planned. He was so obsessed with Miss Brok that he hadn't had the heart to work.
He tried to understand why she had fled. He was aware of having been cold with her, and he was very angry with himself for not succeeding in taming the enormous pain which was in him and which tended to speak for him.
"Anita?" he called when he saw her walk past the door to his office.
Yes sir ?
She walked into the office with her hands behind her back.
How do you seduce a woman who does not want you? He asked painfully crossed by failure...
Of course, Anita gave him a surprised look.
Well my husband gave me flowers the first time and a dinner.
Azzario remained pensive.
And how do you seduce a pregnant woman?
We add a box of chocolates, we cover it with a protective look, I suppose. She replied with a smirk.
"Open your heart. She added.
Azzario swore.
Would it already have to be working to open it.
"If you are looking within yourself for a way to seduce her, it must be open somewhere, Signore."
He ran a nervous hand over his face and then instantly sat up in his chair.
"Anita, am I... am I treating you well?" Have I ever been horrible to you? Am I a monster? he asked in a sad voice remembering his horrible and unforgivable behavior he had with Emma.
You are the most tortured man I can know, I saw you go through so many trials. But in no case did you treat me badly, on the contrary, signore, thanks to you, I can set aside every month with my husband for the future of our sons.
Azzario smiled weakly, crossing his hands, his gaze resting on his desk.
He remembered perfectly the pleasant and reassuring presence of Anita. She had helped him a lot.
'I bitterly regret having been so contemptuous of Miss Brok. He muttered angrily to himself.
I'm sure it will work out signore.
Azzario closed his eyes before Anita spoke again.
And then I think what your mother said did not help the situation.
He looked up, frowning.
"What are you talking about, Anita?"
She walked over to the desk.
"Well the day Miss Brok left, I went down the hall to put your clean shirts back in your room and Miss Brok was there, you were yelling at your mother and she said nasty things about Miss Brok.
She paused sadly, shaking her head.
"I'm afraid she heard everything.
Azzario banged his fist on his desk, swearing between his teeth.
Anita remained silent as he jumped up to pace the room furiously.
That's why she left, why she fled!
His mother's unforgivable words about her had scared him away and he could have avoided it, if he had guessed faster. Hadn't she recoiled abruptly when he had tried to hold her back? His fierce gaze towards him, his hands resting on his stomach to avoid any approach from him?
"But I'm sure Mademoiselle Brok doesn't hold it against you. Yesterday morning she came by to give you a letter. I put it on your desk with your mail."
Azzario stared at her in silence and with a brisk step was in front of his desk to sort through the piles of letters in search of his own while silently Anita slipped away.