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Noise swirled around her.Familiar noise. Happy noise. Noises that made it easy for Sofia to stay on the sidelines, lost in her own thoughts, as she had been since Portia’s visit.
Was Portia right?
Or was she speaking from the vantage point of a woman who’d gambled, and gotten lucky?
Then again, Portia had been engaged once before, and her fiancé had cheated on her. She’d been miserable then. She knew a bit about relationships, heartbreak, hurt. She also knew thatwhen you found your other half, you did whatever you needed to be together.
But Ares wasn’t just a man.
Even putting aside all of the ordinary considerations, as to how they both felt for one another, she had no idea how the whole ‘dating a King’ thing would work. There’d be a huge amount of speculation, media invasion into her privacy, and as for standing on her own two feet with a normal job, forget about it. Her whole life would change, forever.
And even if they broke up, she’d still be a person of interest, catapulted onto the world’s stage by whatever happened between her and Ares.
Then, there was the question of Louisa.
She’d thought he was on the rebound; what if he’d rebounded back to her?
Then you feel like crap.
Which she already did. So maybe Portia was right about that, too. Maybe the only solution here, to stop these thoughts going around and around and around in her mind, was to just take the risk.
“More pizza?” Maria asked, coming to sit beside Sofia, who forced a smile. It was a cool night, but the fire pit was ablaze, and the usual supply of blankets was available, so both Sofia and Maria had one wrapped around their shoulders.
Sofia shook her head. “I think I’ve had enough.” Gianni had outdone himself tonight. In addition to the classic flavours they insisted on, he’d added a lamb, quince and orange pizza that had, initially, seemed fine, but which turned out to be just as unpalatable as every single one of his experiments in the past.
Maria’s gaze fell on her large, happy family as she settled herself into the chair. Marco and Portia’s baby was asleep on Marco’s lap, his arm rested casually around Portia’s shoulders. She looked close to sleep herself.
Georgia and Dante were standing close, his arms latched around her hips, as they talked softly about something that made them happy, going by the smiles on their faces. Inside, their son was sleeping contentedly in the nursery—an ever-expanding space, courtesy of the ever-expanding family.
“It’s turning cold,” Maria said, pulling her blanket more firmly.
Sofia nodded. “It’s that time of year.”
“Almost Christmas.” The words were said softly, because Maria understood, more than anyone, what this time of year meant for Sofia.
It meant going home, facing her mother, and stepping back into all her worst nightmares.
“You don’t have to go,cara.You can stay with us.”
Maria always made that offer.
“It’s okay. She expects it.”
Maria’s lips compressed with disapproval, but she stayed silent. She had always been careful not to badmouth Sofia’s mother to Sofia, though God knew, she must have felt like it sometimes.
“You can go afterwards, in the New Year.”
Sofia’s heart thumped. Going home was the last thing she wanted to do, particularly given how she was feeling now. “I’ll think about it,” she said, though it seemed wrong to ignore her mother on such an important day. More wrong, though, than what her mother had put her through?
“We always miss you at Christmas,” Maria said, reaching out and squeezing her knee. “Our family never feels whole when one of my children is absent.”
Sofia’s heart churned. Maria had made little comments like that, over the years, but Sofia had always brushed them off, seeing them as almost obligatory. But now, she heard the words,and they slammed their way inside of her, so she put an arm around Maria’s shoulders in a spontaneous, genuine hug.
“Thank you.”
“Oh,” Maria was clearly surprised, because Sofia was usually so restrained with her emotions. “It’s how I feel.”
“I don’t just mean for that, now. I mean for everything. Thank you for opening your home to me, your hearts, for making me a part of something so special. I know I don’t always show…how I feel…but I’m grateful, and I love you too.”
