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“I... I don’t know. I trusted him and he hurt me. Can you imagine him asking his sister to come here pretending to be a prospective buyer?”
Her mother was quiet for a moment. “I know you don’t want to hear this, especially after what happened between us, but is there a chance he had good intentions?”
“Mom...”
“Wait. Listen to me and then you can ignore everything I say.” Her mother paused as though waiting to see if she had Lea’s attention. “Perhaps you were expecting him to let you down because other people, especially me, have let you down in the past. Could that be part of it?”
Lea heard her mother, and as much as she wanted to disagree with her, she remained quiet. She had a lot of thinking to do because there was a baby relying on her to make the right decision—for both of them.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I’LL MEET YOU in Rome with the car and all of the documents.”
Xander stood at the airport listening to Roberto, his second in charge, go over everything that needed to happen to head off the possibility of his sister losing her entire life’s savings and putting his company in jeopardy—the company that he’d worked all his life to make the biggest and the best.
But as Roberto continued to speak, Xander’s mind was not on business. It was on the devastated look he’d seen on Lea’s face when he left. And then the truth of the matter struck him with the strength of a lightning strike, nearly knocking him off his feet and into a nearby chair. He’d done everything wrong.
His heart just wasn’t in this business deal or heading off a business bully. In the past, there was nothing he’d have liked better than proving to a business opponent that they were wrong. But now, things had changed.
His heart was back on Infinity Island with Lea and their baby.
“Xander, did you hear me?”
He hadn’t heard a word the man had said in the last couple of minutes. “Listen, Roberto, we’re going to change things.”
“Change things? Now? We don’t have time.”
“We always have time to do the right thing.”
Roberto paused as though confused. “We are doing the right thing. We’re right and they are wrong. We just have to prove it and quickly.”
Until this point, Xander had always taken a hands-on approach with his business. Until now, he hadn’t imagined ever letting someone else be in charge of his company—not even long enough to take a vacation. Until Lea, his life had been his work. And now all of that had changed.
As Roberto talked in his ear, Xander realized that he had a very competent and eager number two. Due to Xander’s need to be in control of everything, big and small, Roberto hadn’t gotten a chance to spread his wings. Until now...
“Roberto.”
The man stuttered to a halt.
“I appreciate all the work you’ve done. Over the years and most especially on this project. You appear to know all of the details. And you understand what I hope to accomplish.”
“Uh... Thank you, sir.”
Xander realized he’d really held onto the reins of the office too tightly. He noticed how Lea ran the island with a much more relaxed attitude. Perhaps it was time he did the same, especially if his plans worked out.
“Call me Xander.”
“Yes, sir. Erm, Xander.”
Xander smiled. He could tell this transformation was going to take time for everyone to adjust to. And then Xander went on to tell Roberto that he was the one going to Italy to represent the company.
“Are you sure?” Roberto asked.
“If you’d asked me that question a year ago, even a month ago, I would have said no. But a lot has changed to open my eyes. You’re ready for this—you’re more than ready. You probably know the facts and figures of this project better than I do at this point.”
“Where will you be?”
“I’m heading back to Infinity Island. I left some unfinished business there.”
He just hoped Lea would hear him out. He should have made more of an effort to tell her about his sister. He’d never meant for her to learn the truth the way she did.
And he had no idea what he was going to do if they couldn’t work their way past this.
