As she watched, Luca stepped forward from the crowd of children. His soft black curls were falling forward into his eyes as they always did. He had the kind of unruly hair that refused to behave under the ministrations of any brush. She imagined Leo's hair would be much the same if he let it grow any longer.
Catching her thoughts, she shook her head and watched as her husband sank down to his knees to listen to the young boy whisper something into his ear. Leo listened intently for a moment, before breaking into a huge grin. Luca smiled up at him and they both laughed together at their secret joke.
And Dara felt her heart break completely.
Turning from the door, she walked quickly down the corridor and out to her car. The drive home passed in a blur. Her body felt numb and her insides shook violently.
Once she reached the familiar facade of the castello, she walked to the stone wall that overlooked the famous cliffs of Monterocca. And only then did she let the tears come. Great racking sobs escaped her throat and sent violent tremors through her.
It was unthinkably cruel that Leo should look so perfect surrounded by children. The one thing that she could never give him. She wept for the children she would never bear. The children she had denied wanting for so long.
Soon the sound of tyres squealing down the driveway interrupted her silence. Heavy steps were moving fast across the courtyard towards her.
Dara turned just as Leo came to a stop. ‘Where have you been?' she asked innocently.
‘You know where,' Leo gritted. ‘They told me that you arrived and then left-driving like a mad woman.'
‘You lied to me,' Dara said, her voice almost a whisper.
‘I needed to understand.' He stood with his arms crossed.
‘And do you? Do you understand now why it was so selfish of me to get so attached?'
‘To tell the truth, Dara, no-I don't.' He sighed. ‘You keep saying you've been selfish. But I don't understand how you can consider giving your time and attention to those children as selfishness.'
‘I wasn't giving anything, Leo. I was taking. I got too close. I let Luca get attached to me because it made me feel...needed.' She took a deep shuddering breath, shaking her head at her own foolishness. ‘It made me feel like-like I was his mother.' She bit her lip. ‘Can't you see how wrong that is? I've given him hope for something that can never happen.'
‘What makes you believe that it can never happen, Dara?'
‘Look at me, for goodness' sake. I'm a control freak who works crazy hours and spends half the year travelling around the world with my nightclub magnate former playboy husband.'
‘That's...quite a mouthful.' Leo's brows rose.
‘It's the truth.' She shrugged. ‘We're not family people. Aside from the fact that we can never have our own biological children.'
Leo walked past her to the ancient stone boundary wall, leaning over to peer down at the rough sea below them. ‘I might be a jet-setting former playboy, but I think I would be ten times the father that mine was.'
Dara froze. ‘Leo, I didn't mean that you wouldn't make a great father. Of course you would. You're easy-going and kind. You're reliable and intelligent. You would be amazing.' She shook her head. ‘But you're married to me.'
‘Dara, if it wasn't for you I would still be going through life without a true purpose. Falling in love with you made me realize what is truly important in life. Three years ago if you had told me that I would want to spend the rest of my life living in this castle I would have laughed you out of the room.' He turned to her, taking both of her hands in his. ‘But here I am. And this is the only place I want to be.'
‘I can't be somebody's mother. I just can't.'
‘Dara, did you ever stop and think that maybe it's okay not to be the perfect mother? Sometimes it's okay just to try your best. I mean, you're telling me that you're a workaholic, and yet the matron told me that you've been visiting the orphanage three times a week. That's a two-hour round trip, alone, while simultaneously running your own business, yes?'
Dara shrugged. ‘I made the time.'
‘Exactly. Because you care about this boy.' Leo stepped forward, grasping her hands in his. ‘Dara, I went to that orphanage today because I wanted to understand you. So that I could make you happy.' He paused for a moment. ‘I honestly had no idea of the effect it would have on me. I suppose that somewhere in the back of my mind I've always worried that being raised by parents like mine meant that I could never be a good parent myself.'
‘You would make a wonderful father, Leo,' Dara said softly.
‘I'm not so sure about wonderful. But after today I know I would like the opportunity to try.'
Dara looked up into her husband's eyes and saw the emotion there. ‘Are you saying that you want us to start a family together?'
‘We've been a family from the moment you agreed to spend the rest of your life as my wife. I want to take this next step with you-to start a new adventure.'
Dara closed her eyes, letting the air finally whoosh into her lungs. The fear of even daring to want this had stopped her from acknowledging her true feelings about Luca. Hearing Leo say these things... Hearing him shine a proverbial light on her deepest yearnings...
She looked up at her husband once more and saw that he was watching her quietly.
‘I want to be Luca's mother.'
The words came out rushed and tumbled over each other on their way. But once she had said them out loud it was as though she truly understood herself for the first time. Her hands started to shake-a quake that continued up her arms and down into her abdomen.
Leo put his arms around her but she gently removed them, needing to pace for a moment with this newfound sense of terror coursing through her. It was one thing to be afraid of wanting something that she knew could never happen. But to admit that she wanted it...? To open herself to rejection and heartbreak...?
To Leo this was a new feeling-the idea of becoming a parent. But for Dara this was a sensation that had haunted her for years, a thought that had consumed her at times. She had fought back against the feelings of hopelessness by cutting the thought out of her life altogether and deciding that she no longer wanted to become a mother.
Now she knew the truth. She had never stopped wanting it. She had just been waiting for this moment.
‘I can't believe this is happening...' Dara breathed, her thoughts swimming with the enormity of what they were discussing.
‘It's only happening if you want it to.' Leo stood in front of her. ‘I meant what I said on that beach three years ago. You will always be enough for me, Dara. You are more than I deserve.'
Dara felt the fear melt away as Leo's arms enveloped her, and all her worries seemed smaller all of a sudden. She breathed in the familiar scent of his aftershave and told herself that she needed to commit this perfect moment to memory.
‘I want to start a family with you.' She pulled back to look into her husband's eyes. ‘I want us to become Luca's parents. If he'll have us, that is.'
‘Hearing him speak about you today, I have no doubt that he thinks just as much of you as you do of him,' Leo assured her.
‘I hope so.' Dara bit her lip. ‘Leo, once we take this step there is no going back. There will be no more impromptu trips to Paris-no more yachting for weeks along the Riviera. We'll have to consider school term times. It won't be just you and I.'
‘I'm quite aware that children are a lot of responsibility.'
‘I just want to make sure that you're certain this is what you want. That we aren't going into this with our eyes closed.'
‘Dara, stop worrying and let yourself enjoy this. I have complete faith that you will plan every little detail perfectly. Just leave all the fun stuff to me.' He laughed.
Dara smiled. He was right-she was a ball of nerves. She took a deep breath, feeling a sense of excited anticipation hum through her veins.
‘I will start proceedings in the morning.' Leo smiled. ‘We can go to the orphanage ourselves.'
‘I can hardly believe that this is happening.' Dara shook her head. ‘Never in my wildest dreams...'
Leo pressed his lips tenderly to hers, his hands spanning her waist and pulling her to him in a tight embrace. ‘I was afraid to share you with anyone else, but now I find myself wanting to show you off to the world. You amaze me with all you've overcome.'
‘You're the one who helped me to overcome it.'
Their kiss turned from soft to heated, and the wind whipped around them as the sun dipped slowly towards the sea.
The next morning Dara arrived at the orphanage bright and early, with her husband by her side. They entered the common room just as the children had finished breakfast. No sooner had they stepped into the room than a tiny head of jet-black curls came barrelling towards them.