Her eyes fell from the searching blue gaze. ‘And if she doesn’t like it there?’
‘Then I must spend time with her here.’
‘You mean stay here in my house?’ she demanded.
He gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I do not hope for such a privilege. I shall stay at the Hermitage and come here to take her out.’
Rose stared at him in defeat. ‘Very well,’ she said dully. ‘I’ll bring her to Italy, but only for a week. I can’t take more time off than that.’
‘Bene. Let me know when you are free.’ Dante stood up. ‘I will arrange my diary to give me time with Bea. And with you, of course, Rose,’ he added silkily.
‘Thank you so much!’
‘Prego. Now I must go.’
Rose went to the door with him. ‘When do you fly back?’
‘Early in the morning. This was a truly flying visit. And I have much more travelling to do once I get back, but by road, for which I am grateful.’
‘You prefer roaring around Italy in your car, I imagine.’
‘What man would not?’ He took her hand and bowed formally over it. ‘Arrivederci, Rose.’
‘Goodbye.’ She hesitated. ‘Dante, I’m sorry you had to come all this way. I should have let you talk to me on the phone.’
He shrugged. ‘It was worth it to gain time with my daughter.’
She winced, hoping he couldn’t tell how much that hurt. ‘But if I come—’
‘When you both come!’
‘All right, when we come, you must make it plain to your family beforehand that this is just a holiday. It doesn’t mean I’ve agreed to anything permanent.’
Dante nodded, his eyes expressionless for once. ‘Va bene. It shall be as you wish. And if Bea likes it there at my home, what then?’
Her chin lifted. ‘Let’s take this one step at a time.’
‘There is one step you must take before you bring Bea to the Villa Castiglione. You must tell her I am her father.’ Dante took her by the shoulders, ignoring the hand that tried to push him away. ‘Let us be truthful with each other, Rose.’
‘I just wish you’d been truthful when we first met,’ she snapped, her eyes stormy. She still couldn’t get past Dante’s deception in the past. The hurt was still raw for her.
‘I did not lie,’ he said huskily. ‘With you in my arms, I forgot Elsa existed—’
‘We spent a lot of time together that day before we reached that point. And while you might not have lied, you omitted to tell me you were engaged, which is as bad as lying.’
‘Davvero! But it was such pleasure to laugh and dance with you, I could not spoil the day by mentioning Elsa.’ He pulled her closer. ‘I fell under your spell at first sight and went on falling deeper and deeper all that day, until I lost control as we kissed later in your room. It was such agony to leave you that, even frantic with worry over Nonna on the flight home, I was determined to tell Elsa I could not marry her. That I had met someone else.’