For all that, he suddenly realized he didn’t like the thought of sharing his daughter with some unknown person. Not even one of Lana’s relatives.
“That’s good to know, Matt. Please give Lana my love and tell her Aimee and Julien send their love, too. I’ll talk to her soon.”
Matt was curious. “Is Julien your son?”
There was a moment’s hesitation. “So Lana hasn’t told you yet? I guess it’s not an easy thing for her to say, but I’d appreciate if you could keep this in the family.”
“Tell me what?”
“Julien is my lover.”
Lana spent the day trying to come to terms with loving Matt, knowing she could never tell him. If it had been only her and Matt, then she might have given it a shot. She was strong enough to walk away if things turned bad.
She couldn’t take such a chance when she had a responsibility to her daughter. Matt was great with Megan, but she couldn’t stand back and let Matt’s disdain for her become a part of their lives.
She wouldn’t.
When Matt arrived home later that day, she hid her love from him and prayed to God she could keep doing it until the year was up. Their physical relationship would have to be enough.
So why hadn’t he kissed her hello?
And why didn’t he pull her into his arms and hold her close? she wondered throughout dinner. Was this the way it was going to be? Were they just going to be lovers in the bedroom and nothing else?
Her heart slumped against her rib cage as she realized something. He hadn’t asked Ruth to move his things into the master bedroom. Or was he going to do it himself? Were they even going to share a bed now?
Oh God.
Was Matt having second thoughts?
She was tempted to come right out and ask him, once they’d put Megan to bed and were sitting in the living room watching television. At least they could talk without any interruption, Ruth having left a short while ago to spend the night at her sister’s place.
She was working up the courage to speak when without warning he grabbed the remote and turned the television off.
“I had a phone call today,” he said. “From Dan Moore.”
Her eyes went wide. “Uncle Dan?”
He nodded. “He received your letter but he didn’t know the phone number for the house, so he called you at work. Irene put him through to me.”
“And?”
“He’d just gotten back from South Africa. He wanted you to know he was delighted about your marriage and he sent his love.” He watched her carefully. “He also said to tell you that Aimee and Julien send their love.”
She blinked, then quickly pretended to brush some lint off her dress. “How nice.”
Silence.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Lana?”
She looked up. “What?”
“That your uncle is bisexual.”
She gave a soft gasp. “How do you know that?”
“Dan told me Julien was his lover.” He grimaced. “Did you expect me to be shocked? His sexual preferences don’t matter to me.”
“They do to the press. I owe Dan so much. I’d hate to repay him by having his private life dragged out in the open.”
“I wouldn’t tell the press. They’d be the last I’d tell anything.”
She shook her head. “Matt, just being related to a Valente is enough to send them into a media feeding frenzy. We were lucky that they romanticized our wedding because of Megan, but Dan’s reputation wouldn’t escape so easily.”
He studied her. “He’s the reason you let me believe you’d bought the apartment with the stolen money?”
Her eyes widened. “You know about that too?”
“Dan said he wanted to deed the apartment he bought you over to Megan.”
“Oh, he’s such a lovely man.” Then she remembered something. “I’m surprised you didn’t find all this when you did a background check on me. And I know you would have done one, Matt. I’m not naïve. It’s a necessary evil for people with money.”
“My father ordered the report on you. I didn’t read it, but he gave me a brief rundown and that was all.” He frowned. “I should have read it. It might have saved a lot of arguments between us.”
“But it might not have said anything about Dan and Julien. I was just fearful in case that did come to light and someone somewhere leaked it to the papers.”
He considered her for a long moment.
“Tell me about your parents, Lana.”
She started in surprise, then groaned inwardly. If Matt had loved her she would have no hesitation in telling him about her background. People in love did that sort of thing, sharing their deepest thoughts and feelings.