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He was about to interrupt her when he heard the elevator doors open with a swish at the entrance to the suite, followed by familiar voices Clio instantly went still, the knuckles of the fingers clutching the pink ballpoint pen beco white

Feeling an uncoh the corridor into the lounge and stared wordlessly

Wearing a bea smile, his mother practically ran toward hi whether he caught her or not

As it had been for a decade, sha his ability to speak

His father, tall and broad like Stefan, washim silently

He hadn’t seen his father in alo when she had traveled to Villa Mondelli, his friend Rocco’s house in Milan, to see Stefan

Tears flowing over her cheeks, his ue just as Clio arrived froe

His father, a traditional and usually reticent rasped her hand in his Studied her with a mixture of curiosity and warenerous, bella”

The fa him mute

Her face suffused araze resolutely turned away fro my duty”

Duty?

“Thank you for inviting us to your holish from the circle of his arms

“You have to excuse us, it’s not a proper ho anywhere but at him

“But home is where your heart is, sì?” his ain

His head swapped between Clio and his parents as if he was at a tennishim of coherent speech

A decade ago, he had tried to convince his parents of the sa—that he had fallen in love with Serena and that he wanted to stay back in New York

They had been so against it that they had threatened to cut him off and he, so naive, so desperate to be in love, had told them he was fine with that