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“One can only hope”

A stab of pain lanced through her She should be elated Riccardo had finally seen the light Seen that there was no way they could ever reconcile after everything that had happened So why had his decree that they finally end this with an official public announcehteen-wheeler? She certainly hadn’t been pining away the past twelvehis refusal to divorce her meant he still loved her And there was no way she’d harbored any silly notions that he was going to coh herand carry her back home, like in so differently

That would have been stupid and naive

She squared her shoulders He likely did have another prospect inRiccardo did was a means to an end

“If I ever want to be free to pursue a real relationship with Harry I need Riccardo’s signature on that piece of paper”

“Oh, corieon, Doctors Without Borders and all that lovely stuff, but really? He’s dull as dishwater You ht as well marry him and move back to Mason Hill”

“He’s also handso to tell her sister there wasn’t a hope in hell of her hteen “I’m lucky to have him”

Alex waved a hand at her “You can’t tell me after Riccardo he doesn’t seerape juice instead of Cabernet”

“You just told me Riccardo was bad news for me”

“So is Harry Taylor He’ll bore you to death”

Lilly had to steel herself not to laugh out loud, because that just would have hurt too h with o sweaty It’s self-destructive for me”

“The particular one you picked ht have been What time e supposed to have been there, by the way?”

Lilly checked her watch “A half-hour ago”

Alex gave her a wicked s to love that”

She squirmed in her seat She was always late No matter how hard she tried Because it was just in her nature to try and squeeze too much into the day, and also because herin half an hour late But Riccardo had never seemed to care what the reason was He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it And that was all

Alex’s expression shifted “I talked to David today”

Lilly froze Alex talking to their brother back in Iowa only“How’s Lisbeth?”

Alex frowned “He said she had a really bad week The doctor is saying she needs that experi to do any good”

Da that faest sister Lisbeth had leukeo she was out of re new treat chance But the treatment cost a fortune

“I can’t ask Riccardo for the ive him that kind of power over me”

“I know” Alex put her hand over hers and squeezed “We’ll figure it out There has to be a way”

Lilly pursed her lips “I’o back to the bank tomorrow Maybe they’ll let me do it in installments”

There had to be a way Lisbeth had to get that treatment

Tonight, however, she had to focus on survival

Her hands shook in her lap and her head throbbed like a jackhaious street toward the De Campo townhouse She had taken one look at the beautiful old limestone mansion and fallen in love Riccardo had taken one look at her face and bought it for her “You love it,” he’d said, not even blinking at the thirty-five- “We’ll buy it”

They swung to a halt in front of the hoo, when she’d finally had the guts to leave him It was the first time she’d been back and it occurred to her she was truly crazy ue, but did she really want to detonate her and Riccardo’s relationship in front of all the people who’d made her life miserable?

She didn’t have a choice She scooted over as Tony came around to open the door Riccardo had been adamant “We need to end this standoff,” he’d said “We need to make the state of our relationship official Be there, Lilly, or this isn’t happening”

She forced herself to grasp Tony’s hand But her legs didn’t seenize the need to function as she stepped out of the car on tre, snakelike line of limousinesher out of this car the night of their first anniversary and carrying her upstairs made it catch in her throat He had ht that had promised he would love her forever