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She shrugged. “You won’t be the first or last wealthy man to have a mistress. I just…didn’t expect that from you.”
“I’m not having an affair,” I repeated.
She waved a hand. “No matter. Yes, Elysa will have to be there. Vittorio Costa will be there, and it will…well, be awkward if your mistress is accompanying you instead of your wife…his daughter.”
I rubbed my temples. I could feel a headache blossom. “For the last time, Giulia,non ho un'amante.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” she muttered.
I ran a hand through my hair, wanting to tear some of it out due to frustration. “Giulia, have I given you an indication that I’m that kind of man?”
“Not until you got married,” she replied pointedly. “You have a beautiful, kind, big-hearted wife, andyou’re running around withthat….” She shook her head in disgust.
“She’s a very capable lawyer,” I reminded my assistant.
“A capable lawyer she may be, Dante, but she’s not worth risking your marriage,” she declared and then picked up her tablet. “Shall we get to work?”
If Giulia had these many doubts about my moral standing and knew me well, I could only imagine what the rest of my staff was thinking about me.
“Before we get started on that, I’d like to understand why people think I’m having an affair with Lucia.”
Giulia smiled, all saccharine sweetness. “Maybe you should ask Lucia.”
“What’s that got to do with….” Realization struck and trailed off. “Are you saying that Lucia has been talking aboutusas a couple?”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“Lucia would not do that.”
“If you insist,” Giulia said airily. “You know what Don Giordano used to say?”
I waited.
“We believe what is convenient, not what is true.”
Crediamo a ciò che ci fa comodo, non a ciò che è vero
“And what has that got to do with anything?”
“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. Now, let’s get down tothe event.”
Giulia started talking about all the preparations, but I listened with one ear as I formulated a plan to convince Elysa to attend the award ceremony.
Lucia, a senior executive at Giordano Hotel Group, was part of my leadership team, so she would be there. If Giulia was right, which she almost always was, Lucia’s presence combined with Elysa’s absence would only amplify the affairrumors.
If Elysa didn’t come with me, the questions wouldn’t just be whispered anymore—they’d be shouted.
Besides that, the idea of my wife not being by my side at an event like this, one that meant so much to my family and my company, made my stomach turn. But the deeper truth—the one I didn’t want to admit—was that I didn’t want her absence to become permanent.
How could I ask her to come, knowing how the Carrera charity event had gone? I’d treated her terribly because I let my insecurities get the best of me.
I had been angry, uncertain, andveryjealous. Instead of facing that, I accused her of feeling the very same thing I couldn’t admit to myself. I had projected my weakness onto her.
I didn’t know how I’d convince her to give me another chance atanotherevent. I only knew one thing for certain: I couldn’t picture receiving an award in Nonno’s name without Elysa by my side.
“Giulia, Elysa is asking for a divorce,” I confessed when my assistant started to ask questions about theguest list, assuming Elysa would be in Piedmont in four weeks.
The words felt foreign coming out of my mouth, like they didn’t belong to me, didn’t belong to my life. Saying them aloud made them real, and the bitterness of it was like swallowing glass.