CEO's Marriage Miracle Read online

  Hell, now he was rambling. In his mind. Which he supposed was slightly better than doing it out loud.

  What had happened to the calm, collected businessman he’d been a year ago? Oh, yes, his entire life had unravelled, that was what.

  And it had all started the day he’d come home to find Maria packing sleepsuits and her favourite pyjamas into the suitcases he’d bought for their honeymoon years earlier.

  ‘Sebastian?’ Maria placed Frankie on his feet on the floor as Seb shut the door behind them. Across the large, open living space of the chalet stood his sister and surprise brother, along with their new partners. More new people in his life to replace all those he’d lost.

  But he wasn’t ready to share Maria and Frankie with them just yet.

  Maria began stripping off Frankie’s bulky snowsuit. But her questioning eyes stayed on Seb, and he felt the weight in them.

  ‘You cut your hair,’ he said, with an apologetic half-smile. ‘It suits you.’

  ‘My life now suits me,’ she said simply. The life in which she avoided him at all costs, managing to be elsewhere even when he arrived to collect Frankie from her parents’ house. That life.

  He was so glad it suited one of them, at least.

  Then, as Frankie—free from his confining winter wear at last—wriggled free of his mother’s grasp and took a couple of steps forward to investigate the antique nativity crib scene set up on a console table, Maria straightened and looked him in the eye.

  ‘I want to be clear about one thing,’ she said. ‘Before we join the others or unpack or settle in or anything.’

  Sebastian ignored the growing feeling of dread in his stomach as she spoke. ‘Go on.’

  ‘This is a visit. Nothing more. Once Christmas is over, Frankie and I will be heading home again, back to my parents’ estate.’ The emphasis she’d placed on home cut deep. This had been one of her homes once.

  He had been her home.

  ‘We’re not staying, Sebastian,’ she went on. ‘I want that understood from the start.’

  Seb forced a smile. ‘Of course.’ Maria’s expression relaxed, and he knew he should leave it there, that to push it further would only ruin the fragile peace they seemed to have achieved.

  But he couldn’t help himself. He always had to try a little harder, a little longer. That was who he was. Who his father had raised him to be.

  Oh, Papà, I wish you were here now to tell me what to do.

  ‘But if you change your mind,’ Seb said, ignoring the look on Maria’s face, ‘I wasn’t just being polite when I said you always have a home here.’

  ‘Seb...’ Maria groaned.

  ‘I know Noemi would love to have you around more. She misses you.’ They’d always been close, his sister and his wife. He’d taken it as a sign that Maria was a rightful part of his family, as much as any of them.

  But now Maria had gone and they had Leo in her place, which, as much as he’d reached a sort of truce with his unexpected brother, wasn’t at all the same thing.

  And apparently he’d said something wrong again, as Maria had frozen and was staring pointedly at where Frankie was about to denude the stable of sheep.

  ‘I miss Noemi, too,’ she said stiffly. ‘We should go and say hello.’

  Then, without looking back, she crossed the room with swift steps and removed Frankie from the antique ornaments, and carried him over to where their family was waiting instead.

  At least she missed one of them, Seb supposed. It was too much to hope that she might have missed him, too, when she’d made it so clear she didn’t. If she had, she’d have wanted to see him on one of his few visits. The same way he’d spent them hoping to get just a glimpse of her.

  Noemi rushed forward to greet them, a huge smile on her lips, and embraced Maria immediately. Sebastian trailed behind, watching as his wife greeted his sister with considerably more enthusiasm than she had greeted him.

  Then Noemi knelt down in front of Frankie. As he moved to their side, Seb could see that his son’s eyes were wide as he glanced around the large room and all of the people that he didn’t know. Including his own father, it seemed.

  ‘Hey, Frankie,’ Noemi said, trying to gain his attention. When he looked at her, she said, ‘Can I have a hug?’

  Frankie glanced up at Maria, apparently for permission.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Maria said.

  That was all it took for Frankie to release his mother’s hand and let Noemi draw his little body to her. ‘I’m so happy you’re here. I’ve missed you tons.’

  Seb’s heart felt heavy in his chest. Maybe Frankie didn’t truly remember his aunt Noemi either, but he’d still allowed her to hug him.

  He’d been almost afraid of him. How could he have let that happen? He’d hoped his visits and video calls would have kept his memory fresh in Frankie’s little mind, but apparently they hadn’t been enough.

  And Seb knew that those few stolen days hadn’t been anywhere near enough for him. He’d missed so much already. How could he let Maria go again, knowing how much more he would miss? Just like his own parents had missed Leo’s childhood when they’d sent him away for adoption.

  Frankie pulled back and returned to his mother’s side, and Noemi stood again, turning her attention back to Maria.

  Unable to watch any longer, Seb moved away to join Leo and the others. Hopefully Noemi would get to the point of whatever it was she’d called them all there to talk about soon, and then he could pour himself a large drink and feel depressed about his life choices again. That was always a good time.

  ‘Noemi,’ Sebastian said, ‘why did you call us all here? We weren’t supposed to meet for another week. Is it the attorney? Does he have news for us?’

  Noemi shook her head. ‘This isn’t about the will.’

  ‘Then what is it about?’ Sebastian’s gaze moved to the man who had his arm around his sister, and then back to Noemi. ‘You know I don’t like guessing games.’

  A sharp elbow in his ribs told him that Maria had come to stand beside him. Oh, good. She’d retained one wifely habit at least.

  ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be here,’ Leo said, presumably meaning him and Anissa.

  ‘Of course you should,’ Noemi said. ‘You are my brother as much as Sebastian is. Our separation as kids was a horrible mistake, but I hope that in the future there will be no distance. Because I’m going to need all of you.’

  Oh, God. What now? How much more disaster could this family take?

  But then Noemi smiled. ‘It’s nothing bad. I promise. I... I’m pregnant. You’re going to be uncles.’ And then glancing at the women, she added, ‘And aunts.’

  For a moment there was silence as everyone took in the news.

  His little sister. A mother.

  ‘And we’re having twins,’ Noemi added. As if one baby wasn’t enough of a shock.

  But she was still his sister. Stepping forward, Seb stared her in the eye and tried to think what their father would have said. Salvo Cattaneo had always known what to say.

  ‘Are you happy?’ Because, in the end, that was what mattered, wasn’t it?

  Noemi smiled at him. ‘I’ve never been happier.’

  He studied her face for a moment to make sure she was telling him the truth. And then he put his hands on her shoulders, like he remembered their father doing. ‘Then I am happy for you, too. Congratulations.’

  He pulled her into his arms and gave her a tight hug—something he wasn’t sure he’d done since they’d learned of their parents’ deaths. His relationship with Noemi hadn’t always been without tension or frustration but he did love her, even if he didn’t always understand her, or what she wanted from him.

  When Sebastian released her and backed away, Leo stepped up to her, and Seb watched to see how the new brother would deal with the news. ‘You do know that I have no id
ea about children or how to be a cool uncle, right?’

  She smiled and nodded. ‘I think you’ll figure it out. In fact, I’ll insist.’

  She reached out and hugged him, too, which seemed to take Leo by surprise.

  When they pulled apart, Noemi moved to Max’s side. She placed her hand in his, lacing her fingers with his. ‘Do you want to tell the rest?’

  ‘You’re doing fine,’ Max replied, sounding laid-back about the whole twin situation. Really, at this point, what more news could there be?

  ‘First, I should probably introduce Max by his proper name,’ Noemi said. Sebastian frowned. ‘I’d like you to meet Crown Prince Maximilian Steiner-Wolf. He is the heir to the throne of the European principality of Ostania.’

  A prince? His baby sister was pregnant by a prince? Seb knew he’d been distracted lately, but how had he missed this much?

  Noemi drew in a deep breath and then slowly expelled it. ‘And he has asked me to marry him.’

  Well, that was something, otherwise Max and he would have had to have words.

  Then Maria said, ‘You’ll be a princess,’ and the reality of the situation set in fully. His wife always saw to the heart of a matter first.

  ‘Wow,’ Anissa said in awe, which pretty much covered Seb’s thoughts on the subject.

  ‘Yes, she will.’ Max spoke up. ‘She will be the most beautiful and compassionate princess. And I couldn’t be luckier. I promise you that I will do my best to make her happy.’

  Sebastian looked between Noemi and Max. ‘So you’re moving to Ostania?’ He wasn’t sure how he felt about her being so far away. On the one hand, maybe they’d argue less. On the other, without Maria, and with his parents gone, and no commitment from Leo to hang around past Christmas, Seb would be on his own. Completely alone, for the first time ever.

  His head spun at the thought.

  ‘I’m afraid that my duties are increasing and after Christmas I will need to spend the bulk of my time in Ostania,’ Max explained. ‘I’m sorry to take your sister away from you all, but you will always be welcome at our home.’

  ‘Don’t you mean your palace?’ Maria asked.

  Max nodded. ‘Yes. And it has a lot of guest rooms.’

  ‘Guest rooms that I expect all of you to use regularly,’ Noemi said firmly. ‘Wait until you see this place. It’s beautiful. And they have great skiing. But I wanted you all to know that we will be here for Christmas. It’ll be a family Christmas just like Mamma and Papà would have wanted.’

  With all them together—including Maria and Frankie. Even if it might be the last time it ever happened.

  No. He wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t.

  He had to fix things. And without his papà there to guide him, he was going to have to figure it out on his own.

  ‘Now you all know everything, we can concentrate on celebrating,’ Noemi said, clapping her hands together. ‘Max, I haven’t even properly introduced you to Sebastian’s wife. This is Maria.’

  ‘Mrs Cattaneo,’ Max said, with princely suaveness as he took her hand.

  ‘Not Cattaneo,’ Maria said, too fast. ‘I’m going by Rossi again now.’ Wait. She’d given up his name now, too? They weren’t divorced; legally she was still a Cattaneo. But the fact that she’d chosen her maiden name over his stung. Even worse was the way she’d said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious.

  Sebastian shot her a look. ‘Did we get divorced without me noticing?’

  He saw Maria’s temper flare in her eyes. Good. He shouldn’t be the only one angry here. ‘Given everything else that happened in our marriage without you noticing, it wouldn’t surprise me,’ she said caustically.

  ‘And now it definitely feels like a proper family Christmas.’ Noemi rolled her eyes. ‘Come on, Maria. Let’s go show Frankie the master suite. I’ve had them set up the second bedroom there for the two of you.’

  The second bedroom? Something primal rose up in Sebastian’s chest at the idea. Maria was his wife, and he wanted her back where she belonged, in his bed. In his arms.

  Was that so much to ask?

  His objections must have shown on his face because Noemi arched her perfect eyebrows at him in amusement.

  ‘What?’ Noemi asked her brother. ‘You didn’t really think she was going to just move back into your room, did you?’

  Yes, of course he had, when he’d let himself think about it all. Which hadn’t been often. He hadn’t truly believed Maria would come home until he’d opened the door to find her standing there with Frankie.

  But he’d hoped. And when he’d hoped, this hadn’t at all been the homecoming he’d imagined.

  ‘Frankie can stay here with me,’ he said softly. Another wish he’d had dashed this evening—a joyous reunion with his son.

  He hadn’t thought it possible to miss such a little human as much as he had. But now it seemed that Frankie barely even knew who he was.

  ‘Frankie wants to see his room,’ Noemi said, sweeping aside his suggestion. ‘Don’t you, Frankie? Come on. You come with Auntie Noemi and Uncle Max and leave Papà to sulk here alone.’ She put one arm around Maria’s waist, guiding Frankie forward with her other hand until he stumbled. Maria swooped down to pick up the little boy, laughing and kissing him as she did so.

  None of them looked back at Sebastian.

  And then they were gone, his whole family disappearing through the door in a whirl of excitement and leaving him behind.

  Leaving him alone.

  Again.

  CHAPTER TWO

  MARIA KNEW SEBASTIAN probably better than anyone in the world, even—or perhaps especially—his sister. And she was almost certain that slipping back neatly into his life, into his bed, was exactly what Sebastian had expected. That she’d give up her little rebellion now she’d remembered what she’d walked away from. Or that she’d have forgotten the arguments, and the loneliness, that had made her leave in the first place.

  Well. The bedroom situation was only the first of many disappointments he was likely to experience during her visit, then.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Noemi whispered in her ear, quietly enough that Frankie—who was playing a peek-a-boo game with his new uncle Max—wouldn’t hear.

  Maria nodded, not trusting herself to tell the lie aloud.

  Of course she wasn’t okay. She’d never be okay as long as she was here.

  How could everything have changed so much? A new brother in Leo—and soon a sister-in-law, too, given how he was looking at Anissa—Noemi becoming a princess and mother to twins... And yet in some ways nothing had changed at all.

  Not when it came to Seb, or their marriage, anyway.

  Noemi sighed. ‘My brother is such an idiot.’

  Maria didn’t argue with that.

  The main staircase in the chalet wound up to the second floor, all warmth and wood and local charm. ‘Chalet’ was a ridiculous word for the Cattaneos’ home in the Alps, in Maria’s opinion. A chalet sounded like a small cosy wooden cabin or a rustic lodge you stopped in just long enough to grab a hot chocolate before heading home to a real house.

  The Cattaneos’ chalet was neither small, cosy nor rustic. It was huge, spanning four floors with sprawling bedrooms with balconies, large, welcoming living spaces, a well-appointed kitchen and huge dining room for entertaining. Not to mention the heated indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool in the outbuilding.

  Maria’s parents had always been wealthy enough—their own business portfolio had seen to that—but next to the Cattaneos they were paupers. And when their own business had gone through a difficult time—to the point of possible bankruptcy—well, it was no wonder her father had been so keen to marry his only daughter off to the Cattaneos’ only son and heir, in a merger that could not only save them but strengthen both their companies.

  In her father’s mind, Maria had been
nothing more than a means to an end, she realised now. While she’d been away, studying business, discovering a flair and aptitude for it that had surprised even her, he’d been making other plans for her future. His only child, his heiress—but only if there was a business left to inherit.

  Except, while she was still an only child, Sebastian was anything but. Even if she discounted Noemi—who not only had no interest in the family business, according to Sebastian, but was now apparently running off to be a princess in Ostania, wherever that was—there was Leo to take into account, too.

  It had taken a lot of questions to get the full story of Leo’s existence from Noemi. Maria’s father had returned from Salvo’s and Nicole’s funerals with news of a rumour—another Cattaneo child—and had demanded that Maria stop sulking and call her husband to find out the truth of it. She hadn’t, of course. She’d called Noemi instead.

  It seemed that Salvo and Nicole had conceived a son together, out of wedlock, when they had been only teenagers. Their families had been scandalised and, never imagining that the couple would actually stay together, had demanded that the baby be given up for adoption.

  But once they had been free of their parents’ oppression, married to each other and still madly in love, Salvo and Nicole had searched for their lost son. Even after they’d had Sebastian and Noemi, for more than thirty years they’d searched. And finally they’d found him—only for them to be killed in a helicopter crash on their way to see him.

  It was tragic. Heartbreaking, even.

  But the only thing Maria’s father had taken away from the story was that there was another Cattaneo heir now. One who, if reports were correct, had been left a controlling share in the hugely successful jewellery business.

  ‘Maybe you were right to leave him after all,’ Maria’s father had said, when he’d heard the story just a few weeks ago. ‘The divorce settlement should be good, and you’re still young enough to marry again. We’ll choose better next time.’

  Maria hadn’t spoken to him since.

  ‘Here we are!’ Noemi’s bright and cheerful tone caught Maria by surprise, and she almost slipped on the final step leading up to the top floor.