IT WASN’T! It was! It was Megan. Luigi Costanzo had overheard the child telling Santa that all she wanted for Christmas was a daddy. It had aroused his curiosity, even caused a faint stir somewhere deep within him, and he’d watched her as she returned to her mother. She was a pretty little girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes, but it was the shock of seeing who was her parent that caused him to do a double take.

Megan!

His Megan!

Megan, whom he hadn’t seen for almost four years.

What the hell?

Luigi looked from mother to daughter and his eyes narrowed. Megan still had the same shoulder-length blonde hair, the same slender figure; nothing about her had changed. She didn’t even look any older. He swung on his heel, snapping his fingers at his nearest employee. ‘Please follow that woman and report back to me with her address.’

‘Yes, sir.’

If the young man was surprised he didn’t show it. He spurted into immediate action. There was no arguing with the new owner of Gerards. He’d had everyone on their toes ever since he took over a few months ago.

’Sweetheart, what did you ask for?’ Megan looked down at her beloved daughter, who was skipping happily along at her side. There hadn’t really been time to visit Santa’s grotto but Charlotte had pleaded so eloquently that Megan couldn’t find it in her heart to refuse. There was always another train, even if it meant travelling home at the height of the rush hour.

‘For a daddy.’

Megan hid her surprise, smiling indulgently instead. ‘I don’t think Santa supplies daddies. You were supposed to ask for a toy.’ Her heart felt heavy as she spoke. Charlotte was right, she did need a father, and if Luigi had been different…

Megan halted her thoughts. It was no good letting them run along those lines. She had been an idiot for marrying him, for allowing her parents to convince her that she could do no better. He was a man with big ambition; she would never want for anything, they had said.

She could understand their reasoning because money had been the bane of their lives, her father never able to

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