“I need to work hard, you know that,” she answered. “Lots of people relying on me—there are publicity engagements, photoshoots, interviews, you know the drill. Especially over the last eighteen months,” Kim continued, referring to Villa Dolce Vita. “This new venture is the culmination of everything we’ve worked for, Antonio, the showcase for the brand. Obviously it’s taken a huge amount of my time and effort. If we want Villa Dolce Vita to be all it can be, then I need to put in the necessary care and attention.”

“But what about your family? Doesn’t it also deserve your care and attention?”

His words were a jolt to her system and she didn’t know how to answer. Kim supposed she’d never thought of it in those terms. She scoffed internally. The Sweet Life was all about mindfulness and finding balance in all things, yet she knew that, ironically, her own life once again was heavily off-kilter.

“Bella? Where did you go?”

Kim snapped back to reality as they pulled up close to the trattoria. “Sorry, what?”

Antonio laughed. “I said that I think there is a lot more going on than what you are telling me. Let’s talk about it properly over lunch.”

But where to even begin? Kim wasn’t sure she had the words to express the turmoil in her brain as she took a seat across from her mentor and friend inside the charming cliffside restaurant.

How could she confide in Antonio everything that was going on in her life just now, let alone the sense of dread she felt deep down?

To say nothing of the ugly truth that Kim was turning out to be a terrible mother. Just like her own.

Gloria had never cared about Kim. Never considered her daughter or what she wanted. The only thing her mother ever desired was her own ends. It didn’t matter how they came, as long as she got them.

Kim realized a long time ago that she had been just another one of her mother’s devices. Her father had wanted a child to carry on the Weston legacy. They’d hoped for a son but Kim was it, and her mother had lived with that as best she could. She made sure she had nannies and the housekeeper to tend to Kim’s every scrape and need, while she jet-setted across the world. Success was all she cared about.

Kim never experienced what it was like to have a mother’s love. And now it seemed she lacked the skills and knowledge to give it to her own flesh and blood. While she, too, relentlessly pursued success.

“Bella?” Antonio pressed when the waiter had poured the wine.

“It’s just...most of the time I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted to Antonio, as tears filled her eyes. “With Lily, I mean.”