They sure covered an awful lot of ground in just a couple of minutes.
‘Ah,’ I say, embarrassed at how callous this is going to sound. ‘Yes. Hedidsave my life. But that debt was repaid in full by me saving him from public embarrassment.’
Matteo raises his brow.
‘He got a massive boner on stage, which I hid with my skirt…’ Even to my ears, it sounds relatively disproportionate when said aloud. ‘But to be fair, the proposal was entirely cocaine-fuelled, and I’m pretty sure he was just after a solution to him having to make a political marriage of convenience. I thought he was proposing a fake relationship. A fake marriage.’
‘Boner? Cocaine fuelled? Fake marriage?’ Matteo says, his jaw hanging open.
I’m really digging myself into a hole here.
‘Not me. Just him. He was very high. And drunk. Disgustingly drunk.’
‘When? Where?’ Matteo is beginning to look very concerned. He swivels round to see if Luke is still hiding, but he has gone.
‘In York. In the hotel’s private dining room.’
‘He sounds very out of order, Connie. He’s crossed a line. Several lines,’ he says firmly.
‘Yes.’ I gulp. ‘I just went along with it at the time because he said we needed to stay away from the press who’d been printing lies about us.’
Matteo sounds bewildered. ‘Lies? What kind of lies?’
I need to stop talking. He obviously hasn’t had time to read the articles. And I’m making myself sound very wishy-washy and not in control.
‘Just love-triangle sort of lies. And me being after Luke’s money because he’s very rich. And me trying to infiltrate the House of Glucksburg because he’s Norwegian royalty. And me ruining the Sinfonia’s reputation by encouraging everyone to behave as though they’re in a Jilly Cooper bonkbuster. That sort of thing. Just gossipy headlines.’ I blow out my cheeks. When put like that, I’ve had to deal with quite a lot over the past couple of weeks.
Matteo rubs his face with both hands, dragging them down his chin. He looks stern. He must think I’m batshit crazy. ‘Christ. As long as you’re okay?’
‘I am.’
‘You come with a lot of baggage, don’t you?’ He shakes his head. ‘Come on. You can tell me all about this love triangle when we get to the hotel.’
‘And Birdie?’ I ask. ‘What will we tell her?’
‘The same thing,’ he says. ‘We’re a couple.’ He gives me an intense look as though to say,Aren’t we?
I nod back, squeezing his hand tightly, as a goofy grin spreads across my face.We’re a bona fide couple!
‘Let’s get out of here,’ he says, just as a crowd of rowdy men dressed as cheerleaders sail past. ‘Everyone in this place is insane.’
‘Speaking of which…’ I say, nodding to the Dollz and Ged and Liam. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t pluck up the courage to tell you earlier.’
A faint chuckle escapes from his lips. ‘Ah, yes. You brought your yellow friends with you.’
I laugh. ‘Don’t even go there.’
‘Very happy not to.’ He pulls my hand and swirls me around Latino-style as I spin towards him. ‘Nice wig. Nice Barbie dress.’ He stares down at me. Sparks crackle between us. His eyes roam my face before his lips meet mine. The soft contact leaves me dizzy and in no doubt about how he feels as a riptide of passion engulfs us. He breaks off, slightly out of breath and disoriented. I unravel him. I can tell that he has no idea why we have such strong chemistry, but we just do. He pulls me into him, one hand at the nape of my neck, the other round my waist, as he finds my lips once more. This time I feel his tongue slide gently into my mouth, lightly caressing my tongue, joining us together. I tighten my arms around his neck and send a quick thank you prayer to the universe. After so many years of sadness, this thing we have brings me such joy, I can barely describe how other-worldly it feels.
We finally break apart, dazed. ‘Ready, Cenicienta?’
My Cinderella nickname from when we first met.My heart skips a beat. I blink slowly. I am so unbelievably far from ready.
* * *
Once we have prised the Dollz, Ged and Liam away from the slot machines, we wheel our piled-high trolleys to the exit, where a huge pink limo is waiting for us. The uniformed driver is standing beside it, ready to assist.
‘It’s fully stocked,’ says Matteo, slipping into host mode. ‘I understand we have much to celebrate.’
