‘Please don’t play me like a fool,’ I say. ‘You can be honest with me. I don’t need you to spare my feelings. Just because we promised to cherish one another, no matter what comes our way, with a love that’s tender and true. A promise to stay honest and faithful when times get hard and confusing.’
Matteo is admiring of my excellent memory.
‘I had to learn a lot of lines very quickly for the Sinfonia. It’s greatly improved my memory for lyrics,’ I explain.
‘What else did we promise each other?’
‘Well,’ I say, biting my bottom lip. ‘You promised to never leave me in Heartbreak Hotel. Or to have a suspicious mind. You also promised to love me tender, and love me sweet, and to never let me go.’
The words hang in the air. It’s almost as though Elvis knew what was coming our way.
Matteo takes my hand. ‘I’m not abandoning you. And I meant everything I said. Yesterday was one of the happiest moments of my life. Second only to being handcuffed on stage with you at that music festival and listening to that song you wrote.’
I clear my throat. ‘The song that definitely wasn’t about you?’
‘Yes. The song you wrote that was called “Matteo, I Love Everything About You”. The one that definitely wasn’t about me.’
‘Uh-huh.’ That was excruciatingly embarrassing. It was a masterclass in oversharing.
Matteo lifts my chin, forcing me to lose myself in his dark swirls. He blinks slowly, his lashes sweeping his eyes clear. Seeing me upset is killing him. His emotions are written all over his face.
‘I’m in love with you, Connie.’ His words explode in my brain like fireworks, lighting up my entire body from within. ‘I’m just a hunk, a hunk of burning love for you.’
A giggle escapes my lips. I arch towards him, my head tipping back, lips parted and plumped for action. Just as I’m about to tell him that I love him too, there’s a thumping on the door.
‘Ignore it,’ he says.
‘What if it’s the killer?’
‘Definitely ignore it then.’
The thumping grows more insistent. ‘Matteo?C’est moi, Birdie. J’ai besoin de te voir. C’est urgent.’
23
Matteo opens the door to an anxious-looking Birdie. She spots me immediately and leans forward to whisper in his ear.
‘What? How did that happen?’ Matteo says loudly in a strained voice, stepping away from her. ‘I don’t understand. Can’t they get around it somehow?’
Birdie shakes her head. Her usual cool exterior and nonchalant poise have deserted her.
‘Have you tried talking to him?’
Again, she shakes her head. ‘He’s on the plane. He wants to see us as soon as he lands.’
‘And the investors?’
‘Furious.’
Matteo rakes his hand through his hair as he swivels back towards her. I see his lips pressed tightly together, his eyes dull. It must be bad, whatever she said. Matteo links his hands together, resting them on the crest of his head as he groans loudly. ‘Fuuuuuuuuck.’
‘I don’t know what to do,’ Birdie says, putting a hand to her throat. ‘I thought they were okay with it.’ She huffs. ‘I should have stayed with them at the studio.’
Matteo moves his hands to his pockets. ‘Yes, you should have. Instead of following me here on some wild goose chase. And trying to cause trouble between me and my wife.’
Nobody could have prepared me for the jolt of feeling that swooshes through me at the sound of Matteo calling me his wife. Birdie studies me for a second, and even from the far side of the room I can see her face go red. Matteo sounds really annoyed with her. Part of me is secretly very pleased and I’m loving how he is standing up to her. She’s nothing but a bully, at the end of the day.
‘What time does he land?’ he asks forcefully.
