“Don’t worry. I know you need to talk to him about the market.”
I blinked. Ididneed to talk to him about that. “Yeah, yeah.”
“I’ll tell him to get back to you ASAP, but you know how he is.” Zach’s grin returned, broad and easy. “We’ll talk in the New Year, alright?”
“Of course! You’re right.” I forced my own smile. “Let’s just have fun tonight.”
He kissed Maria again and tugged her toward the dance floor. She glanced back at me, her smile sweet and soft before she let herself be pulled into his arms.
And then I was alone.
Surrounded, yes – the room thrummed with people, voices layered in laughter, glasses raised in toasts, dressesshimmering beneath the golden light. Outside, fireworks were already starting in the distance, faint sparks against the glass skyline.
But in the middle of it all – this glittering penthouse in the heart of Manhattan – I felt a pang of loneliness lodge deep in my chest.
Everyone seemed to belong with someone.
Everyone but me.
The party was in full swing – music swelling, glasses clinking, voices rising louder as midnight bled into the early minutes of the new year. I found myself standing in a quieter corner of the apartment, near the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the city instead of the crowd. Manhattan glittered beneath the night sky, alive and buzzing, while I felt… Still.
Pathetic, really, the way disappointment had been sitting heavy in my chest. All becausehewasn’t here.
I guessed it had all just been building up since the last time I saw him in Vegas. Two months ago.
I hated how often my mind wandered back there – back to him.Two goddamn monthsof replaying moments I should have forgotten, twisting them into things they weren’t, imagining conversations we never had. It was pathetic, and worse, it was dangerous. I told myself I hated him, that I wanted nothing to do with him. And maybe I did. Maybe hatred was the only thing keeping me sane.
But Vegas had been… Different.
Too sharp, too close, too charged to shake off. Every look, every word between us had landed like a spark on dry kindling, and I’d been burning ever since. I didn’t want it, didn’t invite it, but it was lodged under my skin, refusing to leave. And now, standing there with the city blazing beneath me and champagne still sweet on my tongue, all I could think was how badly I wanted him not to matter – how badly I was failing.
Whatever. It didn’t matter. I’d had two whole months to cool down, to shake him off, and I wasn’t about to backslide now. Matteo wasn’t under my skin anymore, not the way he had been in Vegas. That night had just been… A lapse in judgment. A moment of weakness I refused to repeat.
I didn’t want him on top of me. Not anymore.
The thought was laughable, actually – me craving the very man I despised. It had been heat and adrenaline, nothing else, a trick my body played on me in the worst possible moment. And I was smarter than that.
Matteo Di’Ablo was the last man on Earth I’d ever want, and if my chest still ached at the thought of him… That was just my hate burning.
“Happy New Year,princesa.”
My heart skipped a beat.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who the deep, smooth voice belonged to.
Still, I glanced over my shoulder. My gaze hit the broad expanse of his chest first – black dress shirt, the top buttons undone, the material pulled taut over muscle. Then higher, to where his light brown eyes caught the glow of the chandeliers, warm like honey poured over fire.
Matteo smiled down at me. “Missed me?”
I rolled my eyes before he could catch the heat rising in my cheeks. “Ugh, it’s you.”
He chuckled, low and amused, as though my irritation was a private joke only he could enjoy. “Don’t sound so excited. You were staring out at the city like you were wishing on a star. Admit it, you were waiting for me.”
“I was not.” I straightened, forcing composure into my voice. “I was enjoying the skyline. Something you wouldn’t understand.”
“Mm.” He leaned in slightly, his cologne – clean smoke and sage – curling around me. “You’re right. I don’t understand staring at the city when there are better views in the room.”
A laugh escaped me. “You’re crazy.”
