Silence.
Bruno stood in front of me, jaw clenched.
The anger on my tongue shifted into something different. I ignored it.
"Makes no sense what you're doing. Fucking people to hurt or forget me."
My laughter was uncontrollable. "Bruno, when a good cock is in me—your ego might not believe this—but I don't remember you."
Silence.
"I'm fucking done," he said.
"You make it sound like that hasn't been the case for a while. Fuck Tina, anybody you want. Shit, I have a whole dating app you can choose from."
Obviously, I'd be the first to give him a one-star rating.
"Let's just get through the media events, then deal with the rest later," he said.
Briefly, I watched him, puzzled, before it hit me that Bruno planned to come with me to California. We still had the Greenslate dinner and the PR tour. I didn't love the idea, but one thing you could count on was my poker face. This man, more than anyone, would not get the satisfaction of seeing me shaken. "Be ready to leave tonight so we can catch the red-eye."
He shrugged. "Fine."
"FINE!" I yelled, not proudly, but why did he suddenly act as if I'd invited him and he was begrudgingly coming?
We boardedthe flight like strangers, though just hours ago we were bickering like two people who knew exactly where to hit and cause the most damage to each other. For more than five hours, we sat side by side, Bruno with his arms crossed, while I stared out the window, pretending the clouds were more fascinating than they really were. Not a word was spoken the whole flight, but his presence was louder than anything he could've said. And maybe, just maybe, I hated how much I still felt it.
When the plane landed at LAX Airport, I stood.
Bruno broke the silence as I removed my bag from the overhead compartment. "Alex, let's put our differences aside and work hard to give Amoré Nights the best launch possible."
I glared. This was my baby. Why wouldn't I work to give it the best way forward? "Fine. Let's go."
Our itinerary for California was packed. We had interviews with all the television stations and every social media influencer Greenslate had connections with, and unfortunately for me, all of them had the same annoying questions. After the ninthinterview, the smile plastered on my face slipped. As the face of Amoré Nights, there was an expectation, not just that I was a believer in love, but also that I was actively searching for it to make my existence whole. Across from this annoying Bay Point News Now reporter, I desperately tried to keep the mask in place. "Why did you create Amoré Nights?"
Why? I knew many women were fools for love and figured I'd multiply my trust fund in a short amount of time. "For the women who are searching for love in all the wrong places. I want to help them," I answered as my cheeks hurt slightly from holding the fake smile in place, but I had too much depending on this, so I held it in, steady like armor.
"Let's be honest, do we need a new dating app?"
Hell no, each app had the same rejects, just with a different profile.
"I think one more doesn't hurt if it has something new to offer. Amoré Nights is like a village, women rating and helping each other."
When she nodded at my answer, I tried to stretch my smile a bit wider. It still didn't reach my eyes, but it seemed to be enough.
The reporter looked at my finger, and already I knew the next question.
"I don't see a ring. Are you on Amoré Nights?"
I didn't miss a beat. "Of course, I'm looking for Mr. Right, just like so many women. We're all romantics at heart. I'm not going to pretend I'm not the biggest among them."
I was mid-lie, my voice smooth and composed, when a loud crash tore through the room without warning. My head snapped up, and there Bruno was, standing by the mess he'd caused, eyes locked on mine like he was shocked I possessed the skill to lie as well as he could. For a second, everything else vanished.The noise, the cameras, even the interviewer's voice faded into nothing. It was just him and me, locked in a stare.
I sat there, ears ringing, bits of porcelain scattering across the floor. A producer rushed over, headset bobbing, waving a phone.
"Alexandra, quick reel for TikTok. Sixty seconds."
I smiled, the kind that really hurt my cheeks. "Love should feel like a risk worth taking."
