“Abby’s been running the online side while Colin and Peter have concentrated on the brick-and-mortar store.” Elena suddenly noticed the furious look on his face. “That’s the arrangement Abby made. I thought you knew.”
“I’ll get Abby to call you.”
“Thanks. I’ll be able to finish the report once I have the numbers.” Elena walked to the door. “You know, we should look at her online model. It might stop some of the bleeding at Books 4 Less.” With that parting shot, Elena exited his office and closed thedoor behind her.
The pencil in his hand snapped. Fury flooded him, refortifying the walls around his heart. Why hadn’t she told him she was still working? Was she only pretending to be building a life with him, when in reality she was waiting for her grandmother to get well, and then she’d leave again?
Dante felt as if an earthquake had tilted his building and he could hardly stand. He forced himself to his feet. He’d let her softness fool him once more. She’d purposely hidden her ongoing involvement in her business, just as she’d hidden the fact that she’d started taking birth control pills when they’d first married.
His stomach clenched with anguish. What else had she lied about? Was she back on contraceptives? Was her eagerness in his bed all an act? Did she have any intention of giving him a child? He tried to get his breathing under control even though he was seething inside. A picture of Abby’s grandmother lying in the hospital bed flooded his mind. Exactly what lengths would Abby have gone to in order to help the one person she loved most in this world?
He let out a howl of anguish. He knew. He knew because he would go to any lengths to help or protect the ones he loved, even her. Especially her. Because he—God—his legs began to buckle and he almost fell to his knees—he loved her. Of all the idiotic things—he’d fallen in love with a devious, scheming, lying… He thumped the desk. He couldn’t think past his fury.
“I’m out for the rest of the day,” he barked at his PA as he left the office.
He gunned the Porsche, the angry growl of the engine matching his darkening mood, and raced into the manic traffic heading for the villa. He was going to search her rooms and everything she owned—and if he found the evidence of her betrayal—then he’d throw her out himself.
“Thank you for the tea,”Abby said to Rachele as she put the large teapot on the table. “You’ve learned to make the best tea of any Italian I know.” Abby hadn’t eaten yet and she was beginning to feel a bit light-headed. “If you wouldn’t mind, could I have a sandwich to go with my tea?”
Rachele smiled. “Si. You missed breakfast. Are you all right? You look a bit pale.”
“Self-inflicted queasiness. I drank too much last night.”
Rachele winked. “Are you sure that’s all it is? Maybe a little bambino is on its way.”
The cup in her hand crashed to the desk, soaking all her papers. Luckily her laptop was pushed to the side.
Rachele hurried over. “I’m sorry, Abby. Here, let me wipe it up.”
Abby lifted her soaked papers and held them over the garbage bin while Rachele raced to the kitchen for some dishcloths.
A bambino? She felt the loss swamp her like a dark invading evil.No, she wanted to scream at Rachele.It’s unlikely to be a bambino.She tried to keep the tears from welling. She swallowed them back down like a child taking a spoonful of awful medicine.
A movement in the doorway caught her eye. “Hurry, Rachele, it’s about to leak off the blotter and it will stain Dante’s antique desk.”
“We can’t have that, can we? For then he’d know you’ve been using his study.”
Dante. She glanced up at his harsh tone, a welcoming smile dying on her lips. He looked stormy. Furious. She looked at his face and then at the dripping papers in her hand. “I can explain.”
He took two strides toward her and tore the soaking pages from her hand. They partially disintegrated in his hands, leaving her holding a ripped corner.
He glared at her, his hand covered in tea-soaked paper. “I just bet you can explain. But this time, I’m not going to believe you.”
“Calm down.” For once in her life, she was going to make him listen to her. She wasn’t nineteen and she wouldn’t run away because she’d been told off.
“You lied to me.” His words were said in such a low tone she almost didn’t hear them.
“Oh for goodness’ sake. I haven’t lied. You never bothered to ask me about my work.” She faced him, and all the anger that had been pent up inside from the last two days exploded. “What did you expect me to do with my time? Sit around pining for you until you came home and dragged me to bed?”
Rachele gave a discreet cough from the door.
He reached for Abby’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “Rachele, clear up this mess,” he said coldly as he dragged Abby to the master bedroom. He pushed her into the room ahead of him and slammed the door shut behind him. “What else have you lied to me about?”
Her stomach lodged somewhere in the vicinity of her toes. Her heart was sinking like a dead weight. Her lips appeared stuck as if superglued together.Oh God. He knows.
He moved to her dresser and pulled out a drawer, dumping the contents on the bed. “Are you on the pill?”
Relief flooded her. He thought she was taking contraceptives. He moved and pulled out the next drawer.
