Chapter Six
Matteo
She was shaking.
I just didn’t know if being next to me was making her nervous or murderous. Knowing Sophia, it was probably both.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I side eyed her. She’d been quiet the entire drive from the hotel, her face turned to stare out the window and her lips spending half their time trembling like she was trying not to cry and the other half of the time in a thin, set line.
It made me wonder what she was actually leaving behind in London that made her want to cry. She’d said there was no man in her life, but maybe there was a woman? Maybe even the roommate?
Even if it wasn’t the woman she lived with, it was definitely someone, and I made a mental note to get someone to look into it when we got back to the States.
“Not long now and you will be home.” I did a double-take as the words slid out of my mouth.
Sure, I had been thinking them, but I hadn’t meant to say them.
Sophia’s head snapped around, her eyes swimming with tears as she studied me. “What?”
“I just mean,” running my hand through my hair, I groaned, “it’s been a long time since you came home, right?”
Ten whole seconds passed as she looked at me. Her eyes narrowed as she searched my face. “Why are you trying to make conversation with me Matteo?”
“We might as well be civil don’t you think?” Shifting my weight, I half turned to her.
It wasn’t just her lips that were trembling, but her hands as well. In fact, her whole body was shaking like she was trying to control herself and not burst into inconsolable sobs.
My eyebrows slammed down. Just who was she going to miss in this city? Jealousy ripped through me.
“After all, we are going to spend a lot of time together.” My fingers flexed into my palm so I didn’t reach for her. I wanted to.
I wanted to run my hands all over her body and see if I could still make her shiver and tremble in a new but familiar way.
I wanted to push any memories of the person she was going to miss right out of her brain and fill it with nothing but me.
She’s not yours and you are not hers, a small, bitter voice said in my brain. And my fist clenched. She used you. Sophia is the enemy.
“Yeah.” One last sweep of her eyes across my face and then she went back to staring out of the window, leaving me to stare at her profile with a frown on my face.
“Are you really going to miss this place so much?” I blurted. “You never liked London before. You always preferred being close to your family and friends in New York. Really, I’m doing you a favour.”
Sophia’s head snapped around. “I was a stupid kid back then. I didn’t know any different. I love New York, but my life is here. My family is…”
“In New York,” I snapped.
“My brother is in New York,” she snapped right back. “Well actually, he’s in London where I’m supposed to be. And the rest of my family is gone.” Again she turned to me. “I have people I care about here, Matteo. People I love.” She stressed the word, and my eyebrows punched together.
Someone she loved? She had said she wasn’t seeing someone, that I was the only person who she had ever been with, so who was this person?
“Oh yeah?” I leaned forward, invading her space. “And who is that?”
For a split second her eyes widened. Absently, she lifted her fingers and rubbed them against her eyes, brushing away the tears.
“It doesn’t matter. I would have liked to have said goodbye to them that’s all. I would have liked to explain.”
We lapsed into silence as the sleek car moved toward the small private airport we were flying from.
“Like you said goodbye and explained to me?”
