His words were cold, and tears rushed up into my eyes. “You don’t mean that.” My voice shook. I knew he didn’t mean it.
“Yes, I do.” He shrugged his wide shoulders. “It’s been fun, Sophia, but it’s over now. I think it’s best if you go back inside and dance with your fiancé.”
“But…” The words stuck in my throat.
“Congratulations.” Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing on the terrace.
“But I love you,” I whispered, even though I knew he couldn’t hear it. And even if he could, what difference would it make?
Unless we decided to run away together, I would marry a man ten years older than me before my next birthday.
Watching his retreating back, I called out to him again, “I love you.”
For a second, he paused. “I know,” he called back, and then disappeared down the stairs, leaving me there with silent tears slipping down my face,
“Yes,” I whispered back. “Yes, it's reminding me of that night. The first time you broke my heart.”
His chuckle was sarcastic. “Breaking your heart? Do you know how I felt watching you dance with him? Knowing that he was the one who got to kiss you?”
My eyes widened. “You watched me dance with him. I thought you left?”
Silently, he shook his head. “I should have, but that just about killed me. That’s when I knew how I felt about you. That’s when I knew I would do anything to keep you.”
“Are you saying?” I whispered. Two months after my emergent announcement, Kaleb had been found dead in the bed of a prostitute. “Did you do that?”
Matteo stared at me steadily. “I think our night is at an end,” he said firmly. “Let’s go home.”
Entwining our fingers, he motioned for his security, and they parted the crowd for us.
“But to answer your question, Sophia, I did what I had to do to keep you in my life.” His eyes flashed. “I will always do what I have to in order to keep you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Matteo
We travelled home in silence. Each one of us was too lost in our own thoughts and memories to make idle conversation.
Side by side, we rode up on the elevator. The backs of our hands brushed each other’s, but I didn’t reach for her, and she didn’t make a move, either.
“Matteo?” she whispered when the elevator door opened and we stepped into the apartment. It was dark. Only one solitary lamp was on next to the cream sectional. I headed in that direction and ignored her.
Not because I was angry at her, but because my memories of the heartbreak I had felt that night were warring with my suspicions of her.
Nothing I had found out so far had been incriminating, but there was an open pit in my stomach that told me that something was going on and that Sophia knew all about it.
Falling down onto the soft cushions, I sighed, leaning back and closing my eyes.
“Would you like me to leave you alone?” Sophia’s voice was barelya whisper and came from somewhere behind me. Not moving, I shook my head before realizing she couldn’t see.
“No,” I said instead. “No, I need you.” Frowning, I sat upright. Why did I say it like that? “I just mean…” The words died on my lips as she came to a stop in front of me. Her small, soft hand reached out to run through my hair.
“I don’t like seeing you like this, Matteo,” she whispered, and I pulled her between my thighs. Crushing my face into her stomach, I held her to me so tightly.
“It’s nothing. Just…” I left the rest unsaid because she knew what I was talking about. The past kept creeping up on us. It was a past I had thought I had dealt with and put behind me, but clearly I hadn’t, because it was all I could think about.
Correction, she was all I could think about. Suddenly, I was a know-it-all, twenty-something-year-old boy again, unsure of myself but full of bravado.
Things were different now. We were both adults, but when I looked at her, I saw the girl who had called after me to tell me she loved me. I couldn’t help it, even when I knew she was probably my enemy, I still loved her.
