Page 185 of Matteo

I shake my head once. “Don’t.”

His face twists like I’ve struck him, and oddly, that gives me a sense of satisfaction, because I want him to feel that pain.

“What’s going on?” Sonny asks, rushing in.

“Where’s Alex?” Matteo growls.

Chapter 43

MATTEO

Fucking unbelievable. My life seems to be getting harder with every passing day.

I told Alex to meet us in one of the meeting rooms, away from prying eyes and ears. I also asked Elizabeth to come along with me. We’re going to do this together. That much, at least, I owe her.

Alex isn’t here yet, and it’s just me and Elizabeth. She doesn’t say anything. She sits at the large round glass table, as far away from me as possible.

She doesn't even look at me.

I fucked up.

I hurt her in exactly the way she's spent her whole life being hurt. Dismissed and rejected. I don't have the words to explain how fucking awful I feel.

“Elizabe—”

“Don't.” Curt, sharp and deadly. A warning to me to keep away.

She won't let me in. Won't give me a chance to apologize or explain.

“I just want to—”

“Don't.” The word has a sharper edge now, and I have to back off. She has the utmost loathing for me. I deserve it, because I doubted her. After everything she told me, after everything that happened between us, I made her feel like a criminal.

I deserve her contempt, but I can't live with her hating me forever.

I care about her deeply, and I accused her of a heinous act, only to find out that the man I could trust with my life, is the one who has let me down the most.

This entire episode has been emotionally jarring. It feels like everything I knew and believed crumbled into pieces, and now I'm trying desperately to put everything back together again in a way that makes sense.

But Elizabeth hates me, and justly so. I can't come to terms with the idea that I might have lost the one person I love, because of my doubts and fears. I messed this up so badly, so epically, that I can't see how to fix it.

Tense, prickly minutes tick by. Then Alex walks in. His gaze goes to me, then Elizabeth, then me, and I see his body visibly slouch.

He knows.

“Alex,” I say. “Take a seat.”

His expression remains calm as ever. He’s composed, just like he’s always been, as he takes a seat.

“What’s this about?” He glances between us again.

Elizabeth sits, her body rigid, her posture straight, but she looks like she’d rather be anywhere than here.

I look Alex square in the eye. “You accessed a restricted pathway ten minutes ago.”

At first, he doesn’t react but twiddles his thumbs. Then, “That’s not unusual. We’ve all been working extended hours.”

“It was a fake pathway.”