In comparison, right now, Charles tasted like cheap beer when she’d had champagne. Not caring about being a lady, she pushed on his chest to get him off her and said, “Stop! Let me go.”
The back of her neck tingled. She stepped out of his arms and opened her car door, but then saw Stefano, his wife, Rossie, Chelsea and her husband Alex. Chelsea called out, “Sheena! Are you okay?”
Charles disappeared as her friend raced toward her.
With witnesses, there was no way Matteo wouldn’t hear about this. Despite not wanting to kiss Charles ever, she now had both clarity and anger at the same time. Her face was hot. Her cold goosebumps were because she was guilty and should have handled this better. For now she waved at her friends who then watched her get in her car. As she locked the door, she thought about Matteo.
Her husband’s kisses were far superior. She should have stopped Charles before this ever happened. She shouldn’t have let him in.
Everything was her fault.
She drove off the lot and headed home.
She parked in the front and one of the staff took the red Ferrari away—she assumed to a parking garage.
As she entered the house cold air hit her skin. She was alone in the lobby but she knew immediately that Matteo had heard what had happened.
She rushed up the stairs and hoped he would listen to her side of the story. As she flung open the bedroom door, Matteo wasn’t there.
Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the closet was only half-full and most of his suits were gone.
Adrenaline rocketed through her.
With so many rooms, it would take days to find him, if he was even here.
She headed into the hall and called out, “Matteo.”
A light flickered at the far end of the hall, the same sitting room the secretary had left Patrice in. She walked down the length of it, a shiver in her spine. She pushed open the door and hoped her husband was here.
However, she met the brown eyes of Charles. This was clearly the room where guests suspected of trouble were brought. She gripped the knob hard as Charles walked over to her and said, “He left you. He doesn’t love you.”
Did he not take a hint when she’d driven off? She’d pushed him away. How in the world had he beaten her home? Every muscle in her body tensed and she pointed toward the door. “You never should have kissed me, Charles. I don’t love you. I don’t care about you at all anymore. You need to leave me alone, get out of my home, and never come here again.”
“You’re lying.” He stepped toward her.
Her vision began to see only red. If he touched her at all, she’d find a way to stab him, forget being a lady. She glanced around the room, spotting the dull knives meant to slice pastries. He was bigger but she’d rather plummet out the glass window than ever be near Charles. She held his gaze and threw the door open to the hall. “I never lie. Goodbye.”
She stepped out and right into Matteo’s arms. Four of his servants escorted Charles from the mansion. “We need to change the locks and ensure he never gets in here.” She couldn’t catch her breath. “And I will ensure Simone knows Charles is not welcomed on the grounds.”
Matteo pivoted on his heels without saying a word and headed farther down the hall. Her body turned cold. She chased after him and he entered a powder blue guest bedroom where staff hung his clothes.
Her heart beat in her throat. She said to the household staff, “Everyone please give us a moment.”
He nodded at them like he gave his permission and headed onto the balcony without a word. She waited for the staff to leave and then followed him outside. The afternoon sun was setting. She couldn’t see its beauty. “Matteo, why did you pack all your things?”
He stared out at the vast green grounds of his estate. Water fountains in his ponds shot liquid in the air. She wished he’d turn toward her as he said, “Stefano called. I understood your heart very clearly today.”
So he knew Charles had kissed her. Her stomach knotted. “What are you talking about?”
He turned toward her, and the intensity of his gaze sent a shockwave through her, though he was at least two feet away as he held the railing on the balcony. “You are still in love with Charles.”
Every cell in her body was alert and she wished she’d stopped that kiss before it happened. “That’s not true.”
Matteo turned his attention toward the horizon again as he said, “You kissed him back. I saw the video.”
“What video?” Her heart clenched.
“Stephano had his phone.”
“I need you to trust me, Matteo.” She joined him and their elbows brushed as she peered out at the horizon next to him. “I… I realized in that kiss how wrong he was for me and how right you are.”
He glanced at her profile and she met his stare. Time must have stopped in that moment as he asked, “Do you love me?”
A twisted knot in her stomach reminded her that if she said the wrong thing, she’d ruin everything. She let out a long sigh and asked, as she hoped to delay this discussion, “Are you in love with me?”
He shrugged and his cheeks were slightly red as he said, “I might be. It’s probably part of why I’m jealous when my wife chooses another man.”
Choose? No. All Charles had done was prove how wrong he was for her and how right her life with Matteo was. She caressed his arm as she said, “I haven’t.”
He turned and removed his arm from her touch as he shook his head. “But you don’t love me.”
Today hadn’t gone as she’d hoped or planned. She batted her eyes and wished she had a better answer. “I married you.”
It was his turn to exhale as he glanced out in the distance. “That doesn’t mean much to many people. From what I understand, my own parents didn’t love each other.”
Giving her heart to Matteo wasn’t part of their plan, was it? She wasn’t ready for this. Her heart whispered she might love him, but what if that whisper was just a reaction to his question. She needed to be sure. “For me, it means loyalty to my vows. I won’t kiss or ever be with another guy. We talked about this.”
He stood straighter and stiffer. “We talked about it before your Charles returned for you.”
The air was warm but she shivered as she asked, “So what are you saying, Matteo? That you think our marriage was a mistake? I thought we were working on trust?”
He puffed out his chest. “I think we married for business reasons, and we need to keep our relationship as business, which is why I moved my clothes to my old boyhood bedroom.”
Separation. A stab to her chest would hurt less. And this room didn’t seem like a childhood anything. This was a simple guest room. “What?”
He turned to leave the balcony. “I’m going out to clear my head.”
She followed him. “When will you be back?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I need to come to terms with the idea that we’ll need to use a doctor for fertility and sleep in separate rooms.”
Fertility doctor? This was bad. She pressed her hand across her chest. “Why?”
He shook his head. “Because I don’t trust you or myself with you.”
Matteo reached for the bedroom door leading to the hall. If he left, she might never get a second chance. “Matteo, wait.” He flung open the door and started to walk out. “I’m sorry.”
He turned toward her in the doorframe. “You were always honest, Sheena. I need to straighten my thoughts out and then we’ll be fine. I can be just business from now on, at least once I stop my heart from falling any further for you.”
No. No. No. This wasn’t what she wanted at all. Somehow she needed to rewind today and find a way to start over, but Matteo strolled away like this was done.
And as he disappeared from sight, tears sprung in her eyes. She couldn’t stop the flow as they spilled down her cheeks. She wished she could, but somehow she’d just lost Matteo. They were over for good.
Chapter 16
The memory of Sheena’s pressed
lips as Matteo had asked her if she loved him wouldn’t leave him. She didn’t. She didn’t care about him. Yet his heart lifted when she was near.
He’d skated on his board toward the cold mountain peaks, his legs pumping, the wheels spinning as he flew over the asphalt.
Standing over these bluffs where some of his ancestors had once watched for foreign invaders usually sent calm through him.
Not tonight. The moon, high in the sky, and the nip at his nose from the cold did nothing to stop how his heart had caved in.
The ride here made it clear to him why. He loved Sheena. Sheena loved another man. And he was a colossal fool for ever thinking he might be happy married to her.
As he stood on the edge where soon snow would gather, Matteo glanced behind him.
Avce. The brilliant lights of his small country were a beacon of hope for so many. Here the inhabitants were all charmed, and for the most part, he was included in that number.
But Sheena had taught him that luck only went so far, because for once in his charmed life, he’d lost.
His cell phone rang and the sound was like a trumpet in the still night air. He dragged his phone from his back pocket and before he could even say hello, Stefano asked, “Matteo, where are you?”
If anyone knew him, it was his friends. He stepped on the board to keep the wheels from freezing before he had a chance to get out of here. “I went skateboarding in the mountains.”
“The mountains?” Stefano said in a higher octave than his normal gruff tone.
He wiped the ice from the corner of his eyes. “I needed to clear my head.”
“Your wife is looking for you,” Stefano said.
Sheena, as she kissed him and ran her hands over his muscles, just made him weak in the knees. He shook his head as it didn’t matter. She didn’t care about him. “I’ll get home soon enough.”
He needed to get off the phone. He checked the four wheels of his board.
“Look, I’ll meet you at Piotr' restaurant in an hour,” Stefano said.
Huh? The restaurant on the bluff was normally a tourist trap though it was reasonably close to where he was at. “You don’t have to…”
“We’re friends. I’ll be there,” Stefano said fast.
Perhaps one drink might help him clear his head. “I’ll skate over to the bluff then. Meet you there.”
Matteo put his board back on the path and skated down a hill that would soon only be accessible with skis.
Right now it was dry and cold as he raced down, the wind whipping his face.
The pain kept him alert and aware of every swish of air. She didn’t love him.
He skated onto the bluff as snow began to fall.
Below, near his home, it would be warm, not cold like this. The differing weather was one of the unique things about Avce. He picked up his board and went inside the busy restaurant.
Stefano waved for him at the bar. Matteo left his skateboard near the door and headed in toward the stools and his friend. Stefano eyed him up and down and Matteo was acutely aware of his black skater pants that clung to him and his black sports top. “Matteo, you look like you’re training for a marathon.”
If anyone in the restaurant had a problem with his outfit, he’d leave. No big deal. He sat and ordered a drink. Once the bartender left, Matteo shrugged. “It’s not that easy to erase the past.”
“I was hoping Sheena’s protests made you get her a guard.” Stefano asked in a low voice, “Things that bad with Sheena?”
Right. A vision of Sheena as he’d showed her around his house and her wide blue eyes that gazed at everything replayed in his mind. He’d wanted to kiss her then and his lips tingled for another opportunity. The bartender returned with his whiskey, neat, and Stefano’s vodka tonic. He held up his glass to cheers as he said, “No, she’s the perfect Countess. Her first ball was from all accounts a grand success.”
They sipped their hard liquor and warmth washed through to his extremities fast.
Perhaps he’d get a car to bring him home. Stefano said, “Rosalind bought a few pieces.”
“Excellent.” He downed his whiskey and ordered another.
He’d not had a good stiff drink in far too long. Since meeting Sheena in Paris, though at the time he thought marriage would end his party days.
Stefano folded his hands to his sides. “Rumor from my staff is that Charles showed up at your Villa again, after I sent you the video where Sheena ran off.”
Matteo’s face heated and he gulped the next drink and ordered another. All his life his staff saw far too much. Now instead of his father, rumors went outward toward his friends. He closed his eyes and wished that everything he’d done hadn’t caused scandal and gossip. Matteo opened his eyes and nodded at his friend. “Yes, he’s barred from my estate permanently.”
Stefano gave him that half-devilish smile that he flashed whenever they were about to cause problems and said, “That must have been satisfying to throw him out.”
“I should have barred him from the party and alerted the staff he wasn’t welcome that night, decorum be damned.” The gates were permanently barred and all the staff knew the face of the man to never let back in, but that didn’t change Sheena’s feelings.
“So that must make you feel good.”
She’d told him how she’d loved Charles, not him. And his stomach was still in a knot. “Not really.”
Stefano stirred his drink. “Why?”
An entire bottle of whiskey wouldn’t numb the idea that Sheena had married him but loved another. Matteo’s neck felt tight as he said, “Sheena had loved him.”
“Had being key there.” Stefano sipped his drink.
But that was more than she could muster for how she felt about him. He’d asked her, point blank, and she hadn’t answered. She didn’t care about him in the same way. “He left her heartbroken. She told me herself.”
Stefano motioned for another round and then finished his drink. “I didn’t send the video for you to think that.”
He finished the last gulp as the bartender brought the next round. Tonight he’d really need a ride home then. He handed over his empty glass. “Then why did you?”
Stefano’s lips were pursed as he stirred his vodka tonic. “Sheena seemed determined to get away and frightened of him. I wanted to call the police. If someone did that to my wife, I’d want to know.”
Rossie loved Stefano. They’d married fast, but it was clear how they felt in the way they always snuck kisses or touches. He shrugged, as Sheena wasn’t anything like his friend’s bride. “Sheena came right home, but Charles was there first, telling me that Sheena admitted she loved him and asking me to divorce her.”
“That’s not what I saw.” Stefano nudged his whiskey neat closer to him. “So, what was the problem? She told you then she loved Charles?”
Matteo never talked about feelings and wasn’t about to start. He sipped his whiskey. “No. She thanked me for sending him away.”
Stefano popped an olive from the bar into his mouth. “Then what’s got you worked up?”
Her lack of love for him was an open, gaping wound, and he couldn’t talk about that. He stared into his amber-colored drink and chose his words carefully. “I opened up too quickly and realized I made a mistake.”
Stefano shrugged. “I believe it. You trust easily.”
“What?” Matteo leaned forward on the bar stool.
“All your life you’ve been charmed, Matteo, even when you make bad choices.” Stefano shook his head. “Typical you. You were going to marry Patrice even though you knew she was the wrong woman. But because you were desperate you were going to marry someone you’d never be happy with.”
Stefano had his blasted list of options and had gone down them, though luckily he’d steered away from Sheena. Matteo sipped again and asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”
Stefano’s brow rose in surprise. “You almost married her despite knowing you shouldn’t.”
Patrice w
as there when he’d needed a bride and she never once made his heart ache. And she wasn’t capable of this hurt in his soul. Honestly, Patrice didn’t matter. “That’s not true.”
Stefano gazed at him like he saw more than what Matteo wanted him to. “You think she’d have honored that prenuptial you had her sign?”
Patrice had never made him want to freeze in the winter rather than come home. She’d never made him feel anything. “Why wouldn’t she?”
Stefano leaned across the bar and clicked his glass to Matteo’s like he’d made a point. “Because she knew you’d eventually hand over the keys. You had a lucky break, like you always do in your blessed life, when Sheena stepped up.”
His father hadn’t made his life charmed or easy, but that wasn’t for this conversation. Matteo swirled the ice in his drink and ordered water from the bartender. “As I said, she’s a perfect countess.”
Stefano had a twinkle in his eye as he said, “She’s also grown up into a trustworthy, smart, independent woman. I’d have put her higher on my list if I’d have met her sooner.”
But then Stefano wouldn’t be happy now. Matteo’s tension eased from the whiskey. “What about Rossie?”
Stefano put his glass on the bar and waited for the bartender to leave the waters so they were alone. “I love my wife. She knows that, but I think you love your wife, too, and that’s why you’re here.”
Wow. His clothes felt too tight though his body was finally warm. “Stefano, sometimes I wish we’d decided to follow our fathers’ feud.”
A huge grin grew on Stephano’s face. “So that was a yes, you’re right, if I ever heard one.”
His cheeks burned as he thought of how clearly Stefano had seen his inner pain. He gulped his water and hoped it would cool him down. “She doesn’t feel the same so it doesn’t matter.”
Stefano swiveled in his bar stool. “It does. Instead of running away like this, what are you going to do to win her heart?”
Every cell in his body grew alive and alert. He hadn’t thought of that, at all. Winning her heart? His brain fired up. This started with trusting her. “What?”
Stefano put his unfinished vodka down. “Charles was the mistake of her past but he’s gone now. She doesn’t want him back. So instead of leaving, what are you going to do to win what you want?”
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