Chapter Thirty-Seven
Valentina
I f I ever tell the story of what happened tonight, I’ll say that I held Matteo’s gaze for at least two seconds before I turned heel and walked calmly away.
In reality, our gazes clash across the crowded ballroom and I freeze. His eyes leave me and an arctic chill races down my spine as they drag slowly over to Thiago. Not one muscle in his face moves except for his irises which slowly turn a violent shade of black.
Matteo’s face is always alive with motion—whether he’s bestowing charming smiles or arrogant smirks, or contemplatively considering something, or simply staring at me with eyes so bright you can see the stars burning in them, there’s life there.
It’s gone now.
His features are lifeless, snuffed dead save for a promise of violence so cold it seems almost emotionless. I’ve never seen him like this, not even at the club yesterday. That was a boiling kind of anger, this…this is arctic fury.
It’s far more terrifying.
So I run.
I run out of the ballroom in search of a place to hide.
I had no idea he’d be here tonight. I would never have come if I’d known. He said he was going to an event to follow a lead on his father’s kidnapping. I never even considered it might be the Tellier gala, especially because he’s never bothered to come to Underworld events in the past.
I guess I didn’t consider how his status has changed since the last time I attended one of these often tedious events. I’m hardly a fan of them myself, and the only reason I attended tonight’s was because of my brother’s texts from earlier.
Thiago: You’ve been dodging my calls but that doesn’t mean you can ignore what I want to talk about forever.
Thiago: First and foremost, where the fuck have you been, Vale ?
Thiago: Once you’re done telling me why you’ve been avoiding Arturo and I for months, we’ll talk about your marriage prospects.
Thiago: I’ve officially started the search for your husband.
The instant sour feeling that burned through the walls of my stomach reading Thiago’s texts made me realize just how much has changed these last few months.
Previously, I was ready to go along with an arranged marriage. Even though the concept is archaic, it didn’t matter to me one way or the other because nothing mattered to me.
But now…Well now, I know what it’s like to be with Matteo.
A future with him is impossible, but so is one with anybody else. At least right now, while we’re still together. It’ll end and then I’ll face the inevitable, but I’m too entangled in him to be able to give him up.
That’s why I came tonight, so I could try to sweet talk Thiago into delaying any marriage talks until further notice.
Matteo’s unexpected appearance doesn’t just blow that plan. It blows my entire cover.
He’s seen me with Thiago now.
Based on the furious look in his eye, he put two and two together that he’s my brother.
That we’re the modern day Capulets and Montagues .
This isn’t how I wanted him to find out about my betrayal. I wanted to tell him myself one day, once we were over, when it no longer mattered. I wanted to own the things I’d lied to him about once and for all. This isn’t that.
I know he won’t hurt me. He’s had more than enough valid reasons to and he never has, not even when he should have.
But doesn’t mean he won’t hurt me.
This is officially going to be the end of us. Throwing me aside will hurt me more than killing me, but he has no way of knowing that.
Why would I tell him when it won’t change our outcome?
I emerge into a hallway bathed in darkness. The other end is completely lit so I head that way and stumble into a corner, gluing myself to the wall to hopefully disappear into the shadows as I catch my breath. My heart pumps the blood through my veins at a crazed pace.
After a few minutes, I continue down the hallway in search of a bathroom and run inside the first one I find, slamming the door shut behind me. I slide down the wooden panel with my eyes squeezed shut, hoping the door and my weight against it will be enough of a barrier between Matteo and I.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
I crack an eye open and find a woman with a startling grey gaze washing her hands at the sink. “Dagny?”
“You remember me,” she says delightedly, drying her hands on a guest towel.
I do. Just like I remember the way we met. Another fateful encounter on a pivotal night.
Guilt of a different kind eats at me. “I never called.”
“You sound like my ex.” She laughs, waving my words away with ease. “I assumed life got in the way.”
I scoff. “You have no idea.” She crosses over to where I’m sitting and presses both palms firmly into the door above me, assuming a split stance and determined expression. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you keep the door closed.” She glances down at me. “I figure with the way you ran in here, you might need reinforcements.”
I blink. “So you thought you’d help?”
“Well I’m on this side of the door with you so I figured, why not give this a try. Not like I have fifteen other activities to pick from.”
I laugh then immediately stifle the sound by slapping my palms over my mouth.
“Wow, that bad?” Dagny questions. “You know there are some really terrible people here tonight, right? People from the Underworld. I’m only here because some of them are my clients, but you should be careful.”
There’s a very real hint of concern for me in her voice. I wonder what she’d do if she found out who I am.
Who my brother is.
“What if I told you I’m running from a Made man?”
Dagny sighs then turns and drops down next to me.
We must make quite the picture—both of us dressed in tens of thousands of pounds worth of gowns and jewels, sitting on the bathroom floor of a near stranger’s mansion.
“That’s more or less what my best friend is going through as well.” She pauses, her features turning pensive. “Although I guess these days she’s more so running towards him. I’m pretty sure she’s falling in love with the criminal.”
“Does he feel the same?”
“Does he feel the same?” It’s Dagny’s turn to scoff. “If that man could make it so she never looked at anything or anyone except him again, he would.”
That’s Matteo.
Or that was Matteo, ten minutes ago before I ripped the veil off my real life.
I hum and lean my head back against the door, my gaze trailing to the bandage wrapped around Dagny’s palm.
She follows my eyeline. “The bandage is more dramatic than the actual wound,” she assures me. “I accidentally burned myself while steaming a wedding dress earlier today. The skin is red and swollen so I didn’t want to have it exposed.” She sighs, staring down at her wrapped hand. “It’s definitely going to leave a scar though.”
Something about her words niggle, but I’m not quite sure why . “I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”
“I can barely feel it. Plus, I was shot a few months ago so this is a walk in the park compared to that.”
“You were shot ?” I echo, aghast. “What criminal did that to you?”
“The same criminal who’s obsessed with my best friend.”
I gape at her, stunned speechless. “Wow…I’m surprised you’re so chill about it.”
“Oh, he’s a psychopath. For sure .” Dagny fiddles with a thread on her bandage. She looks up at me. “But part of me wants someone to love me that much one day, you know?”
You and me both, Dagny .
She must see my response written all over my face because she winks and bumps her shoulder into mine.
“So, is your Made man coming after you or not?” She gives me a playful smile. “Because I assume you kind of wanted him to, didn’t you?”
Dagny’s right.
I did want Matteo to come after me. I wanted him to care. To unleash his anger and his betrayal, to give me a chance to explain, even if I knew he would never accept my excuses.
But he doesn’t.
The two of us sit with our backs against that door for another half hour, but Matteo never shows.