28. Matteo
Chapter 28
Matteo
O nly a few hours had passed since I dropped Amelia off at work but I still missed her. I didn’t think it was possible, but I loved her even more than I did five years ago. We’d grown over the years and so had the love we felt for each other. I always knew she was my soulmate but now I was more certain than ever.
I reviewed the updates sent to me by Kayla even as my mind thought of Amelia. Ryx Cement was officially absolved of all criminal speculations. They’d made it clear that they had no idea Fitzroy Corp had shady dealings and I stood by them. In the end, everything worked out. Alberto was paying for the things he did and my company was on the rise to being the best in the industry.
This news had come at the perfect time. Things with Amelia were great and the issues with my company had been resolved. To be honest, even if the issue with Fitzroy Corp wasn’t resolved, I would still be happy.
Having Amelia back in my life was enough reason to feel happy. She filled my life with so much light and I always wanted to shine that light on her in return. I thought of ways I could brighten up her day. She probably didn’t go out for lunch because she mentioned that she had a lot of work to get done.
Maybe I could bring something to her office then. I instantly remembered Amelia’s obsession with lemon squares. They were her favorite dessert back when we were together. I was fairly certain her love for them hadn’t changed. I made up my mind to surprise her with a box of lemon squares.
Kayla lifted her head when she saw me walk out of the office. “Off to a meeting sir? You don’t have any on your calendar but maybe I missed it or something.”
“No, I’m stepping out for personal reasons.”
She seemed visibly shocked by that statement. It was rare for me to step out during work hours, especially early in the day. I only ever left if I had a business meeting to attend. But for the first time in a long time, I was leaving for personal reasons.
I offered Kayla a bright smile before walking towards the elevator. As the doors slid closed, I could still see her shocked face.
After picking up the lemon squares I headed straight to Amelia’s office. Unfortunately, she wasn’t around. I guess I was wrong then. She did go out for lunch. I decided to take the lemon squares with me and surprise her with it when she got home.
I was walking out of the building when Ivy came into view. “Matteo! Hi!” she said happily. There was a strange smile on her face but I didn’t know her well enough to interpret it. “Are you looking for Amelia?”
“Yes.”
“I know where she is. I saw her at the cafe nearby. The Daily Grind.”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll just—
Ivy caught off my sentence. “She was having lunch with some guy.”
“What guy?” I asked.
She shrugged and the corner of her lips tugged upward. “I didn’t get his name.”
I walked out of the building and headed straight to the cafe. I’d seen it a few times when I was dropping Amelia off so I knew exactly where it was. My legs couldn’t carry me fast enough as I rushed down the street in the direction of The Daily Grind.
I pushed the glass door open, and I heard Amelia’s voice. “Then there’s nothing I can do. I can’t and I won’t marry you, Lucas.”
Lucas? The man she was supposed to marry months ago? Why was she having lunch with him?
I didn’t have time to think about that because I heard Lucas’ menacing voice. “You will marry me, Amelia. You will or I’ll—”
“You won’t do a damn thing to her,” I said, effectively cutting off his sentence.
Amelia looked up at me and relief flashed in her eyes. My gaze lowered to where Lucas was holding her hand. “Release her immediately.”
Lucas looked up at me with furrowed brows and a deep frown. His expression was conceited. He looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe. I didn’t care what he thought about me but he was not allowed to touch Amelia. I wanted to punch him in the face but lucky for him, he let her go.
The man stood up so he could look me in the eye. He was about my height but he was leaner. He adjusted the cuff of what I assumed was a designer shirt. A quick appraisal helped me conclude that Lucas looked exactly like what he was: a spoiled rich kid.
“You must be Matteo Hayes,” he said, his conceited expression never wavering. “I understand that you’ve been housing my wife, but that arrangement comes to an end today.”
My fists tightened when I heard him refer to Amelia as ‘his wife’. She would never be his wife. I splayed my fingers to keep myself from punching him for that statement alone. “You are no one to give me orders,” I said in response to his comment about moving Amelia out of my house. I wondered how he even found out she was living with me. Did he investigate or did Joseph tell him?
Lucas scoffed. “I’m no one? That’s a heavy statement coming from a man who just a few years ago was still dirt poor. You see, Matteo, what you don’t understand is that you can work hard for the rest of your life, but you will always be new money. You cannot be compared to people like me who have had money for generations.”
I knew Lucas Everett pretty well. After Joseph invited me to Amelia’s wedding, I’d taken the time to research the man she was about to marry. Lucas came from a long line of wealthy businessmen. The silver spoon in his mouth was so big, it poked out of his ass.
From my research, I also discovered that the man had a reputation for womanizing. His home was allegedly a revolving door of women from all over the world. He spent more time sleeping around than he ever did working. He wasn’t worthy of being Amelia’s husband and he would never be.
“Your family has money, Lucas, but you don’t. In reality, you are penniless and unemployed. You’ve never known what it is to work because you’d rather just live off your father’s money. You feel no desire to make something of yourself. You’re so attached to your family’s great name but without it you are nothing. Hell, you’re worse than nothing. You have all the resources you need to be someone great you just choose not to. You’re pathetic,” I spat the words out and watched his face contort in vexation.
He balled his fists and I knew what to expect next. Lucas swung at me. Thankfully I was able to dodge it because I’d anticipated he’d do that. Men like him always resorted to fighting when their egos were bruised.
I decided to return the favor but unlike him, I didn’t miss. My punch hit Lucas square in the face. He held his nose as he stumbled backward and then fell to the ground. “You broke my nose!” he yelled.
“Stay away from Amelia or I’ll break a lot more than that.”
I walked over to Amelia and helped her out of her seat. She’d been in shock and hadn’t moved since the moment she saw me. She held on to me as I led her out of the cafe. Amelia absentmindedly rubbed the place where Lucas grabbed her. I felt tempted to go back and hit him again just for touching her.
The walk back to her office was mostly silent. Then she lifted her gaze to me and asked, “How… How did you know where I was?”
“Ivy told me.”
“Of course she did. Matteo, you have to believe me, I only went out with him because I thought I owed it to him after what I did. I—”
I stopped on the sidewalk. We were close to the office building so there weren’t a lot of people in the area. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Amelia. I understand why you agreed to meet him. You felt guilty and I get that.”
Her eyes watered slightly, and I rubbed her cheeks with my thumbs even though there were no tears. I looked at her arm. There was no bruise, but it was reddish. I clenched my fists. “Are you hurt?”
Amelia shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Thanks to you.”
I took her hand in mine and we walked the rest of the way to Phoenix Consulting. I paused when we passed by my car. “Wait here,” I said. Then I walked over to the car to grab the lemon squares I’d bought for her.
She smiled when she saw the box. I loved seeing her smile. I loved being responsible for her smiles. “Lemon squares?” she asked as she opened the box. She could already smell them. Her bright smile told me she still loved them just as much as she did five years ago. “Thank you! This is so thoughtful. I can’t believe you remembered how much I love lemon squares.”
“Of course, I remember. I love you.”
I loved her so much that everything she loved was ingrained in my brain. Every dream she’d ever shared with me, every dessert she’d ever mentioned liking, every song she ever loved. I remembered it all.
“I love you too,” she said. “Thank you for this and thank you for saving me from Lucas.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
She sighed. “To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when he called. I chose to go because I wanted to apologize for what I did to him. I hoped we could make amends but Lucas wanted us to get married. He said everything had already been set up for the wedding and all I needed to do was show up. It was scary hearing him talk like that. He sounded just as controlling as my parents.”
“That must have been tough,” I said as I stroked her arm comfortingly.
“It was,” she said with a sad smile. “I kept wondering what my life would have been like if you hadn’t come to the wedding. If I didn’t see you sitting in the crowd, I would have married that man. I would have been miserable. Thank you for saving me today and thank you for saving me back then too.”
I planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then I stood aside and watched her walk into the building. Every few steps she would turn around to look at me and I’d smile at her. Her smile never left her face.
At that moment, I realized that I wanted to see her smile for the rest of my life. I wanted to wake up to it and I wanted it to be the last thing I saw before I went to bed every night.
I wanted to marry her.