Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rachel
Camilla apparently took my "give me some time" as a straight-up "yes." Sofia had barely finished her lunch when Rosalia "just happened" to show up.
"Miss Sofia, the bougainvilleas on the hill are blooming. If you go any later, the sun will ruin them."
"Mommy come too!" Sofia immediately slid off her chair and grabbed my hand.
"Mommy has business to take care of with Matteo." Camilla dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin, taking her sweet time. "I'm counting on you to bring back pink ones for the vase."
Sofia immediately let go of me and skipped off, holding Rosalia's hand. Then Camilla, claiming she was worried about Sofia, left too. Just the two of us sitting there at the table, staring at each other.
"Camilla's definitely doing this on purpose." I lifted my water glass and took a sip to cover the awkwardness.
"But I don't mind her putting in a little effort. After all, getting to have lunch alone with you—I'm happy."
My ears burned. "Matteo," I looked up and glared at him, "can you not say things like that so brazenly?"
"I'm just telling the truth."
The heat spread from my face down to my neck. I dropped my napkin and stood. "I'm going to see how many flowers Sofia picked."
Of course I didn't go check on Sofia. I wandered the garden for a while, got a little tired, and wanted to sit down to rest, only to find the circle of chairs that used to be there was gone.
Just one old wooden bench left, sitting there all alone under the trees.
And Matteo was standing right there, like he knew I'd end up wandering this way.
"Tired? Come sit for a bit." Matteo sat down first and patted the spot beside him. I looked at that bench, then at him. Didn't move.
"I'm not tired." I shot him a look and turned to leave, but somehow stumbled on the stone pavers. Matteo caught my wrist, pulled me, and I fell right into his lap.
"Matteo!" I lowered my voice, hands braced against his knees, trying to get up, but he held me tighter.
"Don't move," he breathed against my ear, "this bench only fits us like this."
That bastard! There was clearly room for two! I bit my lip and turned to glare at him, but we were too damn close. My nose brushed his cheek. Next second, Matteo's mouth was on mine.
My body started screaming with need. Craving him to kiss harder, craving his next move.
I went completely soft. He seemed to notice, pulled down the zipper at my waist, his burning hand finding bare skin.
His hand slipped inside my dress, cupping my breast. I couldn't hold back a muffled moan.
He finally released my lips and pressed his forehead to mine.
"Baby, you want me."
I turned my face away, feeling his hardness pressed against me. I tried to squirm free, but his expression turned darker. "Don't move, sweetheart. Unless you want me to eat you alive right here."
I froze. He leaned in again, squeezed lightly. I whimpered. He licked my lips, satisfied.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Sofia's bright voice rang out from the other end of the path.
I practically bounced off his lap and quickly straightened myself out. Matteo leaned back against the bench and adjusted his pants and collar. Sofia came running with an armful of bougainvilleas.
"Mommy, your face is so red."
I reached for the flowers and cleared my throat. "The sun."
"Are you sunburned too?" Sofia asked Matteo, big eyes blinking.
Matteo looked at me, answered slowly, "I'm not. Mommy blushes more easily."
I gripped the flower stems. Nearly stuffed bougainvilleas in his mouth right there. I stopped dealing with Matteo and coaxed Sofia away.
I'd just finished processing some investment documents from Milan with Camilla when I saw Matteo waiting at the door, looking urgent. The second he spotted me, he grabbed my hand.
"Rachel," he looked at me with a seriousness I'd never seen before, "there's something I need to tell you. Something... pretty important..."
My heart dropped. Pretty important? Was there trouble again?
"What is it?" My voice came out tight.
He didn't answer right away. Just held my hand and led me into a room.
"Wait here for me a minute." He left, closing the door behind him.
The room was quiet except for the antique wall clock ticking. I couldn't sit still. What now? Just when I was about to lose patience, the door pushed open from outside.
I turned. Froze completely. A woman stood in the doorway.
She was much thinner than I remembered, cheeks sunken, dark circles deep beneath her eyes, like she'd endured long illness and suffering.
She wore a clean but ill-fitting dress, hair cut short, revealing that face—similar to mine yet carved with too many marks of time and hardship.
But those eyes. Those eyes that always held a hint of street smarts, that always burned bright even when she was yelling at me—I'd never mistake them.
"Leona..."
The woman in the doorway looked at me. Her eyes instantly welled up. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but only a choked, broken sob came out.
Five years. Five full years. I thought I'd never hear that voice again. I walked toward her like sleepwalking, reached out with trembling fingers to touch her cheek, but afraid this was just too-real a dream that would shatter at contact—until my fingertips met her warm skin.
Real. Not a dream.
"Leona!"
I couldn't hold back anymore. Grabbed her tight, buried my face in the crook of her neck.
All that despair—staring at her photo, believing she was gone from this world—burst out as scalding tears.
I sobbed so hard I could barely breathe, arms around her squeezing tighter and tighter, like if I let go she'd vanish from my world again.
"You came back... You finally came back..."
Leona was crying too. She held me, stroking my back over and over, just like when I was little and some neighbor kid bullied me and I'd run home crying.
"I'm back, Rachel. I'm sorry... I'm sorry I made you wait so long."
We held each other and cried for a long, long time. Matteo didn't disturb us. Left us the space and time for this reunion five years overdue.
"What happened?" I choked out. "Leona, do you know how long I looked for you?"
Leona wiped her eyes, voice hoarse. "Back then, I got hurt.
Couldn't keep the shop running. Medical bills, rent, lost business—everything cost money.
I didn't dare tell you. I tried the bank, but the limit was too low.
I ran out of options. Had to go to the gangs...
My head was a mess. I just wanted to plug the hole. "
"Are you insane?" My voice shot up. "You knew that money was poison!"
"I know." Leona's mouth twisted. "But I couldn't afford to care.
You don't know—those days, the landlord called me every single day.
Hospital bills kept coming. The loan sharks showed up at the door more than once.
Thank God you weren't home. Those days, even my dreams were full of debt collectors. "
"I had to run. That's when someone came to me. Said there was a way to make fast money. Few months, and the debt would be gone."
"And you believed them?"
"When you're backed into a corner, you grab any rope. They said Canada first. Said they'd handle the paperwork. I went with them. Then the route got weirder and weirder. By the time I realized, I was already on a smuggling line."
"Later, they dumped me in some little place called Potosí in southern Bolivia. Cold and dry, hard to even breathe. I worked the mines. Every shit job came around. Money I made couldn't even buy medicine."
I looked at her gaunt face, at those mottled old scars on her hands. My eyes burned. Even breathing hurt, chest stuffed with waterlogged cotton, so heavy I could barely sit.
"You got that sick and nobody helped you?"
Leona shook her head. Voice barely there.
"Nobody helped. You collapsed, they dragged you aside. You came to, you kept working. You didn't come to, well, that was that. Back then, I really thought I wasn't coming home."
I couldn't take it anymore. Grabbed her hand. The cold of her palm made my nose sting.
"How'd you get back?"
"Matteo." She cried, eyes full of gratitude and lingering fear. "By then, I was too sick to get out of bed. Burning up, coughing blood. The place I stayed didn't even have windows that closed. I thought someone else came to collect."
"Later, I found out he'd been looking for me the whole time. Asked if I knew some stranger who'd seen me before. Getting me out wasn't easy. He fought those people. When they pulled me out, I was barely breathing. He sent me to Switzerland for treatment. He dragged this life back from the edge."
I sat there stunned, ears ringing. So it wasn't just some casual "found her." Turned out in places I couldn't see, he'd already walked that long road for me, filled that deep hole. Even when I'd almost given up, he was still holding on.
I always thought he was controlling, domineering, used to keeping everything in his grip. But in this moment I finally understood—the things he never said out loud weighed more than every sweet word he'd ever spoken.
Tears blurred my vision again. That night, I personally settled Leona to bed, sat beside her, couldn't bear to leave. I reached out to trace her features, confirming over and over she was really beside me.
I walked alone into the corridor at the estate lined with rosemary. Night breeze was cool, carrying the scent of plants. Moonlight spilled like water on the stone path.
Matteo stood at the end of the corridor. Like he'd been waiting for me forever. He saw me and held out his arms. I lifted my skirt and ran to him, crashing into his broad, warm embrace.
He caught me steady. I buried my face in his chest, breathed in that crisp woody scent that calmed me, tears soaking the front of his shirt.
He cupped my face, kissed away my tears. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He stilled for a moment, then one hand cradled the back of my head, the other circled my waist, lifted me completely, and strode toward his room.