Chapter 16 #2
“Thank you. I didn’t mean to kill the mood.
I just wanted you to know that it really isn’t you.
I’ve developed trust issues over the last few years because of what I see every day at work.
It feels like half the people who come to me for representation in their divorce have either been cheated on by their spouse or did the cheating themselves.
Then add catching my own boyfriend to that, and it has made me wary of relationships.
But I always trusted that there had to be some good ones out there, because my father was one of them.
I thought he was a great husband and good dad.
” I paused. “The worst part is, I’ll never know why he had an affair or chose not to tell me I had a sister because my father is gone.
I don’t even know if he knew he had a child. ”
“Your sister, you said she is here in Italy?”
“As far as I can tell. She lives a few hours away in a town called Ravello.” I smiled sadly. “I may have stalked her Instagram. We look alike. And she’s a lawyer, too.”
“Might you want to speak with her? Perhaps she has some answers, yes?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
Matteo was quiet for a long time. I thought he was digesting the story I’d shared, but apparently, he was thinking about something else.
“Isabella, my ex-wife, I suspected there may have been someone else. She swore there wasn’t, that she just wanted a different lifestyle than we were building.
After she left, I wanted to get to the bottom of what happened and find out the truth.
A smart woman talked me out of it.” He looked to me.
“Luciana?”
“No. My sister, she would’ve advised me to hold a grudge for life and insisted we go burn down the house of any man who had done me wrong.”
I laughed. “That sounds more Luciana than forgive and forget.”
“It was your grandmother, Sophia. She told me to let it go. A few weeks after Izzy left, I spent a couple of days repairing a rotted beam in her loggia. At night, she make me dinner in exchange.”
“I guess you were lucky my grandmother knew how to cook and not knit.”
His lip twitched. “Yes, very.”
“What did she say to change your mind?”
“She asked me if it would affect how I felt about Izzy, knowing she had an affair. When I said yes, she told me it wouldn’t matter to Izzy, so why make myself miserable? I deserved to have good memories that were untouched.”
“You realize my grandmother didn’t speak to her own sister for years because she stole her lasagna recipe. She was a grudge holder, yet she advised you to give someone grace.”
Matteo laughed and hung his head. “That is true.”
“I think it was good advice, though. Sometimes what you don’t know won’t hurt you. My situation is a little different, though. Whether I find out the full story or not, it doesn’t erase the fact that I now know my father wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
“Of course. But I think your grandmother’s advice is still valid. Think about what you might find out, and do what is best for you.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I have a lot of thinking to do.”
Luciana appeared at the table, bursting our private little bubble. “Are you making my friend as boring as you are, brother?”
Matteo shook his head.
“It’s my fault,” I told her. “I unloaded all my problems on the poor guy.”
She held out both her hands. “Come dance with me. Both of you. We won’t tell Lorenzo that he’s my brother.”
Matteo’s forehead wrinkled, making me laugh. I guess he didn’t know about his sister’s guy. But Luciana was right. We were at a club in Italy, so we should be dancing. I rebuckled the straps on my shoes and stood, holding out a hand to Matteo.
“Come on.”
Seemed like he would’ve preferred to stay in the booth, at least until his sister spoke again. She waved him off. “No worries. Allegra can find a new dance partner.”
That got him up. And the three of us spent the next two hours dancing.
“I think I’m done,” I finally yelled over the music to Luciana. Matteo had gone back to the booth a half hour ago.
“Go!” she said. “I’m going to piss off Lorenzo some more and then drag him home. He lives nearby.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”
“I usually come by myself. Nothing is going to happen to me.” She lifted her eyes to the mirror upstairs. “He watches very closely.”
I smiled. “Okay.”
“You two kids enjoy.” She winked. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Matteo stood when I got back to the table. I smirked. “Anxious to leave?”
“Yes, but I was standing because that’s what you do when a woman joins you.”
“Oh.” I laughed. “I guess it’s been a while since I was around a man with manners. But I’m ready to get out of here if you are.”
He lifted his chin toward the dance floor. “What about Luce?”
“She’s staying. The guy she’s seeing owns the club. She’s going to hang out with him.”
Matteo’s face wrinkled, but he shrugged. “If you say so.”
He held a hand out for me to walk first. We’d made it almost to the door when a woman stopped us.
“Matteo! Cosa ci fai qui?” She kissed both his cheeks and kept her hands on his chest as he answered her in Italian.
Then he looked to me. “Liliana, questa è Allegra.”
The woman gave me the once-over, followed by a very fake smile, and went back to talking to Matteo in Italian. Her hands didn’t leave his chest until he removed them and waved goodbye. “Ciao.”
“Chiamami,” she said.
My Italian was slowly coming back, especially now that I’d been dealing with customers at the antique shop, and I was pretty certain the woman had just told Matteo “call me.” Sort of ballsy considering he was leaving with another woman.
I was quiet on the drive home. I couldn’t stop thinking how easy it would be for someone else to take the chance I was too afraid to try.
The woman at the club had put her hands on Matteo like he was the most obvious choice in the room, one worth staking a claim on, and maybe he was.
Matteo was a man women noticed. He was the kind who didn’t chase, who carried himself like he didn’t need anyone, and that made you want to be the one he chose.
When we arrived back in Montepulciano, Matteo pulled into my driveway and put the car into park. “Did you have a good time tonight?” he asked.
“I did. I actually tried to get out of going earlier, but I’m glad I went. It was fun.”
“You were quiet on the drive home,” he said after a moment.
“Was I?”
He nodded.
“I’m just tired.”
Matteo’s gaze met mine. He didn’t say a word, yet somehow, I was certain he knew I was full of shit.
I cracked a smile. “And maybe I was wondering who the woman was at the club.”
His brows pinched. “Woman?”
“Liliana. She sized me up and couldn’t keep her hands off you.”
Matteo tilted his head, studying me. I thought I saw a hint of amusement in his eyes. “That upset you?”
“Not upset me. Not really, anyway. I guess it got me thinking what a good catch you are…” I looked away, not sure where I was going with this. As I tried to figure out what I wanted to say, Matteo reached over and gently took my chin in his hand, bringing my gaze back to his.
“We went out once. It didn’t even end with a kiss.”
An unexpected relief washed over me. Ridiculous, I know, considering I was the one keeping things between us from going any further.
But that didn’t stop my neck from feeling looser.
Matteo’s thumb stroked my cheek, and it sent a jolt of lightning through my body.
Getting involved with this man was a bad idea.
I knew it would end in disaster, like all relationships eventually did.
Still, I felt the strongest pull toward him, and I imagined myself leaning in, pressing my lips to his.
Our breaths would mingle, heavy and slow, the need building and building until we were tangled impossibly close, groping and groaning like we were the only two people in the world.
Matteo leaned in slightly, his eyes flickering to my lips before meeting mine. “I don’t know what you’re thinking right now, but I have a feeling it’s heading in the right direction.”
I smiled. “I’m glad you came tonight.”
“I am, too.” He brushed a lock of hair from my face.
“I’m going to walk you to the door and wait until you get upstairs and put da light on before I go.
And I want you to know the only reason I’m not kissing you right now is because I don’t want to scare you away.
” His gaze dropped to my lips. “I very much want to kiss you, Allegra, and I think you want the same.”
God, the way he said my name—Allegra—with that rolling Italian lilt that dragged each syllable out like he was savoring it, made me feel a little breathless. Matteo was right about a lot of things, and it was definitely time to go inside.
At the door, I pushed to my toes and kissed his cheek. “Good night, Matteo.”
“Good night, bellissima. Put da light on so I know you’re okay.”
“I will.”
My bedroom was at the front of the house, so after I turned the lamp on, I peeked out the window and watched Matteo get back into his truck. My eyes drifted to the bed and a shiver ran through me. If he could make me feel this desperate sitting in the car next to him, what might he do to me in bed?