For Angelo (Full-Length Standalone Italian Billionaire Romance) (35 page)

And now
, Angelo thought sickly, he was practically following in his uncle’s footsteps.

Was he not the one who opened Lane’s eyes to the truth about herself?

How certain could he be that he would not do the same thing his uncle did, would never hurt her to the point that she would break?

If he really loved her, why was he even in her life?

And Angelo heard himself say, “They’re right.”

Lane whitened. “What are you saying?”

But Angelo was no longer looking at her. He was turning to Nellie, and his voice was stiff and colorless as he said, “I’d appreciate it if you ensure that she’s gone within the hour.”

“What are you saying?”
Her voice was shrill with fear. But Angelo still didn’t look at her, and when he started to turn towards the door, she ran to block his way. “Look at me!”

His gaze met hers, but they were eyes that no longer saw her.

No.

“Please,” she choked out. “Stop this. You d-don’t have anything to be afraid of. I won’t leave you, okay? I love you, and you love me, and that’s the only thing that’s important.
Right
?”

But still, he looked at her like she no longer existed.

“
Listen to me.
” She hated that she was screaming, but she couldn’t stop herself. Even with him standing right in front of her, he just felt so far away. She reached up to cup his face. “I won’t be like Jaike,” she said jerkily. “I’m not going to leave you—”

Angelo finally looked at her.

“I know.”

But the way he said it only terrified her even more.
 

“That’s why I need to leave you.”

And this time, he stepped around her and walked past Lane.

For one moment, she could only stare at him, unable to believe that he was really going to leave her just like that.

The door closed behind her.

She whirled around to face her family.
 

Nellie said tremulously, “Lane—”

She shook her head wildly. “
Don’t.
D-don’t say a word. He’s going to change his mind—”

“Baby, please just let it go.” Nellie started to cry.

She backed away. “No.
No. No!
” And ignoring her family’s cries, she ran out of the living room. She caught sight of Angelo and called after him.

But he didn’t turn, only climbed the stairs steadily.

She followed him, pain chipping away at her heart, her mind reeling.

Just yesterday they were so happy.

So happy.

And now, it was all falling apart.

Angelo entered to his room and she followed him inside, saying shakily, “Can we at least talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He took off his jacket and threw it on the bed before unbuttoning his shirt.

Her jaw dropped.
 

His shirt fell to the floor.

“Are we going to m-make love?” she whispered.
 

He looked at her like she was crazy. “I’m going to take a shower.”

She stared at him dumbly. “Why?”

“Because it’s been a tiring night, and after a hot shower, all I want to do is go to bed and forget what’s happened.”

And he actually started to do that, heading to his bathroom like everything was normal.

Like the fact that he was throwing her away didn’t mean—

No.

She couldn’t think like that.

Angelo was already taking a shower by the time she managed to follow him inside, and again all she could do was stare at him. Each blast of water coming from the shower was like a slap to her face.
 

“Stop this,” she said dully. “Please.”

But Angelo didn’t even only look at her, didn’t even act like she was there, staring at him while he kept breaking her heart.
 

So damn normal,
she thought numbly.

He was acting so damn normal, reaching for his towel when he was done with his shower and wrapping it around his hips.
 

He walked to the sink, his side actually brushing her, but still he didn’t pay her any attention.

She watched him reach for the razor.
 

He started to shave.

Their eyes met in the mirror, and she saw in his gaze that he was not going to change his mind. It was over,
over
between them—

Oh God, it was OVER between them.

Over, over, over and Lane knew, just by looking at him, that if Angelo believed replacing her was what it would take to make her realize the truth—

Just like how he had used the Italian model to drive his point home—

Lane went crazy.

She snatched the razor from his hand. “No!”

Angelo whirled to face her, his face stunned. “What the hell—”

“Do you think I’m going to make it easy for you?” she screamed wildly. “You really think I’m going to let you go just like that? I’d rather shave my name on your head before I let you go to another girl!!!”

And everything went black.

Everything just went black.

And the next thing she knew, the world was spinning, Nellie was sobbing for her to stop, and Ray was holding her back from—

From what?

The world continued to spin, but her blurry vision started to clear.

And that was when she saw Angelo, a bleeding cut on his chest—

The sight made her cry out, snapping her out of her madness. She looked down at her hand, and with another cry she let go of the bloodstained blade she was still clutching. Had she taken the blade off? Had she tried to hurt him?

She choked out, “Angelo—”

And still, he only gazed at her in silence, like she didn’t deserve a single word of explanation.

“I don’t care what others say about us. I don’t care what they think. I’m
proud
of the way we love each other. C-can’t you be proud of it, too?”
 

It was her last attempt, her last plea for him to love her.
 

But it failed, as it was bound to.

Because right now, the coldness of his gaze was Angelo believing he was doing the right thing – the best thing – for the woman he loved.

Only she didn’t know this.

She looked at him and saw the man she loved, the man she was forcing to feel pride for something that he so obviously wanted to forget and found shameful—

He looked at her and saw the woman he loved, so damn much he would rather bury his heart anew than drag her down with him—

“Let’s go, baby.” Nellie slowly drew Lane away.

And she allowed it.

And he allowed it.

Because they loved each other too much, and sometimes, love made people see with their fears instead of their hearts.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Life continued the way it was meant to be.

It had been three months since Lane disappeared from his life, and not once did Angelo even think of finding her, of seeing her. The memories were enough. They would always be because Angelo believed that he had done the right thing.

Love became a steady numbing pain that kept him company day and night, making him feel both alone and not alone. It never let him forget that she was gone, but it also served to remind him that he had done the right thing.

That one day, she would have a chance to fall for someone who was normal, someone who would never hurt her, the way Angelo could.
 

An eternity could have passed, and regret would never cross his mind.
 

Or at least it couldn’t have…

Until the day he saw her again—

And found out how much he had failed her, not realizing until it was too late that her love for him was as great and true as his.

****

It was another day, one that was just like any other because it was a day that she wasn’t beside him. The part of him that existed on autopilot knew that he was in Alabama for an international legal conference, one he had already made his excuses for but had changed his mind about at the last minute.
 

The other part of him didn’t give a damn. This part of him only dwelled in the past, in the days when he still had Lane. Angelo knew that by choosing to remember her every day, he would never stop loving her.

Which was fine with him.

The problem had never been how much he loved her.
 

The problem was letting her continue to love him when he didn’t deserve her.

 
Arriving at the conference in the middle of a famous politician’s talk, Angelo did his best to draw as little attention to himself as possible. The dimly lit surroundings helped to hide his identity, and he walked swiftly to the first vacant seat he saw.

He sat back, listening absently to the speaker, and a minute later, the vacant seat beside him was occupied.
 

“Excuse me—”

Angelo stiffened.

He looked up, unable to believe what he was hearing. But he also knew he couldn’t be mistaken. That voice was one he heard every night in his dreams.

And he was right.

It was her.

She appeared unaware of his identity, and he realized why when he saw that her glasses had slipped down to her nose.
 

She sat beside him, and Angelo’s entire form tensed. Half of him urged Angelo to go, the other half of him had become surprisingly…masochistic.
 

Just one more second to inhale her scent, just one more second to feel her this close—

Just one more second to pretend that they were still together.

Her head was bent over her bag, and she was fumbling for her things.

He wanted to offer his help but he forced himself to shut up, knowing that the illusion would shatter the moment she realized he was beside her.

“Finally,” he heard her sigh.
 

She had her phone in her hand and then she was busily typing.

He read the words and saw that she was taking down notes for the talk.

Had she gone back to school? Was she doing this for her family’s law firm? Was she still single?

So many fucking questions, and yet all he could do was force himself to keep still in his seat, his gaze straight ahead. He wanted to stare at her but forced himself not to. If he stared at her too long, sooner or later she would notice him.

And leave.

He didn’t want that.
 

He needed just one more second to pretend, one more second that he wished could last forever—

Every second that passed made his desperation grow.

He reached for his phone in his pocket, wanting to text the speaker and bribe him to talk for two more hours. Goddammit, he would give the man his entire fortune if he could keep Lane seated beside him forever.

But in the end, he kept his phone in his pocket. The screen could illuminate his face and give his identity away, and that he was unwilling to risk.

She was still typing, still listening attentively, and he found himself listening to the cadence of her breath. It was the most beautiful sound on earth, the sound of his sole reason of existence, and his fingers tightened on the armrest.
 

God, he wanted to hold her to him so damn much.

God, make this second last.