Page 55 of ‘I Do’ for Revenge

‘Will you contact the solicitor?’

Flora looked at him, the hurt at what he’d said last night still fresh. ‘You mean, instead of trying to lure you into a more serious commitment?’

Vito’s face flushed. ‘I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.’

The apology didn’t mollify her all that much. ‘But you’re still not entirely sure, are you?’

‘The only person I trust entirely is myself. I’m a loner, Flora. I never claimed to be anything different.’

Even now, Flora’s treacherous heart squeezed. This man had so much to give. And maybe he would one day, but not to her.

‘You are what you convince yourself you are, Vito. I’m surprised that you would limit yourself like that when you’ve had no problem breaking any other limits holding you back.’

Flora waited for his response—he was looking at her with such intensity—but then his phone rang and he glanced at the screen. She saw it too—the nameMassimo Black—and her insides lurched. The dinner date. They were meant to be together.

Vito answered the phone and just said tersely, ‘Can I call you back in a few minutes?’

Black must have answered in the affirmative because Vito terminated the call and put his phone back down on the table. Flora blurted out, ‘I overheard you.’

Vito frowned at her. ‘Overheard what?’

‘Your conversation with Black in London. The night of the event in the art gallery. I heard him say to you that if we weren’t together he probably wouldn’t have agreed to do business with you. And I heard how you...didn’t tell him that it was only a temporary affair.’

Vito’s face flushed again. ‘You think I misled him.’

‘Not exactly...after all, we were together. I’m sure you saw no reason to assume we wouldn’t still be together until such time as a deal was done. And you never hid that you were intending on using us being seen together as a way to restore your reputation.’

Vito stood up and went to stand at the window with his hands in his pockets. His back to her. She let her eyes rove over his tall powerful form, very aware that this could be the last time. She said, ‘I don’t think you set out to deceive him, Vito.’

He turned around. ‘Still, I didn’t make it clear that we weren’t in a committed relationship.’

‘If you want me to, I’ll still come to London with you so he can see us together.’

But Vito shook his head. ‘No, I wouldn’t ask that of you. If Black won’t do business with me for myself then it’s better that the partnership ends now. It’s not as if we would have been together for much longer, anyway.’

Flora absorbed that little dagger to her heart. Now she knew for sure that this would be the last time she saw Vito. She stood up. ‘What I said last night, Vito—’

‘You don’t have to explain—’

‘I know,’ Flora said firmly, determined that he wouldn’t stop her from saying this. She knew it was just going to add to the hurt, but she needed him to know. ‘What I said last night I meant, Vito. I love you. I love the bones of you and the man you are, inside and out. You’re a good man. You deserve more than to be a loner and maybe you’ll find that some day with someone, because, for what it’s worth, I think you’d be an amazing father. I didn’t say I love you wanting anything in return. It comes with no conditions or strings. It’s just...love.’ Flora stopped. She’d already said too much. Vito was staring at her.

There was a long moment of silence and then he said, ‘You pay me a huge compliment, Flora. Especially after what I put you through. But I don’t...’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t say the same.’

Flora lifted her chin even though she wanted to crumple. ‘You don’t have to, Vito. You never led me on or promised anything. I just don’t want you to think that I said that to extract something from you. I would never do that.’

She bit her lip and then said, ‘I believed that you really saw me, in a way that no one has since my family died, but maybe it’s good to know that that was just an illusion. Because I know I won’t rest until I find someone who can really see me, all of me, and trust who I am. Goodbye, Vito.’

Flora left the room, quickly, before she lost her nerve. She went back to her room and stayed there until she was fairly certain he would have left, and then she emerged to an empty apartment, apart from Sofia and Benji, and set about getting through the rest of that day, and the next, and even though the future stretched out before her like a grey and lacklustre landscape she refused to let it bring her down. She would get through this. She’d been through worse, even if it didn’t feel like it right then.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A week later, London

‘YOULOOKASif you’re thinking of doing serious harm to someone. Anyone I know?’

Vito looked around at Massimo Black, who was handing him a crystal tumbler holding dark golden liquid. Immediately it made him think of the way Flora’s eyes darkened when their bodies joined, glowing dark golden. His fingers tightened on the glass. She’d been haunting him ever since he’d left Rome. Her words reverberating in his head like taunts.

‘I love the bones of you...you’d be an amazing father... I won’t rest until I find someone who can really see me...and trust who I am.’