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“I’m not going to hurt her, Maddie. Hurting her is the last thing I ever want to do.”
She beamed. Shaking my head at her, I smiled.
“Is that why you came here? To know how I feel about Ayla?”
Maddie nodded. “I’m just worried. She’s not someone to play around with. She is innocent and fragile. You need to woo her gently and with patience.”
“I know.”
Maddie clapped her hands together and bounced on her toes. “Okay,” she said.
“Is that it?”
“Yup. You can go back to work now.”
Maddie sent me another smile and then turned to leave. “Wait,” I said.
“Yeah?”
How the fuck was I supposed to phrase this without looking like a complete idiot?
I swallowed hard.
“What type of flowers do women like?”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to punch myself.
Maddie stared at me for a few seconds in complete silence. And then she burst out laughing.
I sent her a fierce glare and she quickly covered her laugh with a cough. “Sorry!”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited impatiently for her answer.
Maddie shook her head. “You are so silly,” she said.
“I don’t think Ayla liked the flowers I gave her,” I fired back in my defense.
Instead of answering me, she turned around and opened the door.
“She loved the flowers, Alessio.”
Then she winked and left, closing the door behind her.
I stood speechless, astonished.
Ayla loved the flowers?
When realization dawned, I leaned against the desk and let out a chuckle.
Ah, so the kitten is playing, I thought with a smirk.
Chapter 42
Ayla
“How long am I supposed to keep this up?” I asked.
Maddie lay down beside me and stared at the ceiling. “You have to make him work for it.”
“I don’t think I can keep this façade on any longer.”
“Just a little longer.”
After the Nina drama, Maddie lectured me for an hour, telling me how I should and shouldn’t act with Alessio. Every single day, I struggled to be nonchalant around him.
Every time he smiled and I didn’t, I felt guilty. I could see he was losing hope and growing frustrated each day. I hoped Maddie’s plan worked and all this drama wasn’t for nothing.
Sitting up, I brought my knees up and laid my chin on top of them. “Maddie, I don’t understand. How is this going to work? I…like…him…” I stuttered the last words. It was hard to admit, but it was the truth.
“What do you mean? If you want him and he feels the same way about you too, then what’s there to think about?”
I sighed and got up from the bed, standing in front of the window.
“How does a relationship work?” What I had with Alberto wasn’t a relationship. I didn’t know how to be in one.
The relationships I had read about or saw on TV, I could only dream about them. They were never my reality.
“You’ve never been in a relationship before?” Maddie asked.
I closed my eyes tightly against the wave of pain. Placing my hand over the glass, I steadied myself and tried to calm my racing heart.
“I have been in one,” I whispered.
Maddie’s forehead was creased in confusion and she stared at me patiently, waiting for me to elaborate.
“But it wasn’t the same as the one in there,” I said, pointing at the book in her hand. “I don’t think you could call it a relationship. He hurt me a lot.”
Tears blinded my vision. I never thought I would admit such a thing. When I was still living with Alberto, I thought that was how a relationship should be. Even though I knew it was wrong, I accepted it.
What I had with Alberto was dysfunctional.
He destroyed me. Heart, body, and soul.
But in the short time I had been living with Alessio, I began to think maybe I could be fixed. I could be happy.
Maybe I could be happy with Alessio.
“Ayla.” Maddie got up and walked over to me. I was about to swipe my tears away but she did it for me.
Leaning forward, she placed a kiss on my forehead and then wrapped her arms around me.
She pulled away from me and then gave me a wan smile, trying to lighten the mood. “A relationship…hmmm…” Her eyes twinkled. “I would say a relationship is when both partners support each other, comfort each other, bring happiness and laughter to each other. It’s a connection filled with love, acceptance, and understanding. You don’t have to love someone to be in a relationship. Sometimes love comes later. Alessio is a stubborn man, but he is crazy about you. I can see it in his eyes. It is so obvious. He has feelings but he just needs a little push. I don’t know how a relationship will be with Alessio, but he loves deeply. He loves with his heart. Something he’s scared of. But you can change that. You can be his strength.”
