“Pleased to meet you, Madam Beaumont. My name is Allesandro,” he states in slightly accented English. “If you’ll follow me.”
“Alright,” I say.
The house is large, immaculate and surprisingly warm. It feels like a home despite its size. Everything in it is in place, controlled but there’s also a softness and signs of life that has me arching an eyebrow.
A part of me itches to explore the walls. A man’s home is a direct insight into who he is. And despite everything, I still want to figure Matteo out.
But then I remember I drew a line. I need to snuff out my curiosity. I need to be just as cold as he’s pretending to be.
We turn down a quieter corridor.
“This will be your room, miss,” Allesandro says.
He opens a door, stepping aside to let me enter. The room is large and elegant, the lighting dim and warm. There’s a large king-size bed in the middle, teeming with blankets and pillows.
It’s so similar to my bed back home, I briefly wonder if it was chosen for me with that in mind. It even has a canopy above it.
I gasp when I notice a bookshelf tucked neatly into the corner. There’s a mix of hardcovers and paperbacks. Some of them worn, others newer. I step closer without thinking, my fingers brushing lightly along the spines.
There are several titles. A few I recognize. Novels, textbooks. I catch sight of some books on law as well. Then there’s a small corner of the shelf, empty and devoid of any books.
Allesandro must notice me staring at the empty space with a frown.
“Mr. Vitale uses this room at times. He keeps his old books in here. He instructed that we clear up a section for you for the books you brought along,” he explains. “I could assist you in unpacking if you’d like.”
My chest tightens slightly.
“No, that’s fine. Thank you,” I murmur.
My gaze shifts to a desk by the window, clean but not empty. A laptop sits there, closed, a sleek understated thing that looks brand new. I stand there for a moment, taking it all in. The room the details, the quiet, deliberate thought behind it.
The realization that he chose this room specifically for me sits strangely in my chest. I exhale slowly, trying and failing not to read too much into his actions. He’s a quiet enigma wrapped into a mysterious and dark persona.
“Would you like dinner to be brought up for you, ma’am?”
“I would just like to turn in for bed, if that’s okay?”
I feel the exhaustion of the day bleed through every inch of me. My brain is so tired and I know without a doubt I need to shut it off, lest I grow crazy.
Allesandro leaves and then I’m left all alone.
Tomorrow, I’ll deal with it all. My father, the fact that I’m living in the house of a man I have conflicted feelings for. A man that just might hate me after the display today. I think about the way his expression fell and the chill that leaked into his eyes earlier by the side of the road.
He hasn’t looked at me like that in a while. I’d just started to inch past his walls too. And now I’ve ruined all the progress we made.
I find a pair of pajamas and change into them before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. A quick text to Kim for a status update on my father has me breathing easier. She assures me that he’s fine, asleep and stable.
I lie back on the bed without thinking, staring up at the ceiling for a moment that stretches. Soon enough, my eyes start to close. The last thing I see is the look on Matteo’s face when I told him I hate him.
The last thing I feel is a twinge of pain. He’s so close. We’re right underneath the same roof and yet, we’ve never felt farther apart.
It’s all my fault. I could have had it all. His kisses that make the world stop. His dominant care and soft expressions that seem like they’re crafted for me alone.
Instead, I threw it all away.
Morning comes with a clearer head and balanced emotions. The events of yesterday take a moment to settle into place. For a second, I don’t remember where I am.
Then it hits me that I’m in Matteo’s house. In a bedroom he picked just for me apparently.
