Page 52 of The Fall Affair

“Really? Ever?”

“Yep.”

“Was the first time so bad that you never came again?”

He shrugged. “Nothing terrible happened. It’s just not my thing, and I didn’t need more than once to know that.”

I tilted my head. “What is your thing?”

His eyes met mine. “I’m pretty sure I’m looking at it.”

The waitress brought two more waters, and we immediately gulped down half our bottles. “Is it a coincidence that you only joined me on the dance floor once the guy I was dancing with got a bit friendlier?”

Matteo’s eyebrows jumped. “Something tells me you already know the answer to that question.”

“I didn’t take you for the jealous type.”

Matteo shifted to face me head-on. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Then why did you turn me down the other night?”

“Because wanting you isn’t the problem, Matteo.”

He pushed a lock of my hair from my face. “Tell me what is, then.”

“Me. You live four thousand miles away from New York. And I’ve had my heart broken enough lately. Plus, I have a lot of trust issues. In fact, I’ve added some new ones in the last forty-eight hours. None of them have anything to do with you, but they still make me nervous about getting close to someone.”

“Of course.” Matteo looked down. “I understand.”

I didn’t think he did. As much as I didn’t want to go into details about things, I wanted him to understand the truth better. “Yesterday I found out I have a sister. A half sister.”

Matteo’s brows drew together. “You knew nothing about her? How is that possible?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea, other than she lives here in Italy, and I live in New York.”

“She is half? So she belongs to only one parent, then?”

“We have the same dad.”

“From before your parents were together?”

I shook my head. “Apparently, she’s four years younger than me.”

“And your parents, they were always together?”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“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?”