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She took a few tentative steps into the room, a piece of paper in her hand. She held it out rather shakily. “I just thought you should know that, in the last few days, there’s been...extensive billing to the business account.”
He frowned, not quite sure what she meant. “What?” He took the piece of paper and studied it.
His eyes just about popped out of their sockets as he stood up so quickly his chair fell to the floor behind him with a crash. Constance was out the room in a flash; apparently she could move quicker than a speeding bullet—even in stilettos.
Matteo started walking toward the door but was blocked by a figure in the doorway. Brianna’s eyebrows were raised and her arms folded across her chest. It seemed as if her belly got bigger every single day. “Well, somebody’s in a good mood.”
“Leave it, Brianna. I have to go.” He sighed, as he had to stop walking. “Any chance of letting me past?”
Brianna shook her head. She was dressed more casually than normal, her dark hair tied up in a ponytail. “Not until I know what’s going on.”
He held up the printout for her to see. “What’s going on is that my interior designer has just gone stir crazy!”
Brianna screwed up her eyes and looked at the figure at the bottom of the page. “Wow,” she said as a smile spread from ear to ear.
“That’s all you can say—wow?”
She shook her head. “Actually, I can say a whole lot more.” She gave Matteo her special gaze. The one that clearly meant he was in trouble. “I don’t care what she spends. We’ve agreed we want to sell the house—and the house is decades out of date. As far as I’m concerned, as long as it sells, the interior design bill doesn’t matter.” She shook her head and stepped closer to her brother. “Oh, no. What I’m interested in, is what you’ve done.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Brianna tapped him on the chest. “You think I’m stupid? First week you went shopping with her at the warehouse. She bought a whole host of things—but nothing outrageous.” Brianna scanned the piece of paper again. “But this list? These purchases?” She started to laugh. “This is the sign of a woman scorned.” She shook her head again. “I so want to meet this woman. Look how wound up you are—I haven’t seen you like this in...” She frowned and met his gaze. “In forever.”
Her voice softened. “What happened, Matteo?”
Matteo paused. He’d spent the last four days cringing inside and out. He’d handled things badly. He’d actually spent a beautiful night with a gorgeous, sensitive woman, then acted like the town fool the next morning. Matteo had never been the tongue-tied adolescent before, so finding himself turned into one that morning had been a completely alien experience.
It was obvious he’d hurt her feelings—even though that had never been his intention. And it was clear that now she was just letting him know.
He stepped backward. Every day Brianna looked more like their mother. And every day it reminded him of exactly what had happened. It seemed as if his stomach had been in a permanent knot since Brianna had announced her pregnancy. He couldn’t tell her just how worried he was. She’d already had a few little hiccups. Borderline blood pressure and a little bleeding in the early stages. For a single man, he’d quickly learned more about pregnancy than he’d ever wanted to.
Her gaze narrowed. It was almost as if she could partly read his mind. “Matteo, did you find it—did you find the album?”
He gave a nod and walked back to the desk, sliding open one of the drawers and pulling out the red album. He hesitated. “Phoebe helped me find it.”
Brianna walked swiftly around the desk, righting Matteo’s chair and sitting down with the album in front of her. She rested her hands on the album tentatively. “Have you looked at this?”
He pressed his lips together, then walked back to the door, picking up something behind it. It was a canvas. He’d listened to Phoebe. He spun it around and Brianna let out a little whimper. She was on her feet instantly. “Oh, my goodness.” She reached her hands out to gently touch the canvas. “This is beautiful. They look so happy. It’s just so, so...” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “How on earth?” Her voice tailed off.
Matteo’s heart was heavy in his chest. “It’s one of the photos in the album. Phoebe suggested getting it made into a black and white canvas.” He gave a nod of acknowledgement. “She has a good eye.”
Tears started to flow down Brianna’s cheeks. “Oh, she so does.” She looked over her shoulder. “It’s one from the album?”
