Page 158 of Valentino

“Umm.” I force a smile. “I’m going to Pilates this morning.”

His eyes hold mine as if he has something on his mind.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Nothing.”

“Do you want to come to Pilates with me?” I ask.

“No.” He disappears up the hall as panic races through me, I shower and dress into my workout gear. My mind works overtime as I pull my hair up into a high ponytail and brush my teeth.

Does he know about the phone?

I stare at my reflection in the mirror and drop my shoulders to try and calm myself, you don’t know that he knows. Maybe he doesn’t have a clue.

I’ve decided; I’m not going to feed into Carlo’s plan; I’m not going to let him upset Val again. Not on my watch. If I tell Val he’s still trying to contact me then he’s going to react, and God knows what he will do and now with the police loitering around, no…I can’t risk it.

Act. Normal.

I make my way out into the kitchen to find Valentino with his back to me; his hands are wide on the kitchen counter and he’s staring out the window.

My coffee sits at the kitchen table, and I gingerly sit down in front of it. “Thank you.”

He nods but doesn’t turn to face me.

He knows.

“I’m going to go away with my parents next weekend.” I try to change the subject.

“When are you leaving?” His voice is monotone.

“Lunchtime on Friday, it’s been planned for months.”

His head drops.

“Is everything okay?” I ask. “You seem…. Off.”

He turns toward me. “Everything is fine.” He sits down in a rush opposite me and his jaw clenches; there’s no hiding his body language now. I wasn’t imagining it last night.

“You’re angry.”

“What would I be angry about?” he eventually answers.

I swallow the lump in my throat, almost too scared to ask why.

Play dumb.

“So…” I trace my finger on the top of my coffee cup as I try to articulate what I want to say, “…I just picked up my jacket to put away and….”

He rolls his lips as his eyes hold mine. “What?”

“This was in my pocket.” I hold the flip phone out.

He takes it from me. “What do you mean it was in your jacket?” He flips it open and tries to turn it on.

“I don’t know if it was accidentally put in the wrong jacket or….”

His eyes rise to meet mine. “You’ve never seen it before?” He pushes the buttons on the side.