Page 75

"How did Enzo find you?" she asks.

"His wife wanted money. Apparently, I'm worth more than I thought."

"That is not funny."

"I know. I'm working with limited material here."

She starts crying, which nearly undoes me. I promise to call her in the morning and agree that she can come over if I need her.

When I finally hang up, Enzo is watching me.

"Daniel contacted Elise because she was listed as your emergency contact," he explains. "When she couldn't reach you, she called Nico. That's how I found out you'd missed your date."

I wince. "I'm going to have to apologize to him."

Enzo's expression tightens slightly, but he doesn't say anything.

"And before you start making that face, he hasn't done anything wrong. Apparently, he didn’t even go to my apartment when I didn’t show up for our date. Because he assumed I stood him up and he didn’t want to impose."

"I know."

"Good." I hand his phone back. "Because I've had enough men deciding what I should do."

He slips the phone into his pocket. "I understand."

I hope he does.

Because loving Lorenzo Moretti is apparently the easiest thing I've ever done.

Trusting him again is going to be a hell of a lot harder.

The doctor has cleared me to leave, but I ask Enzo for a few minutes alone before we head home. If I wait until tomorrow, I'll spend the entire night imagining all the things he's still hiding.

We're sitting in a quiet consultation room, away from the nurses and the constant noise of the emergency department. He takes the chair across from me instead of trying to pull me into his lap.

I appreciate that more than I want to admit.

"All right, Lorenzo." I fold my arms, then immediately regret it when my shoulder protests. "Let's hear it."

His mouth twitches at the use of his full name, but he doesn't smile.

"Valentina and I married twelve years ago. Our families thought it was a good match. She came from money and connections, and I was young enough to believe marriage could be treated like another business arrangement."

"How romantic. Did you exchange rings or stock certificates?"

"Both would've been appropriate."

I almost smile.

"We tried to make it work for a while," he continues. "Eventually, we admitted we weren't suited to each other. We separated years ago and agreed to live our own lives."

"Then why didn't you get divorced?"

"Because it was easier not to. She liked her position as Mrs. Moretti, and I didn't want the financial arguments or the trouble it would cause with our families. We weren't together, so I convinced myself the paperwork didn't matter."

"Except it did matter, Enzo. To me."

"I know that now."