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My Mom is the one to slam down her cutlery, leaving even more of a clatter to echo through the room. “You know, Roman, you are becoming just like your father. Cold and cruel. I thought I raised you better than that!”
My blood turns to ice. I don’t mind being cold and cruel, but to be compared to the likes of him, a man who ruined her, abused her, isolated her…
My stomach turns. The legs of my chair squeal across the floor as I jump up, unable to stand another moment of sitting at the table.
My skin prickles with disgust as I march out of the restaurant and into the cool air. I have no idea where to go. My feet take me down Madison Avenue, disconnected from my racing thoughts.
I’m glad to disappear into the evening crowds.
Right until I hear her calling my name.
CHAPTER22
Madison
o o o
Roman leaves the table in an awkward silence that not even Leo is willing to break. I try to distract him, making him laugh by slurping up my spaghetti, though inside, my stomach is churning. Being here, eating Italian food, hearing the lilting accents coming from the kitchen…
It makes me feel like I’m back in Milan with Elio. Especially when he brushed my hand away, dismissing me like I mean nothing.
As soon as I get a chuckle from Leo, I lock eyes with Caroline. Hurt and perhaps a little regret glimmers in those irises, so much like Mason’s. She gives me a smooth, albeit false, smile. “Go to him. I know you want to. I’m sure you could make him feel much better than I could. Leo and I will meet you back at the penthouse once we’re full up on ice cream.”
I nod, not needing to be told twice. I’ve never seen Roman react that way to anything; always so level-headed and collected. The thought of him alone out there, hurting, isn’t something that sits well with me. I want to talk to him, make sure he’s okay.
I don’t have time to figure out why I care so much when my duty is still in this restaurant.
“Thank you.”
“I was only trying to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes,” she says quietly. “His father wasn’t a kind man, and I know that Roman is capable of more love than he’s willing to show — especially, it seems, for you.”
I shake my head, my cheeks warming as I pull on my coat. “It isn’t like that between us.”
Still, my voice shakes and I’m not sure if I’m lying to her or myself. Roman may not feel anything, but… perhaps I do. The realization leaves a chasm opening inside me, one I’m sure I’ll fall through at any moment. I can’t have feelings for him, not when I know he could only ever break my heart. He may make me feel safe, but he isn’t. I trust him with my body, but could I do the same with my heart?
The corner of Caroline’s mouth quirks as though she doesn’t believe me, which means I’ve managed to convince neither of us. “That’s not what I see, but I understand why you’re both hesitant.” She offers a pointed look at Leo, still chowing down his meal with Bolognese sauce smeared across his mouth.
I take a deep breath, unable to respond. Instead, I rush out the door with a brief smile for the restaurant host and then search for the tall, broad figure I know so well.
Instead, I find a shorter, thinner shadow across the street. My heart stutters, and I freeze among the crowd weaving up and down Madison Avenue.
It can’t be. He can’t have found me.
The shadow is suddenly lit by the headlights of a passing cab, and I almost collapse in relief. It isn’t. He shares the same dark features as Elio, but his facial structure is completely different. I was just imagining him. Letting him haunt me.
Quickly, I scour both ways and find the man I’m searching for heading toward Madison Square Park. Desperately, I brush past the slow walkers until my heels blister and the balls of my feet throb. “Roman! Roman, stop!”
He does, and I see his shoulders rise and fall in annoyance. When he turns to me, I’m taken aback by how distraught he looks. Breathless, I catch up to him, finding his hands balled into fists and his angry gaze narrowed to slits.
It takes me a moment to know what to say, and what comes out isn’t that great. “Are you okay?”
“Go back inside. Enjoy your meal. I need to take a walk.”
Shakily, I take his hand. I can’t help but fear that he’ll push me away again.
He doesn’t. His fingers uncurl from his palms, lacing through mine. Still, he won’t look at me.
“I’m not going to leave you alone, Roman. I’m going to walk with you, and you can talk to me or not talk to me.”
