No, it wasn’t possible. Leo scratched his forehead, trying to understand the significance of what he had just uncovered.
“The wedding was due to take place the same weekend that the gentleman was there?”
“Yes, Sir. 19th June.”
“That’s strange,” said Leo, thinking out aloud. He tried to sound less surprised. “And you are absolutely sure?”
“Yes, sir.” The receptionist assured him. “Who was it that passed away—if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Excuse me?” Then he remembered and tried to make it sound casual. “A brother.” He said, hastily, thinking of the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” said Leo. “You’ve been more than helpful.” His hands were shaking as he put down the handset. He hadn’t expected this. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find on Riley—but it wasn’t anything to do with his wedding.
He placed his hands on the desk and pushed back slowly until he’d raised himself to standing. With his hands placed knuckles down on the desk, he pressed down with the full weight of his body. The hardness of the desk against his hands brought mild relief.
Andrea knew nothing of this. Poor woman. It would be devastating when she found out. And now he was confronted by another dilemma.
To tell her or not?
Or, more like it, when?
30
“One more time,” Riley pleaded, as he kneaded her breast and sucked her earlobe.
“I need to take a shower,” Andrea moaned. “I’ll be late.” He felt her pull away from him and climb out of bed.
“I wouldn’t want that.” He let her go and watched her naked body slide out of view. He’d woken her up with kisses this morning, and had her moaning with delight before she’d had time to refuse him.
She’d been too busy working on her laptop last night for him to entice her away so that he could have his way with her. When the woman was solely focused on her business, nothing could distract her. But he’d still managed to keep her sweet every now and then. This morning he’d had her purring like a tiger before she was fully awake and when she came the second time, she screamed out his name. He had the claw marks to prove it.
But it had been another restless night for him. It wasn’t only the money worries that kept him awake; he was beginning to think that Leo had been putting ideas into Andrea’s mind. He couldn’t be certain if she was trying to push him away or whether this distance he felt with her lately was purely down to her being busy with the trip to Milan.
And yet the trip could not have come at a better time.
By the time she came out of the shower, he had breakfast ready and made sure she ate it. It was surprising how much more willing she was to listen to him when he’d spent hours screwing her senseless.
“It’s what—a couple of hours drive?” he asked. She nodded. “It’s better to eat a good breakfast before you leave.”
“You’re being very good to me lately,” she told him, spooning cereal into her mouth.
“I know I haven’t always been there for you lately. I’m trying to get better and make up for it. See, Andrea, I love you,” he said and waited for her to say the same. When she still didn’t, he looked at her a moment longer, saw her give him a small smile before she started to chew again.
Fair enough—if she didn’t feel that way about him yet, she would. In time. But he also found himself in a strange situation. He had begun to like being with her. She was easy to live with. Not demanding, not bossy, not needy.
She was a dream girlfriend.
There were some days when he felt ashamed for his actions. He went through fleeting moments of guilt when he stopped to consider how wonderful life might be if he erased his history and started anew.
With Andrea he felt it was still an option even if it meant getting a job as a bartender and slowly working his way up. A couple of deals here and there, and he could make himself stop his gambling streak. He could put that money into a viable business and make a real go of it.
She was different from the others and his feelings for her were slowly turning into the real thing. This morning when he’d made love to her and told her he loved her, it had slipped out. Because in that moment, the first moment ever that he was being truthful, he meant it. In that moment, he believed he loved her. She’d been writhing underneath him, lost and breathless and he wasn’t even sure she’d heard.
But still no response from her. Was it because of Leo? This vagabond thought had kept him up most of the night.
Each time she was around Leo the distance between her and him widened. And they’d met for a coffee, too—something that she had kept from him. Leo had known she was upset that day, but he hadn’t. What did that tell him?
Maybe it was time to take Leo out of the picture so that he could continue more easily on the path to the type of future he envisioned for himself. Andrea could change him, she could be the catalyst to his transformation and the only thing that stood between him and his happy ending was Leo. This was how he felt sometimes—when part of him wanted to stay and build a more solid future. Then, at other times, he wanted to take the money and run. His emotions ranged from one extreme to the other and his feelings for Andrea were at the heart of it. Usually these things were so cut and dried for him; when feelings weren’t involved, he didn’t care who he hurt as long as he was alright.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she said as he bent to kiss her passionately on the lips.
“If you get tired, don’t drive back so late at night.”
“You don’t want me back tomorrow night?”
“I’d rather you were safe.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Be safe.” He told her.
31
Why was she calling when she was on her honeymoon? Leo shook his head in disbelief and assured her anyway. “Everything’s fine.”
“She left me a message a few days ago but I didn’t get time to call her back. We wondered why she didn’t come to the wedding. But you’re sure she’s okay?”
Well, no. He wasn’t sure and even if she wasn’t, it wasn’t his place to say anything to Ava. She had looked definitely pregnant to him on her wedding day.
“She’s fine, Ava. Don’t worry about Andrea. I’m sure there’s a good reason for her missing the wedding. She’ll be back in a few days and I’ll let her know you called.”
“It’s just that she didn’t pick up her cell phone this morning and we were worried.”
She didn’t pick up her cell phone? Now she had him worried even more. More than he had been ever since he’d found out about Riley’s wedding plans.
“That’s because she was driving to Milan this morning. She doesn’t have a hands free speakerphone in her car, she won’t answer the phone if she’s driving.” Leo said smoothly, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. “She’ll likely call me when she gets there. By the way, that was one beautiful wedding ceremony.”
“Thank you,” said Ava.
He tried to reassure her. “Enjoy your honeymoon.”
But as soon as he hung up, he dialed Andrea’s number immediately. He’d been busy in the warehouse going through the sales figures for the year to date and looking at the extra revenue as a result of Ava’s business. Andrea had been right to go to Milan and look for more suppliers. If she could source some nursery furniture to accompany the cribs, he was certain that their revenue would increase further.
“Leo?” At the sound of Andrea’s voice, Leo released a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding in.
“You got there okay?”
“Yes and it didn’t take too long either. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly. “I just…” he stopped, choosing his words carefully because she already thought he was looking out for her too much. “…had some messages to pass on, that’s all.”
“I went straight into my meetings,” she explained as he eased himself
into his chair and listened to her. Now that he’d confirmed she was fine, he could relax a little.
“Where are you now?”
“Checking into my hotel.”
“Ava called for you. She was worried when she didn’t hear back from you.”
“I saw her missed call. Doesn’t that woman have better things to do on her honeymoon?”
He’d wondered the same thing. “She wanted to know if you were okay and whether your friend had recovered from his thirty second illness.” Leo couldn’t help the small dose of sarcasm.
“That’s not nice, Leo.”
He wondered what she would think if she knew what he’d discovered. “I told her he was fine, and that you were fine and that she didn’t need to worry. I said she and Nico should be enjoying their honeymoon.”
“That woman doesn’t know how to relax.”
He could tell that she was smiling. “Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“How do you know I’m smiling?”
Because I can.
“By your voice. It’s easy enough to do. Something about the way words are delivered when people smile, compared to how they sound when they say them with a miserable face.”
“That’s interesting. I’ll have to try it.”
“Try it now,” he suggested.
“Now?”
“Right now. Say something to me with a miserable expression on your face.”
“I can’t say anything to you with a miserable face, Leo. You usually always make me smile.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“It’s true. You do, most of the time,” she said. He took note of her words and filed them away for later.
“I consider it a mission accomplished if I can make you smile most of the time.”
He heard her laugh a little. “I have to go. I’m at the reception desk, checking in. I’ll call you later when I’m in my room.”
He’d be waiting for her call.
“I thought we got off to a bad start.”
Leo almost dropped the phone at the sound of a voice behind him. But when he recognized the voice fear crept all over him like a spider. He turned his head to the door and saw Riley. Caught off guard, Leo now tried to recover his posture.
“I didn’t hear you come in.” He hadn’t heard the sound of the bell.
How long had Riley been standing there?
“You seemed pretty busy on the phone, talking to my girlfriend.”
What had he heard? Quickly, Leo tried to recap the conversation to see if he’d said anything out of line.
“She was checking in. Ava called for her earlier and I called to pass on the message.” He explained. Riley moved away from the door way and stepped into the office.
“What brings you here?” Leo asked, eager to get the confrontation out of the way. It was clear the man was here to see him alone since he already knew that Andrea was out.
“Like I said, I think we started off wrong.” Riley moved over to Andrea’s desk, pulled out her chair and sat down in it.
“I was going to close up soon,” said Leo, eyeing him as though he was a Cobra waiting to pounce.
“How is she? My girlfriend? Did she get there okay?” Riley asked, disregarding Leo’s request to finish for the day.
“She’s fine. I expect she’ll call you later.”
“I expect she’ll call you first.”
Leo felt his muscles tighten all over his body. He especially didn’t like the tone of Riley’s voice; cold and flat. What was the point of this conversation? As things stood, he was already wary of this stranger, especially in light of what he’d found out. Riley’s unexpected appearance now made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. In a bid to appear calm and in control Leo got up and began to tidy away his things. “It’s been a long day.”
He expected a sarcastic reply from the man who now watched him carefully. But when Leo glanced at him, Riley seemed to be much more at ease than Leo felt.
“Is there something I can do for you, Riley?” he asked, shuffling up papers neatly before putting them into the ring binder.
“I don’t know, is there? Or is there something I can do for you? Like get out of your way?”
Leo didn’t like the riddled tone of this conversation.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Leo told him evenly.
“Then let me spell it out for you, bud. See, it seems to me that maybe you have your eyes on my girlfriend. Maybe you want what I have?”
Leo looked at him puzzled.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Riley. Andrea is a business partner, that’s all. I’ve told you this before. Unless you’re talking about me wanting something else that you have?” Leo couldn’t help himself. His wariness gave way to repressed anger which quickly bubbled to the surface. Who the hell did this guy think he was? “What makes you think I want anything that you might have? What is it? Your job? Your career? Your life?” He was purposely playing with fire and hoping to coax more out of him. Leo knew that if a man could omit reference about his wedding and not even mention anything about his past to his current girlfriend, then a man like that had more to hide.
A man like that was dangerous.
“I’m shooting the breeze with you, buddy,” said Riley, breaking out into a cheerful smile. “I was hoping to clear the air. I thought we could make more of an effort to get on. I know Andrea finds it difficult when the two of us are in the same room.”
“You don’t say,” responded Leo slowly.
“She’s come to mean a lot to me. I hope to make an honest woman of her one day. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about her.”
Leo’s forehead puckered. What was the man talking about? “You barely know her.” Why was Riley telling him, of all people? Did Andrea know about his plans or was this something that he was making up as he went along? Leo didn’t trust the man one bit and considered this to be yet another lie in Riley’s arsenal.
“Does she know?” Leo asked.
“I love her. I’ve told her I love her.”
“So you claim to love Andrea. Are you sure about that? What about your traveling and your plans? Did you have any plans? Because half the time I’m not sure what it is that you really do.”
“So much concern for me, Leo. I didn’t think you cared. I can support myself very well, and I can support her too. She could come back to the US with me.”
Leo pursed his lips. “Do you think she’d ever leave what she’s built up over here, just for you?”
Riley narrowed his eyes. “You really hate that she’s with me, don’t you?”
“Before you make an honest woman of her, you might want to try being honest with her. You might want to tell her about your other wedding, the one that was canceled.”
Smart, cool and more than a little dangerous, this was Riley James, thought Leo as he watched the man who barely blinked in response. Riley raised an eyebrow and nothing more. “There’s nothing to tell. It didn’t work out. You know how these things are sometimes. You must know, having an ex-wife yourself.”
“I’m still good friends with my ex-wife.”
“That’s pitiful,” Riley spat the words out. “No wonder you’re sinking your dirty paws into my woman.”
Leo dodged the bullet and reminded himself that Riley was a master of evasion.
“Coming back to that failed wedding. You did tell Andrea, didn’t you? After all, why would you let a thing like that slip away? If you love her as much as you think you do, you’d share everything with her, wouldn’t you?”
Riley got up, the expression on his face was like stone.
“Look, Leo.” For the first time, he looked remorseful. “I will tell her. A woman like Andrea, I don’t want to hurt her. I never expected it to carry on this long. I never expected to stay here this long and I didn’t expect to develop such strong feelings for her so quickly. At first, I thought it would be a short stay—I’ve never hidden it from her—she knew it wasn’t going to last. I didn�
�t see the need to tell her about my life story, or the wedding. I was passing through and I think we both thought it would be something short and sweet. But now—” He looked away. “I feel more for her than I’ve ever done for anyone and I want to do the right thing. I know it’s early days. But…”
“You want to do the right thing by Andrea?” asked Leo slowly, “I’d have thought that telling her about your failed engagement from the start might have been a better way of starting something.” But Leo wondered if Andrea even knew of Riley’s plans. He doubted the man as much now as he ever had. He’d seen Andrea and had read her moods. Lately, she didn’t look like a woman who was deliriously happy in love. He suspected that what Riley was telling him would be news to Andrea.
“I know I need to tell her. It’s the honest thing to do.”
Now he had Leo, and he was stuck for a reply. “I think it would be best if you came clean with her.” Whatever went on between the two of them, Leo knew he had to butt out. Sometimes he wondered if his own feelings for Andrea were getting in the way and clouding his judgement.
“I’ll say it again, Leo. We didn’t get off to a great start. How about we go for a drink?” Riley asked him. “I promise I’m not saying this to get a lift from you. I came this way by taxi, and I wanted it out with you while Andrea was away; for her sake. I know she finds it difficult with things being tense between us.”
Leo looked at him at a loss for a reply. He didn’t know whether to believe the man, but all the same he was intensely curious to find out more about his background. A chance to sit with him in a public place sounded like the perfect opportunity for him to get more information.
“I can tell you have a lot of questions.”
“You can read minds too?” Leo asked, almost frowning, and for the first time ever, the two men exchanged a wary smile.
“I know you’ve been curious. You’ve always asked a lot of questions. I’ll answer everything. How about we go to that pizza place not far from here?”
Leo thought about it. “Okay.” He said. “Give me twenty minutes to finish up.”
Hearts on Fire: Romance Multi-Author Box Set Anthology Page 90