“I said leave me alone, Antonio.”
“I’m not leaving until you open this door.”
Lucia growled. She got up and stomped across the room. Turning the lock, she flung the door open, and almost fell back when she saw the sorrow in his expression. But it was a ruse, a practiced ploy to deceive her again. Her heart would be all too willing to let him—it loved him, it wept for him, it wanted to believe him—but her head knew better. Her head wasn’t as anxious to be tricked again; it wore no rose-colored glasses.
She reached out with her palms and gave him a slight push. “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t need or want your excuses, your explanations, anything. I know what I heard, and I’m not gullible enough to fall for whatever you came down to tell me to try to convince me otherwise. I’m a big girl. I’m not going to fire you from the job, but as far as anything personal between us, you’re going to need to find someone else you can dupe so you can ensure your financial future.”
“Lucia, please, don’t be foolish. I promise you this is all a misunderstanding. I planned to tell you about all this sooner but never found the right time. I don’t care about—”
She slammed the door in his face. “I can’t talk to you right now. Just please, go away.”
Lucia walked back to the bed and sank down onto it, cursing herself because she wanted to believe him so badly. She was a fool, but no matter how much it hurt, no matter how hard it would be to banish him from her heart, she would.
LUCIA DIDN’T GO downstairs that night. She texted Caterina, told her the headache she’d had earlier had left her exhausted, and she was going to go to bed early. Asked her to let their sisters know, but no need for anyone to worry, she just needed some more rest.
She spent the evening alone, did without dinner, organized her closet and cleaned out her bureau drawers, made a pile of things she didn’t wear anymore to donate for someone who might, anything to try to keep her mind off the unbearable loss she felt.
She tried reading but couldn’t get into the romance, not when her own had just fallen apart because the man she’d thought was such a romantic had turned out to be a fraud.
With nothing left to do in the confined space of her room, she crawled into bed and curled into a tight ball under the comforter. It was barely ten, earlier than her norm, but her heart had taken a beating and she was more tired than she otherwise would have been. Sleep would help. Sleep would give her a temporary escape from the pain.
JUST BEFORE LUNCH the next day, Antonio and Liam came into the inn together and approached the reception desk where Lucia was going over the room schedule for the upcoming weekend.
She steeled herself against the emotional onslaught seeing him whipped up. She wouldn’t let him see her pain, and she most definitely would not shed a tear, at least not in front of him.
Antonio waved an envelope in the air. “We got the permits. Liam picked them up earlier this morning and drove out here to give them to us.”
Lucia looked at Liam, managed a smile. “That’s great. Thank you for whatever you did to speed up the process.”
“No problem. It helps to have a good relationship with the people in the permitting office. It also helps that they aren’t too swamped right now, and they’re coming through as fast as I’ve ever seen.”
She kept her focus on Liam who posed no threat to her shredded heart. “Whatever the reasons, I’m glad we cleared that hurdle and can move forward.”
Antonio dropped the envelope onto the desk, and it landed in front of her. Lucia picked it up, slipped it into the top drawer for safe keeping, and then looked at Liam again.
“I’ll keep it here in case we need it for any reason.”
Liam nodded. “Once the building goes up and we get some windows in, we can post it on-site, but that’ll do for now.”
“Liam still hasn’t met Caterina,” Antonio said, trying to draw her attention. She continued to smile at Liam.
Antonio shifted his stance. “If she’s around, we could try to remedy that now. Since you don’t have any guests, maybe the four of us could get a quick lunch and talk about next steps.”
“Would you like me to see if she’s available to meet you, Liam?” Lucia picked up her cell phone, continued looking at the contractor. “I don’t know what her plans are for the day, but if she’s free I’m sure she’d love to join you for lunch to hear the plan.”
“We can go into Middleburg, Lucia.” Antonio persisted, using her name to deliberately try to get her to look at him. “You told me there was a restaurant there you liked.”
“I won’t be able to join you, Liam, but Cat—that’s my sister’s nickname—she can fill me in later.”
Liam cast an uncomfortable glance at Antonio before answering. Yeah, she was probably being totally obvious, and maybe a bit immature, but she was also trying very hard not to break down in tears or end up screaming at the man who’d stolen her heart for his own selfish purposes.
“Well, I’ve never started a job without meeting the client first, so if you want to see if she’s around—”
“Sure thing. Hold on a sec.” Lucia dashed off a text to her sister and received an immediate response: I was just on my way down.
Lucia held the phone up for Liam to read the message. Antonio leaned over and looked at it too. Her eyes betrayed her, strayed to his face. She was met with blue ice that froze her where she sat for the course of four or five seconds before she got her wits back, tore her traitorous gaze from his.
He wasn’t happy that she was ignoring him. Well, that was just too damned bad. She wasn’t the one who’d pretended to be someone they weren’t and undermined their relationship. She wasn’t the one who lied. But did he…did he really lie to you? You never gave him a chance to explain.
Oh, there went her heart again. Being foolish. Wanting to believe he loved her. Trying to tell her she owed it to herself—and to him—to listen to what he had to say before passing a final judgment. It urged her to trust her original instincts about him, but how could she when all she needed to do was remember what she’d heard him say with her own ears to know the truth.
She knew better, she wasn’t stupid, and she didn’t plan on giving him an opportunity to fill her with false hopes only to crush them once again.
Despite her resolve, her eyes betrayed her and stole another glance at him, at his beautiful face, and behind the irritation she guessed stemmed from her refusal to acknowledge him, she saw something else. Something in his eyes that made her wonder if she should trust her heart a little more, that maybe it was smarter than she wanted to give it credit for right now.
Yes, she’d been hurt by what she heard him tell his grandfather. But what if it hadn’t been what it sounded like? She couldn’t imagine how it could be otherwise, but what if…? What if, despite his original intentions, he’d really begun to care for her?
Wouldn’t the mature thing be to let him tell his side and then decide if she wanted to believe him? Isn’t that what a reasonable adult would do?
She was about to change her mind and say she’d join them for lunch if her sister was able to go when Caterina rounded the corner from the hallway, and the energy in the room shifted all over again.
We shape our buildings;
thereafter they shape us.
Winston Churchill
Maybe he was having an off day, but I have to tell you, I don’t get why you, El, and Marcella were all so dead set on hiring that man as our contractor.” Caterina walked into the inn in front of Lucia after they returned from having lunch with Liam and Antonio.
“His resume looks good on paper, and his references checked out…although I’m sure he wasn’t going to give us any bad ones,” she continued, “but the man’s about as personable as a stone.”
Lucia closed the door behind them. “I think you’re rushing to judgment. He’s been very personable every other time I’ve seen him, so maybe you’re right and he was just having an off day. Maybe he’s got things on his mi
nd and it was affecting his mood.” Like wondering what the hell was going on between her and Antonio and whether it was going to be a problem on the job.
She hadn’t said a word to him at the restaurant. If he aimed a question or comment in her direction, she turned to someone else to respond. It was impossible to ignore him completely—he’d been sitting right beside her—but she’d done her best, although not as successfully as she’d have liked.
He’d done everything he could to draw her attention short of physically putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him. The few times she hadn’t been able to avoid eye contact with him her heart wept. It wanted to believe what she saw when their gaze connected was love, and behind it sorrow, and a reflection of the same pain that made her want to curl up in a ball and shut the world out until it went away.
It was all a scam, though, no different from the lines he’d used when she believed he cared about her, the romantic musings and playful flirtations. They’d all been part of a game he’d been playing to make her think he cared.
He does care. Lucia pushed the traitorous thought from her head. If he truly cared, he would have told her about the trust up-front. She might have understood. If he’d told her, at least she would have known he respected her enough, cared enough, to be honest with her. But he hadn’t, and now he wanted to, but how could she believe anything he’d say when she knew his driving motivation was financial gain?
Caterina picked up the mail that was sitting on the front desk and started leafing through it. “He doesn’t like me.”
Lucia glanced at her sister as she walked around to the chair. “Who doesn’t like you?”
“Our new contractor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why wouldn’t he like you? Aside from looking down your nose at him a couple of times over lunch, you didn’t do anything to offend him.”
“I never looked down my nose at him.”
“You looked at him like this.” Lucia hiked her chin and then glanced down the length of her own nose, across the desk at her sister, through half-lowered lashes.
“That’s not what I did. And if I gave him any kind of look, it was probably because I was trying to figure out why he would randomly decide not to like me.”
Lucia shook her head. “You’re imagining things.”
“Fine. Like I imagined the sneer that curled his lips when I went to take a sip of wine and saw him watching me from across the table.”
“I didn’t notice him sneering at you. Like I said, I think it’s all in your head.”
Caterina snorted. “Yeah? Whatever, but I’m telling you he’s got some kind of problem with me. And anyway, I don’t put much faith in anything you noticed or didn’t notice. You and Antonio were both acting weird from the time we left until we got back. In fact, I think I was the only one at the table who didn’t seem to be fighting some internal demon over their crab cakes and fries.”
When Lucia didn’t comment, her sister cocked her head and stared her down. “No problems in paradise, I hope.”
“Everything’s fine. I’m still just a little worn out from that headache I had yesterday.” Lucia fudged, not wanting to say anything about what was happening between her and Antonio until she could do so without breaking down into a pool of tears.
“Okay, well good. I’d like to think out of the four of us that at least one sister has managed to get involved with a man who’s worth the effort.”
ANTONIO PULLED INTO the gravel parking lot after taking his grandfather out for pizza. As they walked toward the winery’s inn, he heard an owl hooting and was reminded of a night a couple of months earlier when he and Lucia had been sitting out on the terrace sharing some wine and a scavenged meal. A night when she still believed in him, trusted him.
He had to find a way to make things right with her. It had been three days since she’d overheard him playing his grandfather and mistakenly taken everything he’d said as truth, and he hadn’t been able to put a dent in her armor since. The longer this rift continued, the more he feared it would grow.
The one person he most wanted to please, to make happy, to love and be loved by, he’d hurt. Not through any desire on his part, but still, he’d hurt her deeply, and he might only have one shot at restoring her faith in him.
“So if it won’t be a problem to change my tickets, then I’ll make arrangements to stay another week,” his grandfather said from beside him, continuing the conversation they’d been having on the drive back from the pizza parlor.
“It shouldn’t be a problem. I’m just surprised you’re not in more of a hurry to go home.”
“I miss it, and I’ll be happy when I get back, but I’ve enjoyed my visit, and it might be a while before I see you again. Another week suits me fine.”
Antonio was glad he’d have a bit more time with the old man. In spite of their propensity to argue, they were family, and the love they had for each other had deep roots. He had to wonder, though, if his nonno’s sudden desire to stay longer had anything to do with the mess Antonio had made of things with Lucia.
When they walked into the inn, Lucia was in the library talking with Eliana and Marcella. It was one of the few times he’d seen Marcella in the last couple of weeks. He nodded in greeting, his eyes touching on each of her sisters a moment before resting on the woman he loved, where they chose to stay.
“Good evening, ladies,” Vincenzo said, walking right over and embracing each of them as if they were his own daughters. “I’ve some news to share.”
“What’s that?” Eliana asked, a smile dancing on her lips. His nonno had managed to charm the entire Bonavera clan, and they all seemed delighted with him whenever he was around.
“I’ve decided to stay in the States another week so I can visit with Antonio a while longer before returning home.” He turned toward Lucia. “What is the chance I might be able to stay another week at your lovely inn?”
Lucia graced him with a beautiful smile, one that made Antonio covet being in her good graces again. “I think we can arrange that,” she said, which earned her a kiss on the cheek from his grandfather.
“Wonderful. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m of a mind to stretch out with a good book. If it’s my good fortune to do so, I will see all of you tomorrow.”
As his grandfather started across the lobby to go upstairs, Antonio turned and caught Lucia looking at him. He held her gaze, refusing to let it go, and begged her with his eyes to give him another chance.
She jerked her head away and walked out of the room, through the solarium doors, apparently not wanting to be anywhere near him.
Antonio wondered if it might be a chance for him to get her alone. He hurried after her and saw her duck into the kitchen. He followed.
She must have heard the door close and spun around to face him.
He saw her eyelids flutter, as if in annoyance. “Please leave,” she said, and he thought he heard a tremble in her voice. “There’s nothing you can say that will change anything now. I just want you to leave me alone. I came in here because I didn’t want to see you right now. So please, just go and honor my wishes.”
Antonio flinched. “I’m sorry but I can’t do that, not until you hear me out.”
Lucia fisted her hands at her sides. “Fine, if you won’t leave, then I will.”
She made to pass him and he caught her arm, halting her progress.
“Lucia, please give me five minutes to try to prove everything you heard the other day was a lie,” he pleaded quietly. “Just five minutes. Please.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Please, mia amore.”
She gave him a look filled with daggers.
Antonio sighed deeply, let her go, and she walked away from him.
“Are you kidding me!” he heard her exclaim.
Antonio turned around to see Lucia tugging on the kitchen doorknob.
“I can’t,” she grit out, and pulled harder, “freaking believe this.”
When t
he door still didn’t open, she growled and jerked around.
Antonio walked over and turned the knob with no more success than she’d had.
Lucia ground her teeth and glanced up toward the ceiling. “Is this your doing, Rosa?”
The lights flickered on and off.
Lucia tried the door again but it remained closed tight.
After a few moments of silence, she crossed her arms and swallowed. “I don’t really feel like talking to you, but apparently my meddlesome aunt has other ideas.”
Antonio sent Rosa a silent thank you.
Lucia shifted and looked around the room. “Since it seems you’re going to force me to listen to him, can we at least go out on the terrace? Someone else might want to get something in here, and since you’ll probably just lock us in another room when you get the chance, I promise he can have his five minutes.”
The lights flickered again.
Lucia tested the knob once more and the door opened. She threw Antonio a none-too-happy glare.
Lucia walked out in front of him. Antonio slipped his hands in his pocket and followed her out onto the terrace.
She sat down at one of the tables and he joined her there, locked eyes with her when she glanced his way and tried to tell her through a look what he felt in his heart. He saw her swallow.
“Since we’re going to be working so closely together, it’s probably a good idea to clear the air between us, come to some kind of understanding, so say your piece, Antonio.” Lucia seemed to steel herself. “I want you to promise something, though. If after you say what you want and I don’t feel any differently, you’ll agree to forget about what happened between us. Our relationship from here on out will be strictly professional, and you won’t bother me unless it has to do with the job.”
He’d agree to anything just for a chance to try and win her back. He’d never give up on her, though, not when they belonged together. He hoped she’d believe him when he showed her what he had in his pocket.
Lucia (The Bonaveras) Page 23