Chapter 5 - THE WRONG ROMANOLuca Romano was everything Matteo was not.
Warm.
Charming.
Easy.
He told stories that made Sophia laugh and treated servers by name.
Everyone seemed to like him.
Emma immediately distrusted him.
Halfway through dinner, Luca lifted his glass.
“To unexpected love.”
Emma lifted hers.
“To unexpected consequences.”
Matteo glanced sideways at her.
Later, Emma found him on the terrace.
“Your cousin is sleeping with Bianca.”
Matteo didn’t react.
“You knew?”
“Suspected.”
“Then why did you need a fake fiancée?”
“Suspicion doesn’t dismantle an alliance.”
“Evidence does.”
“Yes.”
Emma looked through the glass doors toward Bianca and Luca.
“So marrying Bianca was business.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever want to?”
“No.”
“That may be the saddest thing you’ve said all week.”
“Yesterday you said my chef’s risotto lacked moral integrity.”
“It did.”
A tiny smile.
Then Emma asked:
“What did your parents have?”
Matteo’s expression changed.
“My father loved my mother.”
“And Sophia?”
“More than he deserved.”
Something in his voice stopped Emma from teasing.
“When did he die?”
“Seven years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded once.
She didn’t ask how.
Wind pushed hair across Emma’s face.
Matteo lifted his hand.
Almost touched her cheek.
Stopped.
His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Then he lowered his hand.
Emma’s pulse jumped.
“What were you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Coward.”
His eyes narrowed.
Then he walked away.
Emma stayed on the terrace.
That was when she realized the men who broke into her office were no longer the only dangerous part of the arrangement.
She wanted Matteo to come back.
Over the next two weeks, fake intimacy developed into real habits.
Matteo learned she drank coffee with ridiculous amounts of cream.
Emma learned he slept four hours on a good night.
She learned he visited Sophia every Sunday, regardless of schedule.
He learned Emma hummed old songs when nervous.
She noticed he still wore his father’s watch.
He discovered she quietly sent money to her parents while insisting she was financially fine.
One evening, Emma found him eating cereal over the kitchen sink.
“You own half of Chicago. Why are you eating like a college student?”
“I didn’t expect witnesses.”
She took his spoon.
“Move.”
“You’re eating my food.”
“You offered me two million dollars. You can survive cereal theft.”
Matteo laughed.
A real laugh.
Emma stared.
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you look thirty-nine before.”
“Was that an insult?”
“No.”
And it wasn’t.
For the first time, Emma saw what power had cost him.
May you like
Loneliness.
Then, unfortunately for both of them, jealousy arrived.
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