Page 215 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

‘I don’t want anything to drink, and don’t think you can stand there andprevaricate. What I do want is for you to tell me why you think you can act like a puppet-master. One minute, there’s no marriage; the next minute, you’re persuading me that marriage isthe only possible solutionand then, when I’ve bought into that, getting used to the idea, you decide that you’re going to do a U-turn and call the whole thing off!’

‘It’s not as simple as that.’

Alice followed him as he headed off towards the kitchen, bypassing doors that led to stunningly beautiful rooms, most of which were devoid of colour. White walls were interrupted by priceless works of art, and just as priceless rugs were strategically placed on the blonde wooden floors. The whole house soared with space, light, clever windows and arches that made the area seem as vast as a football field, yet there was nothing there that could ever be calledpersonal. It was the sanitised space of a billionaire without intimate connections to anyone.

He had a complicated coffee machine which he now started up and it was only after a while, when the coffee was poured, that he sat facing her at the metal-and-glass table, long enough to seat ten and about as homey as an ice-pick.

The flutter of nerves returned and Alice knew it was because of the depth of her feelings for him and because of the way his sheer beauty got to her.

‘You don’t get to do this, Mateo,’ she said tightly.

Mateo raked his fingers through his hair and looked at the plump, sexy woman quietly simmering opposite him. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her off to the bedroom cave-man style, but of course that was the last thing he was going to do. She must have dashed out of the apartment, hot on his heels, because he hadn’t been back that long.

‘I hope you haven’t been using public transport,’ he said with a frown, suddenly distracted by the thought of her being jostled on a crowded Tube.

‘What does that have to do with anything? And stop changing the subject.’

Mateo lapsed into silence, because this was the last thing he’d been expecting when he’d opened his front door. Yes, he could see why she had stormed over here to find out what was going on, and could see why she felt he’d been pulling her strings and getting her to dance to his tune. What he couldn’t understand was why she couldn’t see that he was releasing her from an obligation she had never wanted in the first place.

‘I’m doing this for you,’ he eventually muttered.

‘You’re doing thisfor me.’

‘How many times have you told me that we’re not suited? That what you saw in your future was a man who was your soul mate?’

‘Things changed when I found out that I was pregnant.’

‘Things changed when you saw a picture of me in some trashy magazine with a blonde.’

‘Maybe,’ Alice admitted uncomfortably.

‘Maybe? There’s no doubt about it. You thought I’d gone to that function with a woman and I let you believe that because...because I felt that marriage was the best solution. If I got there by exploiting a moment of weakness in you, then all was fair in love and war.’

Mateo flushed darkly and shot her a brooding, challenging gaze.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I have no idea who that woman was. Someone must have trying to get her mug shot in a magazine. I haven’t looked at another woman since...since you.’

‘You haven’t?’

‘Why would I?’ He glanced away. He could feel the steady thud of his heart and the racing in his veins as he peered down into an abyss of the unknown.

‘Because...’

He heard the faltering in her voice and knew that she was utterly confused. He couldn’t blame her, considering he was pretty confused himself: confused by emotions that had overwhelmed him. Confused by an indecisiveness that was so unlike him. Confused as to what to do next.

‘I was jealous,’ he admitted roughly, and when their eyes met he saw with no great surprise that she was even more bewildered by his impulsive confession. ‘I think I’ve always been jealous when it comes to you and, seeing you there at your leaving party, I wanted you to laugh like that with me. I didn’t want you laughing like that with anyone else...but me. I realised that that was something you hadn’t done in a while and I knew why.’

He held up one hand although she hadn’t interrupted him. Her mouth was half-open and she was openly gaping. But, now that he had started down the confessional route, Mateo intended to lay his soul bare and complete the journey.

‘You’d been coerced into a situation by me. How could you be carefree and light-hearted when you were doing something you didn’t really want to do?’

‘Don’t speak, Mateo. Letmedo the talking. Honestly, for someone so smart, you can sometimes be so...so...not smart. I wasn’t light-hearted because I was scared! I was scared that you might see just how much I wanted to marry you! I was so caught up in the effort of trying to hide my feelings for you that it was impossible to be carefree. When you said that I’d wanted more from Simon, you probably didn’t know just how right you were. Simon was a shadow, and I know now that any life with him would have been a half-life: a half-lifefor me.

‘Mateo, you’re the bright light that makes me feel alive! I don’t know who I was before I met you, but I wasn’t this person—I wasn’t this person who felt whole and wonderful and giddy with a thirst to see everything life holds for me, but only with you by my side! I wouldn’t have rushed over here like a bat out of hell to find out what the heck was going on if you didn’t make me feel the way you do.’

‘Alice,’ Mateo whispered. ‘Everything you’ve just said...my gorgeous girl...’

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