Page 214 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

‘I’ll leave you to mull over what I’ve said. I want you to know that, aside from your freedom which I am returning to you, everything else will remain the same and that includes my unwavering commitment to you and to our child. I’ll be with you every step of the way. You can count on me financially, and of course emotionally, until such time as you see fit.’

‘Until such time as I see fit?’

‘Correct.’

He began making for his coat and retrieving his mobile from where he had put in on the table in front of him, looking around vaguely as though he might have forgotten something.

Then he gave her a final look, brief and remote but not unkind.

‘I’ll be in touch. The move is in a couple of days. I’ll be there to make sure everything goes smoothly—if, that is, you still want to live there and not closer to where your friends are?’

‘And, if I went for the “closer to the friends” option, what would you do?’

Mateo shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t be a problem. A house is a house and the fact that I’ve already bought it would be immaterial. I’d hang onto it and then sell it.’

‘Life’s easy when money’s no object.’ Alice half-smiled but the eyes that met hers were as remote as ever.

‘On the contrary,’ Mateo murmured, turning away. ‘Money just makes the issues more manageable on a practical level. Everything else remains the same.’

CHAPTER TEN

WHATTHEHECKwas going on?

Alice sat in a daze for a while.

She felt as though she’d suddenly been flung onto a rollercoaster and, now that the ride had come to a stop, her head was still all over the place.

Slow anger began to build inside her. Ever since she had skied her way to Mateo’s front door in search of help, her easy, predictable, pleasantly normal life seemed to have gone off the rails. Nothing was straightforward any more. And now, having steered herself to some kind of acceptance of what the future would look like, here he went, derailing everything all over again.

While she sat here and stewed, where was he? Back off to his fancy house, where he would probably lose himself in work and put her out of his mind, to be fished out again only when it suited him. Probably when he had to think about supervising the house move.

Was she going to sit around moping, coming to terms with Plan Three Hundred and Three?

No way. She changed her clothes, stuck on something more public-friendly than what she’d shoved on earlier and hunted down a cardigan. Outside, it was a lovely day, blue skies with teasing hints of spring in the air. She decided against public transport and instead called a cab to take her over to Mateo’s house.

She’d been there so many times that it no longer impressed her. She’d breathed a sigh of relief that he had never, not once, suggested that she move in with him before the cottage he had bought became available. Maybe he’d known that the soullessness of his house didn’t appeal to her on any level.

Or maybe it was a place he saw as his and his alone. It wasn’t as if he’d ever intended to get rid of it even once they’d married and were living together in the cottage. He’d said something about its convenience for work purposes, and the added bonus of providing somewhere for clients to stay that wasn’t as formal as a hotel if any confidential deals had to be hammered out.

Ha! Had he subconsciously decided to hold on to it because it was back-up for a relationship that might very well fail despite all his upbeat, persuasive chat about it being the ideal solution?

Thoughts occupied her as the taxi made steady progress through the congested streets. She didn’t want to go down any rabbit holes or get too absorbed in doubts, questions and uncertainties. She was angry with Mateo for putting her in that place.

She felt a flutter of nerves as the cab came to a stop outside the house. She could see the driver glancing at the impressive property with a certain amount of awe, and she nearly rolled her eyes, because it was such a predictable reaction.

Was it any wonder that the damned man waltzed through life with such overwhelming self-assurance that it was nearly impossible to saynoto him? Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks had taught him how to be tough and making it to the top of the pile had taught him invincibility. He hadn’t got where he had by taking a back seat and being courteous. He’d got where he had by putting himself ahead of the pack and tenaciously making sure he held on to the lead.

The grand house was a spectacle of white, set back from the road and protected from it by wrought-iron gates and an intercom for entry though Alice had a code for the little side gate so there was no need for the intercom. She also had a key to the front door, which she had never used and which she wasn’t going to use now. Instead, she rang the doorbell, not even contemplating the fact that Mateo might not be home. Her anger wasn’t going to allow that little setback.

She heard the sound of his footsteps and then the door was pulled open and there he was. The flutter of nerves disappeared. She glared at him, hands on her hips, and met his eyes squarely.

‘Howdareyou?’

‘Come again?’ Mateo said, frowning and belatedly stepping aside so that she could sweep past him before spinning round on her heels and resuming her hands-on-hips stance.

‘You think you can show up at my leaving do and then get it into your head that because I happened to belaughingit was time for you to rethink the whole marriage scenario?’

‘Can I get you something to drink?’

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