Page 20 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

When we walked inside, I was awed by how lovely the office was. Thanks to my mother’s influence, I had an unshakable love for interior design. I loved the way the items in the office came together to form a balanced and sophisticated style.

I was too busy admiring the room to realize who was in it. When I finally looked, I was too stunned to speak. There were two men in the room. One of them sat behind the table, letting me know that he was the CEO.

The other was Matteo.

Chapter 10

Matteo

After dropping Amelia off, I went to the office. I managed to focus on work but I couldn’t help worrying about her. I wondered how her interview went and if she got the job.

I considered calling her but I knew I couldn’t. We didn’t have that type of relationship. I decided to focus on other things. I was still holding meetings to figure out a way forward for the Fitzroy Corp issue. Plus, I had a conference call to attend with some potential foreign investors. That was enough to take my mind off Amelia.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before all that ended and I was back to thinking about her. I reached for my phone but then I changed my mind. She was probably still in her first interview, and I didn’t want the phone call to distract her.

I reviewed the minutes from the conference call with the investors. Kayla had been listening in, so she took everything down. It was a great opportunity. One that would help take my company to even greater heights.

I’d experienced a lot of success since I started my business and I owed it all to hard work.

And a broken heart, a voice in my head said.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t argue because it was true. After Amelia dumped me, I devoted all my time to building this company. My anger and heartache served as the perfect fuel source for my business.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. “Come in.”

“Sir,” Kayla began as she stepped inside. “You have a visitor.”

Moments later, my grandmother walked into the room. I smiled when I saw her. It had been a while since I’d seen her because she was always off on one adventure or the other. My grandmother loved to travel so she rarely ever stayed in one place for too long.

I didn’t resent her for not being around because she’d been around most of my life. When I was a kid, both my parents died in a car accident. It was a tragic incident but the truth was that I was too young to really remember them. My grandmother had always been the parental figure in my life.

After my parents’ deaths, she took it upon herself to raise me forfeiting her dream of seeing the world. She used her retirement savings to send me to school which further crushed her dreams of traveling. Thankfully, I’d been able to make something of myself.

I started this company and it allowed me to pay her back for all she did. I knew I could never fully pay her back. There were things that money simply couldn’t buy. I would always be grateful to her for all the sacrifices she made and I would do absolutely anything for her.

Except for the one thing she really wanted.

My grandmother desperately wanted me to settle down. She was proud of everything I’d managed to achieve but she wanted me to have someone to share it with.

“Mattie!” she gushed as she walked deeper into the room. Her long blue skirt swished from side to side as she moved. She dressed as she always did, like a hippie from the 80’s. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kayla leave the room. “Your assistant is lovely.”

“She’s the best,” I said. I left my chair and walked into the open arms of the woman who had taken care of me since I was five.

“How are you, kid?”

“Same old, same old.” I could tell from her frown that she wasn’t pleased with my answer. She wanted to hear that there was a woman in my life and I was about to marry her. Once upon a time, she would have heard exactly that. But that dream died five years ago.

We walked over to the couch and I helped her sit down. Then I poured her a glass of water. She took it but she didn’t drink it. Instead, she kept her focus on me. “I know it may seem like I’m hounding you, but I only do this because I love you and I want to see you happy,” she said.

“I know.”

“I want you to have the type of love your parents had. My boy was the happiest when he was with your mother. They loved each other so much and I want you to experience that kind of love. Everyone deserves to experience that kind of love.”

I sighed. I knew she meant well and I wished I had good news to give her, but I didn’t. I’d long since given up on love and the possibility of getting married. Maybe my stance would change in the future but for now, it was the last thing on my mind.

Sadly, that wasn’t entirely true. I still thought about love just not in the way my grandmother wanted me to. When I thoughtabout it, I remembered all the pain I felt the last time I let myself fall in love. The evidence of that mistake was sitting in the right drawer of my desk.

The ring that I had hoped would sit on Amelia’s finger was sitting in my desk drawer. She’d never even seen it. I couldn’t help imaging what things would have been like if I’d gotten a chance to propose to her and she’d said yes. I wondered if we would have a child by now and what we would have named it. I pull myself out of that dream before it can go too far.

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