Page 29 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

Matteo was leaning against his car but he pushed himself off it when I approached. His features were cold. His jaw was set tightly, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. He almost looked like someone being forced to do something.

Without saying a word, he pulled the door open and gestured for me to get in. I did. I sat inside as Matteo walked around the car and got in beside me. Eddie pulled out of the parking lot, onto the main road, and then drove off.

I immediately realized that Matteo had been waiting for me. He knew today was my first day of work and he wanted to give me a ride there. He must have been waiting for several minutes but he didn’t complain.

I wondered why he would go to the trouble for me, and I felt touched by his consideration. He went out of his way to do something kind for me even when he didn’t have to. I was grateful to him for that. It was difficult not to love Matteo when he did things like that. I’d been fighting my feelings for him but every time he showed me that he cared, I felt myself losing the fight. His kindness made it difficult to keep my feelings towards him neutral.

I was in my second month with Matteo. And in those two months, my feelings for him had changed a lot. There were days when I felt so angry that I thought I hated him but even then, I knew that there was love hidden beneath the anger.

In less than ten weeks, I would be leaving to start on my own. The thought filled me with both dread and excitement. On one hand, I couldn’t wait to be fully independent, to have my own place, and live off my own salary. On the other hand, I was terrified of failing, terrified of placing all my eggs in one basket because what if things didn’t go well? It was a scary possibility, but I reminded myself that there was also the possibility that I would do great.

At the end of the day, things could go either way so I knew I had to choose to believe they would end well for me.

The other thing that scared me was leaving Matteo. I wondered how our relationship would change during the remaining two months of my stay. I wondered if we would remain distant up until the moment I left. I imagined us never speaking again after I left his penthouse and the thought terrified me.

I realized that I wanted Matteo in my life even if it wasn’t as my partner. I just didn’t want us to be distant. I didn’t want him to look at me with indifference forever. I wasn’t sure I could handle that. I knew there was a good chance we would never get back what we had but I wanted us to remain in each other’s lives.

Unfortunately, I knew that even that might be too much for Matteo to offer me. There was a chance that he wanted nothing to do with me and if that was the case, I would have to live with it. No matter how much it hurts.

Matteo and I sat in silence as Eddie drove down the street. When we got to Phoenix Consulting, I turned to him and said, “Thank you so much.” I also thanked Eddie before I got out of the car.

My kitten heels hit the pavement, the sounds they made was overshadowed by the sound of Matteo’s car zooming off. I heard it but I didn't turn around.

Being at work helped me to stop thinking about Matteo. It was my first day and things turned out to be a bit hectic. The company was expecting a big client which meant my superiors didn’t really have time to put me through everything. In the end, I got a brief introduction and a vague list of my responsibilities.

I knew I couldn’t blame them. From what I heard, the client we were expecting had been on Nico’s wish list for over a year. Now that they were finally coming, he needed everything to be perfect.

I did my best to help in the ways I could. It felt stressful but it was also fulfilling. I spent the entire day working on all the assignments that had been handed to me. It was the first real challenge I’d ever faced. And although there were moments when working gave me a headache, I just simply loved having my independence.

I loved knowing that my work meant something. After hours at the office, I finally returned home. I paused in the parking lot of the apartment building. There I stood in front of the elevator, unwilling to press the buttons that would make the doors slide open. At the beginning of the day, I’d been scared to leave my mother alone but now I was scared to be in her presence.

I wasn’t ready to hear her comments about my decision to work. I wasn’t ready to have her criticize me or tell me that I was wasting my time. I had no desire to hear any of it. I considered leaving but I couldn’t imagine leaving Matteo to deal with my mother alone.

“Have you forgotten how to use it?” a familiar deep voice asked from behind me.

I instantly knew it was Matteo. I turned to him and I saw a small, amused smile on his lips. My eyes scanned his disheveled hair, evidence that he’d run his hand through it one too many times. He held his suit jacket over his shoulder with one hand while the other hand was shoved into his pants pocket. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up so they exposed his toned forearms.

I caught myself staring so I lifted my gaze back to his face. Matteo’s amused smile had grown into a wide grin. He lifted a brow like he was waiting for an answer to his question, and I felt my skin heat up with embarrassment.

I turned back to the elevator and hit the buttons harder than I should have. “Of course not.”

We shared the elevator up to the penthouse. When we got inside, we went our separate ways. Matteo headed to his room, and I headed to mine. I was surprised to find my mother waiting for me.

“Where did you go all day?” she asked.

“To work.”

“Work?” The way her face contorted in disgust you would think I told her something truly awful.

“Yes, mother. Work. I went to work,” I said as I placed my bag on my bed. I sat down and tugged off my heels before walking into the closet to place them on the shelf.

I was surprised my mother hadn’t said anything else about the work situation. I expected her to complain more but she seemed strangely calm. It made me uncomfortable. When I walked back into the bedroom, I saw her smiling at me which made me even more uncomfortable.

“I see now why you haven’t returned to California. What you have here is much better than what you had over there,” she said.

“What are you talking about?”

“What else? I’m talking about Matteo. That man is a far better catch than Lucas. Lucas has generational wealth but with how reckless that young man is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he runs his family’s company into the ground. Matteo is much better. He is a real man. He worked hard and he built his company by himself. That is the kind of man you need in your life, my dear.”

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