Page 48 of Marriage Bargain with His Innocent
‘Are you going to be okay?’
‘Just go, Matias. The last thing I need is for you to tell me how sorry you feel for me. I always saw this coming and I’m absolutely fine.’
Still he hesitated, before finally turning round and leaving the kitchen—leaving her standing there on her own, unable to move a muscle.
She heard the sound of his footsteps receding, then eventually the sound of him coming down the stairs. She heard him pause and she knew that he was debating whether he should come over...say goodbye...make sure she hadn’t stuck her head in the oven. Because she was obviously so pathetic that not only had she fallen for him but now—now that the rug had been pulled from underneath her fragile little feet—she would end up going to pieces and falling apart at the seams unless he produced some bracing words of encouragement.
Okay, so perhaps shewasgoing to fall apart at the seams, and perhaps shewouldgo to pieces, but she would do it in her own time and then she would start rebuilding her life. Away from Cornwall...away from the memories.
* * *
Matias stared moodily out of the window of his plush office on the thirtieth floor of a towering glass building which represented the very summit of what his vast reserves of wealth could achieve. Only the privileged few could afford to breathe the rarefied atmosphere up here.
Someone was saying something, and he registered that it involved making yet more money with yet another deal of even more magnitude than the last one.
Ten days.
Ten days since everything had crashed and burned, leaving behind a restlessness that got on his nerves. He’d always had complete control over his life, but for the first time he was floundering, and it was a sensation that was driving him crazy.
He’d spoken to his mother but hadn’t enquired after Georgina’s whereabouts. Several times he had begun to dial her number but had terminated the call before it could connect.
True to her word, she had told his mother exactly what she had said she would. His mother, predictably, had been bitterly disappointed, but she had dealt with the disappointment and had reached out to him to console him.
It was only now that he had engaged with her that he realised exactly how much distance he had allowed to settle between them. He had allowed his childhood experiences to dictate the outcome of his relationship with his parents and that had been a mistake. The fact that things were settling into a different place now had given his mother a renewed lease of life.
‘If you two found that you couldn’t make it work,’ she had said sadly, when he had phoned her the day after Georgina had disappeared, ‘then it’s for the best that you called it a day before you took the next step forward and found yourself married. So much more difficult to unravel a relationship at that point.’
‘We did our utmost to make it work, but I’m not the easiest person in the world to...er...to...’
His mother had interrupted him to assure him firmly that no blame had been put on his shoulders. Since then, even though he had spoken to his mother every day, she had said nothing whatsoever about Georgina and pride had prevented Matias from asking.
She’d made her decision, he thought, and she would get on with her life. She was better off without him, anyway, whether she chose to believe that or not. And he’d had a narrow escape. He’d recognised the signs of her falling for him. She might not have admitted it, but he wasn’t blind. Yes, far better that they’d parted company—and if she was still on his mind, it was because he was worried about her.
He was interrupted mid-thought by someone addressing him directly, and he turned round, frowning.
Six people were sitting around the glass and chrome conference table in his office, but for the first time in his high-powered, meteoric career Matias was finding it difficult to focus. With the decisiveness so typical of his forceful, aggressive personality, he told them, without preamble, that the meeting was over.
‘My PA will be in touch tomorrow and my CEO Harper will carry on with proceedings from here on in.’
He was feeling better already—because he was doing something...taking charge of this vaguely uncomfortable situation that had been distracting him since she’d gone. He was sick to death ofthinking.
He watched as everyone began gathering up their belongings after a brief moment of utter confusion. He waited. Not moving. Waited until they had all cleared out of his office then he got his mother on the phone.
Second by second, his mood was lifting.
‘Where is she?’ he asked, as soon as his mother had answered the phone.
‘Darling, it’s very nice to hear your voice,’ Rose answered with some surprise. ‘Would you be talking about Georgie?’
‘You know I am, and tell me you’re not avoiding my question...’ he countered drily, settling into his leather chair and swivelling it so that he was staring out of the window to an uninterrupted view of milky blue sky.
‘I feel that if Georgina wanted to get in touch with you then perhaps she would have,’ Rose pointed out pragmatically.
‘Granted. But...’
‘But?’
He cleared his throat. ‘I feel we still have some talking to do.’
