Page 91 of Tempted and Taken

Liza tried to smile back, but that dream felt unachievable at the moment.

“You’re strong, beautiful, and you won’t let him believe his own press. He needs someone to keep that cockiness of his in check. But…” Gage paused.

“But?” Liza prodded.

“Matt’s kept his own council for a very long time. Habits like that are going to be hard to break. The guy’s been a shell of a man since he was twenty-three years old.”

“Are you telling me to walk away?”

Gage shook his head. “No. I mean, walking away is one option if you can’t forgive him for that crap he just pulled up in his office, because that was a big old pile of steaming bullshit.”

“Seriously,” Luca muttered.

“What’s my other option?” she asked.

“Right now? Give him some time. Let the dust settle on this. Because I don’t think it’s going to take my brother long to figure out he made one hell of a mistake.”

“Patience isn’t a Moretti trait. We lean toward impulsive,” Luca said.

Liza could have kissed her cousin because he said exactly what she was thinking. She didn’t want to wait Matt out. That wasn’t her speed. It was taking everything she had not to go back up to his office right now and demand answers.

“I’m not saying wait forever. But I know him well enough to know that the more you push, the more he’ll resist.”

Liza considered Patricia’s pursuit of Matt, and she realized Gage was right.

“It took me a week to come to my senses when I was a jackass and stupidly tried to break things off with Penny,” Gage said. “Matt’s a stubborn son of a bitch, so it might take him longer.”

Liza rubbed the back of her neck wearily, then remembered all the times Matt would grip her there, pull her toward him for a kiss. Her heart panged and she sniffled. Somehow she was going to have to hold these tears in until she got home.

Penny reached out, grasping her hand. “Want me to call the girls? Set up a happy hour for later in the week?”

Liza couldn’t think beyond the rest of today. “Let me see how I feel. I’ll text everyone if I’m up for it.”

Penny gave her a gentle smile, then pulled her close. “For what it’s worth, I think everything is going to work out.”

“You do?” Liza felt like a fool for latching onto those words like they were some sort of lifeline.

“I do.”

Gage offered her a hug. “If Matt is truly in love with you, being without you is going to fucking hurt. I’m just not sure he’ll…”

“You think he’ll dig his heels in?” she asked.

Gage shrugged, his expression proving he knew as well as she did that was a definite possibility. His silence told her what she didn’t want to hear—that she shouldn’t wait too long. But it didn’t matter what Gage thought.

Because, while she’d never admit it, Liza would wait for Matt until the end of time.

Chapter Nineteen

“Okay. Time’s up.”

Matt looked up from his computer, blinking wearily after so many screen hours without a break, frowning as Gage and Conor walked in. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in over a week, the nightmares returning with a vengeance, attacking nightly.

Arnold, worried about him, had been blowing up his phone, texting and calling, inviting Matt to return to the Promise House or to join him and Johnnie for dinner. Every text and voicemail the man left had gone unanswered as Matt attempted to revert back to character, to become the man who lived in solitude. Opening himself up to others had only led to this unending ache in his chest.

“Did we have a meeting scheduled?” He looked behind them for Henri. For once, his guard dog PA was surprisingly absent.

“Nope.” Gage closed the door behind them. He and Conor claimed the two chairs opposite his desk, settling in like they intended to be there for a while.

---