Page 34 of Playing the Sicilian's Game of Revenge

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SAVERINA DID NOT see Teo for two full days. He had his assistant cancel their lunch date both days. Saverina knew she should not read into that, but she wondered if this might actually be a good thing.

If he was avoiding her, that meant he had to feel something for her...didn’t it? Certainly her words had caused some kind of reaction that made him not want to see her despite all his many very important plans.

They were supposed to attend an event tonight at a museum, and she had yet to hear from Mrs. Caruso about Teo canceling it, so she decided to head down to his office and face him before she went home at the end of the day.

She whistled to herself the whole way there. She hadn’t been this happy and light since the beginning of their relationship. Back then she’d been drunk on the possibility of love, and now she was drunk on the truth. On being herself.

On poking at him until he breaks.

She laughed to herself in the elevator. It was so fun watching him get all cold and remote, because she could see it hid the fact he was flustered. Teo LaRosa might hide it well, he might rage and deny and cut down all his enemies, but when she was honest with him, when she refused to back away from his soft spots, she flustered him.

Heady stuff.

It wasn’t that she wanted to hurt him. That wasn’t the source of her joy at all. Her heart ached for him half the time. But she knew, from personal experience, things often had to hurt before they could heal.

He would never be over the death of his mother. You didn’t simply heal grief. But Saverina wanted him to have a healthier relationship with that grief. And though it hurt, a painful, aching wound deep inside, she could stand the idea of never having him if it meant she got him to deal with that denial.

It was strange how everything inside of her had twisted into this new kind of appreciation for their situation. Strange how doing the most embarrassing things she could imagine—being fooled by him, having a panic attack in front of him—had showed her there was nothing to fear.

She could be herself in front of him. She could even love him. She could not control him—his responses, his feelings, his denial—but she didn’t need to when she acknowledged her own.

When she allowed herself to release those fears, and the fear of repeating her mother’s mistakes, everything seemed easier. She loved Teo, yes. It was quite possible he’d never return that feeling, and it would hurt. It would be devastating, even. But just like always, she would survive. She wouldn’t be alone. She had her entire family to support her.

The idea of telling them the relationship had failed—or worse, that Teo had fooled her at first—had a little kernel of panic sprouting in her chest, so she set it aside. Because today was about dealing with Teo. Not about potentially looking like a failure to her family.

She smiled brightly at Mrs. Caruso, ignored the woman’s usual admonitions with a pleasant wave, and waltzed right into Teo’s office since the door was open.

He looked up, and she studied his expression. A flash of something—a bit like anger, but not quite that simple. Then he cooled it all off into ice.

“Saverina,” he said, her name devoid of any inflection.

“Good evening, Teo,” she said with all the cheerfulness she had inside her. “How are you?”

He eyed her warily, looking her up and down before turning that gaze even colder. “Can I help you with something?”

It was such a strange realization to find that exact tone of voice might have made her wilt before she’d found out about his lies. He would have pulled that out and she would have thought she did something wrong. She would have left—chin high, because she’d always had her pride—but she would have gone home and cried a little.

It seemed the truth really did set you free. Maybe it helped that she didn’t believe his icy stares and harsh words had anything to do with her now. She understood the way he reacted to her was all about his own issues.

It was freeing.

“I’m on my way home, but since you’re so fond of canceling our plans lately, I wanted to make sure we’re still going to the museum event this evening. Together. I did not get a cancelation from Mrs. Caruso, but you’ve been absent the past few days. Have you been ill?”

He stared at her with cool eyes. “I have been busy.”

She nodded as if she understood perfectly. “Of course.” She even smiled at him and didn’t point out that he’d never been busy for two straight days when it came to her before. “Too busy to go to the museum event? I could always go alone, but I’m afraid there would be talk now that our relationship is public and we haven’t been engaging in our usual lunches.”

“I doubt anyone pays that much attention,” he said through clenched teeth.

But she kept her sunny smile in place. “I think you know they do, or you wouldn’t have set this whole plan into motion in the first place. I know you’re very busy, and not at all a coward, but we did say we’d be there tonight.”

His expression went very nearly volcanic when she said the word coward. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Who knew keeping a cheerful attitude in the face of someone’s fury could be so entertaining?

“If you’re still planning on attending, and still wanted to approve my outfit, you should come by the house a little early. I’ll have Antonina let you in.”

His gaze grew skeptical. “Is that in adherence to your little rules?”

---