For Angelo (Full-Length Standalone Italian Billionaire Romance) Page 11
“Tesoro.”
“It was a joke. Ha. Ha.” But inside, she was aghast. His parties lasted until six in the morning?
Angelo’s lips twitched at the dismay on her face. “Stop worrying, my Lane. I promise I won’t kiss anyone in the party.”
“Ha!”
His tone contemplative, he continued, “However, if they choose to kiss me—”
She looked at him in acute torment.
He tried repressing his amusement, but it was impossible.
The moment he smiled, she realized that he was just being sadistic, and she cried out, “Angelo!” But she wasn’t really mad, and she knew he knew it, too.
Angelo flashed a grin at her, and her toes curled.
Oh gosh, she was so easy where this man was concerned.
“Promise me, will you, my Lane?”
Promise what?”
“That you won’t worry.”
She shrugged.
“If you promise me you won’t worry, I’ll drop by your room and read you a bedtime story before you sleep.”
She said immediately, “Deal.”
He laughed. “I was joking.”
She shook her head. “But you already said it, so you can’t take it back.”
Angelo was exasperated and amused at the same time. “It was a joke.”
A mulish look entered her eyes.
He sighed. “Alright, my Lane. It’s a deal.”
“And you won’t pretend to forget your promise?”
He knew she was just teasing him, but the words backfired on both of them.
A sliver of a memory came to him.
Jaike, a tremulous smile on her lips, her gaze filled with hurt confusion at the way he kept standing her up—
And during their last phone call as a couple, on what would be the night of their breakup, she had asked haltingly, ‘You promise you won’t forget this time?’
“Angelo?”
Lane’s voice drew him back to the present.
I’m a goddamn fool, he thought. Returning Lane’s smile, he said lightly, “Of course I won’t forget.”
And he didn’t.
He simply chose to break it.
****
Lane sat on the floor, her back against the door. It was close to one in the morning now, and there had been no sign at all of Angelo coming anytime soon. Biting her lip, she reached up for the knob and tried it for the nth time—
From the other side of the door, Julieta said incredulously, “Seriously?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled as her hand dropped back to her lap. “I couldn’t help it.”
The painful note in Lane’s voice was impossible to ignore, but Julieta told herself that she was doing the right thing, and not just because she was paid to follow Angelo’s orders. Tonight’s revelry was so much more depraved than usual, and she couldn’t bear thinking of exposing Lane to it, with the way the younger girl was so obviously enamored with the world’s greatest idiot.
Damn you, Angelo Valencia.
She felt like she was close to selling every piece of her soul to the devil the longer she spent having to act as Lane’s jail warden.
Checking her watch, she said, “It’s really late.”
“I know.”
“So you should get some sleep.”
Pause.
“He promised he’d drop by.”
Julieta coughed uneasily. “Yeah, well—”
“And that he’d read me a bedtime story.”
“For fu—ef’s sake, Lane,” Julieta said exasperatedly. “I’ll read you a story if that’s all you want.”
Another pause.
“It won’t be the same.”
Damn you, Angelo Valencia, Julieta thought again, noticing the way Lane’s voice broke in the end.
“How about I read you a story and I’ll call you ‘my Lane’ too—”
“Julieta!”
“I just think it’s better if you simply forget he promised you anything,” she protested. “Can’t you see he’s forgotten his promise—”
“But earlier, when you told me stories about Angelo, you were the one who told me he never forgets his promises.”
Shit. It was Julieta’s turn to pause, and she thought again, Damn you, Angelo Valencia. She said finally, “Well, maybe this instance, he has.”
But it was a lame answer, and they both knew it.
****
The night throbbed with music and near-naked bodies grinding against each other, but Angelo found himself completely immune to all of it. All he could do was glance at the clock, and every time he did, he would wonder if she was awake or asleep.
But she had to be sleeping now, shouldn’t she?
It was late. She had to be sleeping. But if she wasn’t, then she must have realized he was standing her up.
Just like he had with Jaike.
His chest tightened at the thought, but he told himself it was for Lane’s sake he was doing this.
Just like before, too, and he was hurting Jaike for her sake.
But a small voice told him he was lying about Lane.
His gaze slid back to the clock.
Was it too late to go to her? Was it too late for him?
He turned towards the stairs and was about to take a step forward when, behind him, Angelo heard a familiar voice call out his name.
Jaike.
She had really come.
He turned to her, expecting his ex-girlfriend to be in the arms of her husband, but instead he found her alone.
The shock made him go still, but he recovered a moment after and met her halfway, saying smoothly, “I’m glad you could make it.” He started to bend down to kiss her cheek by way of greeting—
Caramel brown eyes flashed in his mind.
Angelo straightened abruptly and offered Jaike his hand to shake instead.
Jaike blinked at it, but he pretended not to notice. Finally, she shook it, asking uncertainly, “Is everything okay?”
“Of course.” He looked behind her, expecting to see her husband to appear any moment.
“Derek’s not here,” Jaike said.
He blinked. That was not the Derek Christopoulos he knew.
“He thought it would be better if I came alone tonight, but…” She made a face. “He also said this is the first and last time that’s going to happen. You know how he is. He thinks everyone’s after me.”
“I’m sure he’s not wrong,” he said politely.
But Jaike only laughed his words off. “That’s just your good manners speaking, and we both know it.” She paused, and the silence between them gradually became awkward.
“Would you like to go to the study?” he asked finally. He expected her to refuse, but she surprised him by nodding.
When they were inside his study, he offered her a choice of drinks, and again she surprised him by asking for a popular type of mocktail. After relaying her request to the staff, he told her, “You’ve changed.”
“For the worse, right? My husband’s a bad influence.” But a fond smile played on her lips as she spoke. As he took his seat across her, she murmured, “You’ve changed, too, you know.”
He only shrugged, murmuring, “Everyone does.”
Although Angelo’s tone remained polite, Jaike also detected a note of warning in it. She pretended ignorance, though, saying, “This whole party scene…it’s not like you at all.” She bit her lip, thinking about all the stories she heard over the years about him. And to think she had been so naïve, believing they were just rumors.
He said quietly, “It’s not your fault, Jaike.”
Jaike was startled. He really did know her well, she realized, and the knowledge was bittersweet.
Someone knocked on the door, and at Angelo’s acknowledgment, a staff member came in with a tray bearing drinks. She murmured her thanks and took a sip, using the time to muster the courage she needed to do what she came for.
When Jaike heard the door close behind the staff member, she put he
r drink down and blurted out, “I’m sorry.”
Angelo’s face became inscrutable. “There is nothing for you to apologize for.”
“We both know there is.” She swallowed, knowing that what she had to say next would cause them more pain. But even so, she forced herself to meet his gaze as she said jerkily, “I’m sorry for forcing you to be the bad guy.”
He went still at the unexpected words.
“Everyone thinks Derek and I have this great love story, and none of them realize that one of the reasons why it’s like a fairytale is because you forced yourself to be the villain.” Jaike lowered her head. “And I never apologized for that. I’m sorry for allowing you to…to c-care for me because you were safe. I’m sorry for forcing you to do things that weren’t—”
“Enough, Jaike.” His voice was firm. “You didn’t force me to do anything. Whatever I did or say then, it was all my choice.”
She only looked at him, and he read everything she couldn’t say in her eyes.
He said quietly, “I’ve moved on. And if you think the life I’m leading now is because of you – maybe it is, but it’s not the way you think. The last time we talked, you told me that I never allowed you to see the real me. And you were right. So now, I’m simply being myself.”
He looked at Jaike, waiting for his heart to clench with the usual mix of pain and longing, but he only found himself numb.
Instead, all he could see was a pair of caramel brown eyes, and as soon as he thought of it, his gaze immediately went to the clock on his desk.
Three-thirty.
She had to be sleeping - had to know what a bastard he was.
Much later, as he escorted Jaike to the driveway, she asked, “What’s with all the clock watching?”
He only smiled. “It was nice catching up with you.”
Jaike grinned. “The polite rebuff. I get it.”
Behind them, a woman inside the mansion screamed like she was having an orgasm, and considering the kind of party he had thrown, she probably was.
Jaike’s smile faded.
“This is the real me,” he repeated. “And it’s not your fault.”
“I just wish you had told me about your uncle—”
“And risk you becoming sick of me?”
“I would never have—”
His lips twisted. “Wouldn’t you? You honestly believe that?”
“Just because you share the same blood doesn’t mean you’re like him!”
“Then why did you think you’d end up like your mother?”
She paled.
Her car arrived then, and he opened the door for her, saying evenly, “Good night, Jaike.”
Jaike moved towards her car when she suddenly turned to face him again, saying in a rush, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I would have thought you were like Anthony Carras, but…we’ll never know now, will we?”
Dio.
Why did they even have to talk about this?
What was the point?
“Even if I had taken the risk,” he bit out, “do you think things would have changed? I’ve seen the way you and Christopoulos looked at each other. It wouldn’t have made a difference if I had risked—”
“But you didn’t, and now we’ll never know.” She bit her lip. “Maybe that’s how it was supposed to be between us, but…” Sadness tinged her smile. “I just hope, when the girl meant for you comes into your life, you’ll take the risk for her.”
Her words haunted him even when she was long gone, and they isolated him, making Angelo feel alone despite all the gaiety that surrounded him.
His gaze strayed to the clock.
Five in the morning now.
But still, he stayed where he was.
Chapter Eleven
Julieta shot daggers at Angelo as she watched him ascend the stairs at six-thirty in the morning. Damn you, Angelo Valencia, she thought for the umpteenth time. The guests had left over half an hour ago, so what had taken him so long to get here?
When he reached her, she stood up from her warden’s chair and snarled, “I never thought you could be this much of a bastard, but you’ve proven me wrong.” She wanted to say more, but she was so mad, her English failed her and she simply spat the rest in Italian.
When she was done, Angelo only said in a mild voice, “Good night, Julieta.”
Dio, she wanted to kick his balls hard, the way he still acted so cool. “You know, don’t you?” she demanded. “She’s probably halfway to being in love with you—”
“I’m quite flattered you think so,” Angelo murmured, “considering she’s only been here for two nights—”
Julieta’s temper exploded, and she stepped on his foot, hard. “Stop being such a jerk! Just stop it, okay?”
His jaw clenched.
“You know it’s possible,” she gritted out. “You know because that’s how it happened for you with Jaike. You took one look at her and—”
He said evenly, “According to Jaike, I didn’t love her enough.”
“But you respected her,” she snapped, “and that’s a lot more than I can say with how you’ve treated Lane—” She stopped speaking, aghast to find herself inexplicably close to tears. But goddammit, even now she could remember the way Lane kept telling her she wasn’t sleepy, she wasn’t crying, she wasn’t—
“I don’t care if you fire me after this, but you’re an ASSHOLE, Angelo Valencia.” Hearing herself choke out words like a horribly girly girl was gross, but she was determined to finish what she had to say. “You respected and cared for your ex despite knowing she loved someone else. Lane only has eyes for you and you LIED to her.” Feeling like she was about to explode again, Julieta stomped on his foot hard once more. “Lane doesn’t deserve your shit, and I hope she makes you pay.”
Angelo watched Julieta leave, listening to her continue to curse him while descending the stairs.
Lane only has eyes for you and you lied to her.
He slowly opened the door, and he flinched when he saw the sunlight streaming from her windows, the golden rays a mockingly beautiful taunt of how long he had made Lane wait for him.
Closing the door behind him, he took another step forward and almost tripped over…
His eyes widened.
Lane.
She was curled up and asleep on the floor, her hair spread out on the carpet like chocolate silk.
Lane only has eyes for you and you lied to her.
But looking at Lane now, he knew the truth was much worse.
She had fallen asleep believing he would still come.
Lane stirred as he lifted her up in his arms, and by the time he gently laid her down on her bed, she was rubbing her eyes groggily.
“Angelo?”
He tucked her in before joining Lane under the covers, aware all the while of the way she was gaping at him. Turning to face her, he murmured, “I’m here to tell you a bedtime story.”
He waited for her to tell him off, to accuse him of standing her up and breaking his promise. He waited for her to treat him the way he deserved to be treated—
But she did none of those.
Instead, Lane smiled shyly at him. “Thank you.”
Fuck.
She turned to her side, facing him, and she whispered, “I’m ready whenever you are.”
Slowly, he took hold of her hand. “Then here we go.”
Angelo took a deep breath. Several possible scenarios entered his head. He thought about telling her how he first felt when he saw her, or about the time he had the urge to kill the convenience store boy just for being in her life before him.
But when he finally spoke, it was about none of those things.
“Once upon a time, there was a boy who looked up to his uncle. Because he had no father figure in his life, this uncle was the one who taught him everything in life about being a man. But everyone in the family knew that this uncle was not completely right, that there were days when he was too dark. The boy knew this, but despite it, he loved his unc
le, and his uncle loved him right back. When his uncle died, the boy was devastated, and the pain became even more unbearable when he learned the truth about his uncle.”
Angelo drew his breath roughly.
“The boy’s uncle turned out to be a monster in disguise, preying on women he knew he could control, and his depraved pleasures eventually caused a young girl to lose her mother and her innocence. She had seen what the boy’s uncle did to her mother, and it had changed her completely.”
“The girl’s name is Jaike, and she’s the other girl in my life who—”
Suddenly, there didn’t seem to be any words that could describe the woman who had redefined the meaning of pain and loss for him.
When he looked at Lane, she asked seriously, “She’s the other girl in your life who also drinks milkshakes?”
Ah.
The words made him want to smile, but the words also made him feel like they were both bleeding.
“I can see it in your eyes,” Lane whispered. “It’s her, right?”
He nodded.
“Did you – the boy – go to her to say sorry?”
“Not right away.” A crooked smile that didn’t reach his eyes touched Angelo’s lips. “At first, the boy only thought about her as a blood debt he needed to pay, so he made sure she was taken care of, financially. But then one day, he took the chance to meet her, without telling her who he really was, and that changed things.”
Lane knew that she should let it go at that. But she couldn’t, and she said a little coolly, “You mean, the boy fell in love with her.”
“If it comforts your masochistic heart,” he returned evenly, “she believes until this day the boy never truly loved her.”
Oh. “Didn’t he?”
“He thought he had then, but there were things the girl said that also made more sense. The entire time they were together, he had never shown her the truth about him. The truth you, my Lane, know—”
Her face glowed at his words, and he grinned. “Someone looks smug.”
Oops. “Umm, continue with the story please.”
“There’s not much left to tell. The girl left him for her first love – her only love, actually, - and the girl and the other boy lived happily ever after.”