Chapter 2 - The One Thing He Couldn't Buy
Dinner lasted another forty minutes.
Matteo spent most of it trying to understand Isabella.
“What do you do?” he asked.
“I’m an architectural restoration consultant.”
“You restore old buildings?”
“I help people decide which parts should be saved before developers destroy everything interesting.”
Matteo raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a developer.”
“I know.”
“So you already dislike me.”
“I haven’t seen your buildings.”
“Several have won awards.”
“That doesn't mean they're good.”
Matteo laughed.
Actually laughed.
Two men at another table glanced over.
Isabella noticed.
“Does that happen often?”
“What?”
“People looking surprised when you laugh.”
Matteo's smile disappeared.
“Apparently.”
She studied him for another moment.
“You really don't notice it, do you?”
“Notice what?”
“Everyone around you is waiting for instructions.”
Matteo glanced across the restaurant.
His security man stood near the entrance.
The maître d’ watched from a careful distance.
Two servers hovered nearby.
Isabella was right.
“Occupational hazard,” Matteo said.
“No. Habit.”
He looked back at her.
“You think you understand me after an hour?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But I think people rarely tell you no.”
Matteo smiled slightly.
“You planning to?”
“I haven't decided.”
“About what?”
“Whether there will be a second date.”
That surprised him.
Matteo had assumed there would be one.
The realization irritated him.
Then intrigued him.
“What would convince you?”
“Nothing tonight.”
“Everyone wants something.”
“That’s a cynical way to live.”
“It’s an accurate one.”
Isabella leaned forward.
“Then tell me something. When was the last time someone did something for you without expecting anything back?”
Matteo opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Isabella nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You're very comfortable judging my life.”
“I’m not judging it.”
“You're dissecting it.”
“Maybe because you keep presenting it like a résumé.”
Matteo went quiet.
A server arrived with dessert.
Matteo barely noticed.
Isabella did.
She thanked the young man by name.
Matteo looked at the server's name tag.
Daniel.
He couldn't remember ever doing that.
Isabella caught him looking.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No. Say it.”
“You notice people.”
“So do you.”
“Not like that.”
“Maybe you should.”
The simplicity of the statement irritated him because it was true.
Several minutes passed.
Then Matteo asked quietly, “You’ve heard what people say about me.”
“Yes.”
“And you're not afraid?”
“Should I be?”
“Most people are.”
“Maybe they're looking at your reputation.”
She paused.
“I’m looking at the man sitting across from me.”
Matteo had negotiated billion-dollar contracts without losing his composure.
Yet he suddenly had no answer.
Isabella looked at her watch.
Then she stood.
Matteo frowned.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because this isn't what I'm looking for.”
His expression hardened.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“A man who knows who he is without needing everyone else to remind him.”
“You think that isn't me?”
“I think you don't know yet.”
Matteo stood.
“You can have anything you want.”
The words escaped before he considered how they sounded.
Isabella stared at him.
Then something in her expression cooled.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
“What problem?”
“Someone who can buy almost anything can forget that certain things have to be earned.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“I wasn't trying to buy you.”
“Maybe not intentionally.”
She picked up her handbag.
“But you're used to solving problems with influence.”
“I solve problems with whatever works.”
“I’m not a problem.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“No. But you're already trying to figure out what it would take to make me stay.”
She stepped closer.
“You want the answer?”
Matteo held her gaze.
“Yes.”
“Nothing.”
Silence.
“You can keep your money, your power, and your family name… because I don’t want any of them.”
Then she walked away.
Matteo remained standing.
His security chief, Luca Romano, approached carefully.
“Everything okay?”
Matteo watched Isabella disappear through the restaurant doors.
“No.”
Luca waited.
Matteo slowly sat down.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
“She left.”
Luca looked confused.
“Yes.”
“Nobody leaves.”
“I noticed.”
“Want me to have the car brought around?”
Matteo picked up his wineglass.
“No.”
Luca hesitated.
“Then what do you want?”
Matteo stared toward the empty doorway.
For once, he had absolutely no idea.
May you like
And he liked it.
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