“Well, given that I didn’t know who you were until about twenty four hours ago, I don’t know for certain,” she conceded truthfully. “But having seen the guests at that party last night, I would have to say you surround yourself with very beautiful, very glamorous, very … boring people.”
His laugh filled the apartment. “Really?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude, but the things they talk about …” She tsked disapprovingly and took her plate back from his outstretched hands.
He sat opposite her and helped himself to a portion of saffron risotto. “I don’t surround myself with people like that.”
“No?” She queried, leaning forward.
“Like you, I find events like that to be a waste of my time.”
“Then why go? Why organise it?”
“It raised a lot of money for the hospital.” His tone was sharp, more so than he had intended. He smiled to soften his bearing. “It’s a necessary evil.”
She nodded. “Of course.” But she wasn’t going to be distracted from her line of questioning. “So you usually date, what? Rhodes scholars? Mensa members?”
He reached for her hand beneath the table and lifted it to rest on th
e surface. “You really are a snob.”
“A snob?” She laughed and shook her head. “How can I be a snob?”
“You look down on those people just because they are wealthy. You think that means they can’t also be smart?”
“Of course not,” she denied hotly. “Look at you. You’re both of those things.”
“So it is just women who cannot be?”
“Now I’m a snob and I’m sexist?”
He grinned. “If the shoe is fitting … ”
“If the shoe fits,” she corrected without thinking. She spooned a little of her pasta into her mouth, her eyes not leaving his face. “Then prove me wrong. Tell me about the careers of the women you’ve been with.”
“Cara, I don’t want to speak to you about my past lovers. It is disrespectful to you, and also to them.”
Emily couldn’t believe it, but tears sparked to her eyes. She blinked furiously and looked down at her dinner. But damn it, exhaustion and the heightened emotions of the past day of her life were making it impossible for her eyes to dry out.
“This upsets you?” Sabato queried, more fascinated than worried. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a woman on the brink of tears before.
A high-pitched ringing sounded, and then a man’s singing. Saved by the bell, Emily thought, standing up and blinking away more stinging tears. “Excuse me.” She moved gracefully through the luxurious suite, scooping her bag up and pulling her phone out. The bill stared back at her. She ignored it.
“Hey honey,” she took a deep breath. Her voice sounded clogged with tears still.
“Hey Emme,” her brother didn’t seem to notice that anything was amiss.
“How are you, darling?” She moved back into the lounge, and then towards one of the bedrooms. She was so intent on listening to Andrew’s descriptions of his musical camp that she didn’t notice how Sabato was staring at her.
She laughed as she sat down on the edge of a bed. “I’m glad you’re having fun,” she said truthfully, her fingers plucking at the quilt cover. “You’re not missing home?” Emily cleared her throat. “You’re not missing me?”
“Oh, a bit,” Andrew said, but he sounded happier than he had in months. Emily ignored the betraying sense of sadness. That he was spreading his wings and finding a life away from her was a good thing. It couldn’t be the two of them forever.
Sabato, in the next room, told himself he wasn’t eavesdropping. She’d chosen to slip into the bedroom closest to him. It wasn’t his fault that he could hear every word of her end of the conversation. It wasn’t her fault that the warmth in her tone was spilling a rage of jealousy through his body. Possession, unmistakable, was eating away at his gut. He’d been her first lover, but he wouldn’t be her last. They were a one-weekend stand. He would return to his villa on the outskirts of Florence in two nights, and Emily would return to her normal life. And whoever it was on the phone that made her laugh like that.
He dragged his fingers through his hair. Why did he care? What did it matter? She was a woman he’d wanted; a woman he’d now had. A woman he’d share a weekend with and then kiss goodbye.
“Sorry about that,” Emily said quietly, as she moved back in the room. She was herself again, none of those silly irrational tears pooling in her eyes.