Yet to her surprise, instead of berating her, Renzo leaned closer, the caress of those dark velvet eyes loosening the pain in her belly, no matter how hard she tried to hold it in. ‘What is it, Sonia? Tell me. You’re hurting.’
The way he looked at her, so earnestly, almost sidetracked her. Except she’d learned her lesson at last. It had taken two deceitful men but she’d finally got there.
‘How perceptive of you, Renzo. Yes, I’m hurting. Though it’s mainly my pride.’ A pride that wouldn’t permit her to admit he’d shattered her heart.
‘And now you’re going to explain.’ His black eyebrows lowered as if in confusion. Oh, he was good at this.
‘Me? Why? Ihaven’t done anything.’
‘Except move out without explanation. Without a word.’ Strangely his voice sounded husky, almost ragged, as if with real emotion.
‘Spare me the games, Renzo. I’m not the one to blame here and I don’t have time for this. I need to get to work.’ She reached for the door handle. She had better things to do than listen to her ex-lover concoct lies.
His hand on her other arm stopped her.
‘Do you have any idea how I felt when I arrived back from Tuscany to find you’d disappeared?’ He shook his head and dark hair spilled down across his forehead. ‘I told myself you’d chosen to go but I couldn’t be sure since you didn’t leave a message. I spent the night visiting hospitals just in case.’
‘Hospitals?’ Sonia froze in the act of turning away. ‘You can’t be serious.’ But looking into those taut features, she realised he was. ‘You looked for me there?’
He nodded, the action a quick jerk of the head. ‘And with the police.’
Dazed, Sonia felt her mouth gape open.
‘Don’t look so astonished. You’re my lover. We were going to spend last night together. Until I came back to find you’d utterly vanished.’
What had he thought? That she’d been kidnapped by white slavers? Yet there was no doubting his sincerity. He’d really been worried. For a second she wavered on the point of sympathy, till her brain kicked in.
‘It was time for me to leave. Surely you want to spend your nights with your fiancée.’
‘Ah.’ Renzo’s hand slid away and he sat back in his seat.
A shudder of horror ran through Sonia. It was as if at some deep level she’d needed to hear him admit the truth of that media story, and now he had. No more protests. No more denial. Just complete understanding. He’d been caught out and the game was up.
The dam holding back all the bitterness and anger within cracked at the sight of Renzo’s expression, that mix of understanding and fatalism. He’d had his cake and eaten it too for as long as he could. Now there were no protests of innocence. Nothing but silent acknowledgement.
That was when the dam wall broke. Searing anger slithered through first, closely followed by streaming anguish. Anguish that she’d trusted him, though she should have known better. Self-disgust at falling for the same trap twice.
Was she programedto want men who two-timed?
Or did they somehow sense she was easy prey?
‘I trusted you, Renzo. Is it really too much to ask a man to tell the truth? Not to use a woman and make her feel cheap. Like some sordid—’ Her throat closed, making words impossible.
‘Tesoro. Please. I can explain.’
Once upon a time those words might have made her pause and weaken. Once she might have been fooled, but not now. Not with self-disgust spilling out, mingling with her fury at him.
‘Of course you can. Men like you always can. You lie and lie and lie.’ She glared at him, wishing she’d never seen him in her life. Never found that perfect apartment through her brother-in-law’s friend. Never even come to Rome. Her exciting new adventure was nothing but disaster.
‘I didn’t lie, Sonia. You have to believe me. You misunderstand—’
‘I misunderstand nothing. I know men like you. I know exactly how your minds work.’ Bitterness curled her lips into a grimace. ‘I thought I’d learned my lesson the first time, but then you were there and so damned irresistible and I fell for the glib lies all over again.’ Sonia wrapped her arms around her middle, no longer talking to Renzo but herself. ‘I told myself this time it was different. That you weren’t promising a future, just an affair. This time there was no wife. No-one could get hurt. But you turned what we had into something I’m ashamed of. Because there wasa woman you’d promised your loyalty to, even if she wasn’t your wife.’ According to the press, the pair had been unofficially engaged for ages.
To her horror, Sonia felt hot moisture glaze the back of her eyes. She opened them wide, staring out at the panorama of Rome before her, willing the tears to dissipate. She’d vowed never to cry because of a man again. She refused to let Renzo make her break that vow.
‘Do you have any idea what it’s like to find out you’re the secret other woman in a relationship?’ She swung round to find Renzo staring as if transfixed. ‘No, you haven’t a clue.’ Sonia hefted a steadying breath. ‘Well, I tell you, it’s horrible. It makes me feel used and...tawdry.’ She shuddered and scrubbed her hands up her arms as if trying to clean away a stain no-one but she could see.
Sonia wrenched open the door. ‘I’ve had enough. There’s nothing more to say. And if you try to come near me again I’ll report you to the police for harassment.’
Then she climbed out of the uber-expensive sports car and strode away across the golden grass. Finally, when she’d left Renzo far behind, she stopped and breathed deep, hauling air into starved lungs.
It was over.
Finally, over.
Now all she had to do was forget her pain and focus on the future.
It was a pity it looked utterly bleak.