Authors: Jamie Anderson
“That was Paolo,” he said.
“Some business matters have come up.
He needs to see me about them as soon as possible.
He and Antonia have some sort of event this evening, but they will wait for us at the villa so he and I can discuss the matter before they get on their way.”
Calia hadn’t been looking forward to their return to Rome.
She had begun to think of it as the beginning of the end of her holiday.
The thought of seeing the other woman again further soured the prospect for her.
As they turned back onto the autostrade, Gio glanced at her with the hint of a frown between his brows.
“You have been very quiet.
Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.
Maybe just a little tired,” she replied, watching his profile.
He glanced at her again, a smile touching his mouth.
She glimpsed a question in his eyes, before he returned his gaze to the road.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You are watching me as if you do not quite like what you are seeing.”
“No, no.
It’s not that.
I’m just thinking, that’s all.”
“What about?”
She hesitated, then drew back from discussing the future of their relationship.
She wasn’t about to reveal her feelings while they were driving along the highway
—
she wanted to ensure she had his full attention during any such discussion, and so it would have to wait for a more appropriate time and place.
She ploughed on before she could chastise herself for her own cowardice, scrambling for a safer topic of conversation.
“I’ll have to fax that contract tomorrow.
I’ll also need to find out if your lawyers found any clauses I should be worried about, since I want to call the firm in Frankfurt tomorrow.”
“I see.”
His expression, when she looked over at him, was neutral.
What did he want?
Would he be interested in continuing with her, or was this to be it?
She still needed to clarify her own terms, but if he could just give her some hint of where he stood, then she might be a little less intimidated about broaching the subject.
“And I’ll be going back to Canada on Wednesday.
So I can pack and get ready for my move,” she added after a pause, trying not to make it sound too much like a prompt.
“Of course.”
Again, neutral.
No hint, nothing to go on.
They lapsed into an awkward silence.
Calia turned her attention to the passing scenery.
They spoke little for the remainder of the drive.
When they arrived back at the villa, Paolo and Antonia were waiting for them.
After a brief exchange of niceties, Gio and Paolo retreated to his office for their discussions.
Antonia, meanwhile had made herself comfortable in the sitting room, shifting her position on one of the chairs, drink in hand.
She hadn’t even bothered to rise when they arrived.
The silence between the two women stretched out into awkwardness, as Antonia sipped her drink and made little effort to disguise the insolence of her assessing stare.
Calia was about to excuse herself when the other woman spoke.
“He will tire of you.
Do not think otherwise.
Men like Gio are not interested in creatures like you over the long term.”
The comment played perfectly into Calia’s own rising insecurities about her liaison.
But she didn’t allow Antonia to see her doubts.
“Don’t you think it’s past time you abandoned this sad obsession of yours, Antonia?
Why don’t you move on?
Gio obviously has
—
though from what I understand, he never actually stopped for you in the first place.”
The other woman sat up, her eyes narrowing.
“Gio will come to his senses eventually.
He has known me for too long and has grown blind to his own feelings.”
“Look Antonia, I’m going to do you a favour and tell you the truth:
Gio doesn’t have any feelings for you.
Except maybe anger, at the way you’ve used and abused Paolo.”
Antonia took a swig of her drink, her eyes flashing with a dangerous anger.
But it was a movement from the open doorway behind the other woman that caught Calia’s eye.
Paolo, poised to enter the room.
Antonia had already launched into a disdainful response, before Calia could speak out or voice a protest.
“I admit that marrying the fool was a mistake.
I thought it would give me the opportunity to see more of Gio
—
that it would help him to see me in a different light,” she slurred, rising unsteadily to her feet.
“But do not think that I cannot end things with Paolo whenever I want.
For now, it amuses me to stay.”
As she spoke, she began walking towards Calia.
“And do not start getting any ideas about Gio.
He is mine.
He always has been and always will be.
One day, he will realize it himself.”
She had come to a stop in front of Calia.
The rancorous anger in her face elongated her features, making her look more like a snake than ever.
She had raised her hand, but before Calia could guess at her intentions, Paolo’s voice sliced into the room, a torrent of angry Italian.
Antonia’s eyes widened, her expression registering shock as she turned.
The two exchanged hard words, before she stalked from the room.
Calia heard a distant door slam as Paolo returned his attention to her, his expression still angry as he walked into the room.
“I’m sorry you overheard that, Paolo.”
“Are you?”
His mouth twisted.
“I am not.
Gio had to make a few calls, so I thought I’d join you two…” He shook his head.
“I have had it with that woman
—
finally.
Perhaps I was just waiting to hear something like this
—
to have comfirmation of what I have suspected for some time now.
I am only sorry that you were put in such an uncomfortable situation.
She has been worse than usual this past week.
Erratic and totally unreasonable.”
He sank into a chair, the anger fading as he rubbed his face tiredly.
“I don’t know how you put up with it for so long.”
“I kept thinking that if I just rode it out, it would pass.
She would go back to being the woman I thought she was, when we were dating.
When I proposed.”
Calia winced to see the pain in his expression.
“But that woman, she did not exist, did she?” His voice cracked on the last word.
“Except in my own imagination.”
Calia swallowed and moved to sit beside him, taking his hand in her own.
“I’m sorry Paolo.
I truly am.
You deserve better.”
“You hardly even knew her, and yet you could see…” He let out a weary sigh.
“Was I the only one blind to what she truly was?”
Calia didn’t know how to answer him, so she remained silent.
“Everyone else knew, didn’t they?
They knew she was playing me for a fool.
But no-one bothered to tell me.
Not even Gio.”
Paolo shook his head, his eyes suddenly dark.
“He knew didn’t he?”
When Calia didn’t answer, his mouth twisted.
He gave a bitter laugh.
“Of course Gio knew.
That was obvious too.”
He stood, his movements tight and abrupt as he began pacing.
“So why did he say nothing?”
Calia saw the hurt and anger in Paolo’s expression as he paused to glare at her.
Steeling herself against the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she tried to justify a decision she had been arguing against from the first day she and Gio had met,
“He was going to tell you, but he was waiting.
He thought he might only have one chance to convince you about the truth, and he was afraid you wouldn’t believe him without concrete evidence.”
As she feared, the outrage in his expression increased at this latest revelation.
“Evidence?”
Gio’s entrance interrupted their exchange.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded, frowning as his gaze swept across Paolo’s angry posture and the apologetic look Calia threw his way.
She grimaced as Paolo stood and swung around to confront his friend.
Again, the Italian came hard and fast, as Calia shifted uncomfortably in the background.
After a spitting out a final, disdainful phrase, Paolo strode from the room.
Gio turned on her, his expression furious.
“How dare you interfere!
Blabbing to him about Antonia!
I told you I would handle the situation!
Your damned, female meddling has cost me the friendship of a man who is like a brother to me.
I hope you are happy with the damage you have caused.”
His accusations swept away the regrets Calia had been about to express, that the truth about Antonia had emerged at such an inopportune moment.
Instead, she felt the anger and hurt rising inside her.
“How typical, that you should somehow turn this around on me
—
all because you kept putting off telling him the truth in the first place!
This whole situation was a time bomb, and longer you waited to tell him, the more of a chance he had of learning about Antonia himself.
Which is exactly what happened.
Of course he wanted an explanation, after
—
“
“He as much as admitted you are the one who told him what was going on, so do not bother trying to deny it.
You are no different from any of the others
—
I was a fool to think otherwise.
To trust a woman.”
He spat the word as if it were an insult.
Then, he shook head.
“Why the hell am I wasting my time on this?
You have your credit cards.
I expect you to be gone by the time I am back.
I will have that contract of yours left at the reception tomorrow, with any pertinent notes from the lawyer.
But I do not want to hear anything more from you.”
And with a final, contemptuous glance, he was gone, leaving Calia shaking with fury.
The hurt, she knew would come later, but for the moment, she was too angry with Gio and his damned assumptions to feel the ache of his easy betrayal.
Only now did she realize how much she had begun to believe that for all his superficial mistrust, he was beginning to feel she might be different.
But obviously, the lack of trust ran far deeper than that.
He was ready to fall back on it and assume the worst without bothering to give her a fair hearing.
As she made her way to her room, she felt the anger begin to fade in the face of an empty, aching despair.
The hurt was there now too, squeezing her heart and tightening her chest.
Should she even bother staying and trying to set the record straight?
If she did, and he were persuaded, would she be able to forgive his own lack of faith?
She didn’t know if she had it in her to move beyond that and trust him again.
She’d always be wondering whether he would lash out at her again over some supposed indiscretion.
But some part of her rebelled at slinking quietly out of sight, without at least having her say.
By the time she had reached her room and gotten her guidebook out of her backpack, she had made up her mind.
She would leave tonight.
Then, tomorrow, when she went to his office to pick up the contract, she would have her confrontation and would see where it took them.
But she knew she’d need the freedom to walk away from him, if necessary
—
both as a bargaining chip and as a way out for her if she needed it.
That was why it had to be tomorrow
—
she didn’t want to be in a situation where, if she did manage to get him to believe her, he’d have a built in advantage.
If she waited for him here and they ended up reconciling, it would be too easy for him to convince her to stay.
She had no intention of becoming his doormat.
It would take time for her to get over her hurt with him and figure out whether she wanted to trust him again.
After phoning around to several hostels, she managed to find one with a vacancy.
Then, she ordered a taxi so she could get the hell out of there before Gio came back.
As she waited for it to arrive, she made her farewells to Larissa and Cosimo, thanking them for their kindness and hospitality.
The older woman gave her a worried look.
“You and Gio have had words, yes?
But he will be back,
cara mia
.
And he will have calmed down.
He will want to see you, to speak to you.
Why not wait for him?”