The Accidental Engagement (20 page)

The tears came harder and faster as the words struck their target. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut as all of the air rushed out of her lungs.

“Get out.” The words came out quietly as she choked for air. She took a deep breath and said it louder. “Get out!”

* * * *

Ivy couldn’t sleep. She wanted to call her parents or Holly but she couldn’t bear to tell them everything—not now at least. But she needed help; she needed advice.

Throwing off the covers, she padded through the villa’s cool, tiled hallway toward the kitchen. Maybe a little warm milk would help her to relax and get some sleep.

The light was already on in the kitchen and she found Brunelli, clad in a bulky robe, eating leftovers from dinner. He beckoned her to come in with a guilty smile. “You caught me,” he said in a hushed voice. He held out a fork and offered up the leftovers. She shook her head. “I was looking for something to drink.”

“Trouble sleeping?”

She nodded and poured herself a glass of milk as he chewed his food. “This is my fault, I’m afraid,” he said.

She tried to muster a smile. She couldn’t argue that. His ridiculous wedding plan had ruined everything. No, that wasn’t altogether fair. She had gotten herself into this web of lies and it was Daniel who had broken her heart.

She chose her words carefully. “I want to make everyone happy. But, at what cost?”

He nodded and not for the first time she wondered how much he truly knew about her situation. “You don’t want the wedding here?”

Ivy sighed. “This might be the most amazing wedding venue I’ve ever seen.” She had a flickering image of walking through the veranda on her father’s arm, Daniel’s warm gaze watching her walk toward him. She mentally trashed that daydream.
Let it go, Ivy. He’s not the man you fell in love with. You fell in love with an impostor.

“I would love to have my wedding here,” she said truthfully. “Someday.”

“Ah,” he nodded in understanding. “There is no rush, my dear. You and Jack are welcome to have the wedding here anytime.”

She shot him a look of surprise. “And the merger?”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid I cannot budge there. The merger must wait until the wedding is over. I need to be sure of the people I’m dealing with.”

Ivy watched this kind old man eat his leftovers and wanted to scream in frustration.
Why are you doing this to me?

He studied his food as though some answer could be found in the cold pasta. “You love Jack, yes?”

“Yes.”
As a friend
, she added in her head. “And I know this merger means the world to him. So, on one hand, I want to get married and make everyone happy.”

He glanced up in surprise at the “everyone” part. But how could she explain how much this deal would mean to not just Jack but her family as well.
And Daniel
, a traitorous voice said.

“But it’s not what you want,” he finished for her.

She shook her head. “Not like this. When I marry, I want it to be on my terms, not for ulterior motives.”

He nodded in sympathy, seemingly oblivious to the fact that with one word he could end this dilemma. He could solve everyone’s problems.

They sat in silence for a bit, lost in thought. When she’d finished her milk and stood to leave, he stopped her. “What will you do, my dear?”

She smiled in resignation. “There’s really no question. I’ll do whatever it takes to make the people I love happy.”

He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Well then, let me be the first to kiss the bride.”

* * * *

Daniel thought he might drown in self-hatred. He couldn’t bear to look at himself in the mirror as he poured another shot of whiskey into an empty glass.
I did it for her
, he told himself for the millionth time.
It was for her own good.

But it was no use. Not even that rationalization could assuage the gut-wrenching guilt he felt every time he envisioned Ivy’s face when he’d mocked her love or the sound of her shaky voice when she tried to reason with him.

He was a devil—worse than his father. All the more reason she was better off without him. But he couldn’t help but wonder if he were better off without her.

Daniel gulped down the burning liquid to quiet that nagging voice that was screaming at him to chase after her. It was begging him to make things right. Tell her he hadn’t meant any of it. He loved her. He loved her more than he’d ever known possible. And yet he’d hurt her.

Daniel smashed his glass against the wall at the memory of Ivy’s beautiful eyes filled with tears as he’d cruelly and matter-of-factly denied his feeling for her. He was the cause of all that pain so clearly written on her face and in her eyes. He’d broken her heart.

His own heart felt as smashed and battered as the glass that lay in pieces at his feet. He had broken both of their hearts. And what for? He could barely remember. The whiskey was doing too good of a job blurring his memory.

He sank into an armchair and dropped his head into his hands. He forced himself to relive his childhood. Replay the hurt and loneliness his mother experienced every day of his young life.

That was why. He had to remember that. He had to hang onto that memory for dear life. She might be hurting today but she would be better off in the end.

And you?
That traitorous voice asked.
Will you be better off?

That was the whiskey talking. It was bringing out every selfish desire in his body. It was begging him to go to her now and take her into his arms and never let go.

He could drop down on his knees and beg her forgiveness and make it all go away. He could tell Brunelli to take his deal and shove it and live happily ever after with the woman that he loved. But he wouldn’t. He’d chosen his path years ago and there was no turning back. He heaved himself out of the chair and turned on the shower.

A shower would sober him and remind him of his choices.

Ivy had been right about that. He had made the decision to choose the merger over her, just like he’d made the choice to walk away from his family all those years ago. It was for the best then and it was in Ivy’s best interests now.

With sobriety would come the strength of will to see this farce through, for Ivy’s sake if for nothing else. She deserved better and he would see that she got it.

* * * *

Ivy had made her decision and there was no turning back. She told Brunelli that despite her protests earlier, she did not want her friends and family flown out for the ceremony. There was no way she would ever be able to go through with such a farce if they were there. He seemed to understand and shooed her off to her room, telling her to get some rest. He and his family would handle all of the details.

She padded back to her room, but paused halfway there. There was one thing she needed to do before she would ever be able to sleep.

She tapped softly on Daniel’s door. She knew he would be awake but she was careful not to rouse anyone else in the household. He answered the door clad only in a pair of sweatpants. The muscles in his chest were defined by the soft glow of the bedside lamp and his face was cast in shadows.

“What are you doing here?”

Not exactly a warm welcome, but then what had she expected? A glimmer of the man she’d thought she’d known perhaps? She had to scoff at her own naiveté. It was becoming extremely apparent that man never existed. She had been fooled by a world-class con man.

“May I come in?” When he hesitated, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause a scene, but there a few things we need to discuss. I’d rather not wake the others.”

He opened the door wider and she slid past him. She tried to ignore his heady scent and his warmth. He must have just showered because his hair was damp and it fell into his eyes giving him a roguish look.

She turned to face him and steeled herself for what she was about to say. She knew it was over between them; he’d made that abundantly clear. And she knew what she had to do for Jack and for her parents, but she had to spell it out for him. Humiliating as it might be, she knew that if she didn’t give him every opportunity to make things right, she would always wonder. He may be able to throw away everything they had without a second thought but it was not in her to be so blasé about love. And that’s what it was. Or at least, that’s what she’d thought they’d had.

“I came here to tell you that I’ll do it. I’ll marry Jack in two days so you can have your precious merger.”

She thought she saw his jaw twitch but couldn’t be sure in the dim light. His eyes were cast in shadows and his expression gave nothing away.

“Thank you.”

Her laugh was humorless. “Don’t thank me, I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for Jack and my parents.”

“I understand. You’ve made the right choice.”

She searched his face for any sign of the man she loved. “There’s one more thing.”

He waited in silence for her to continue.

“After all of this is over, I never want to see you again. Is that clear? By trying to force me to do this—ordering me to marry another man—you’re throwing everything away between us.”

He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. She supposed he thought she was being childish again. And maybe she was. Maybe she was a hopeless romantic who believed in knights in shining armor and happy ever afters. But that didn’t mean she was wrong.

“Before you tell me again that this was just some
fling
,” she spit the word out in disgust. “Let me tell you this. You’re wrong. You. Are. Wrong.” She enunciated each word and watched as his jaw clenched at her tone. So he didn’t like being treated like a child either? Tough.

She crossed her arms and said a little prayer that she could say what she needed to say without bursting into tears. “I don’t know if you’re lying to yourself as well as me but I know what love is when I experience it. I know that what we had was more than a fling—it meant something.”

He still didn’t speak and she let out a sad laugh.

“Well, it meant something to me at any rate. But the moment I walk out this door, we’re through. Your decision has been made; you chose this merger over me. And let me tell you something—you made the wrong choice.”

Ivy walked past him to the door and walked through it, never looking back. She’d said what she’d come to say.

* * * *

Daniel couldn’t concentrate to save his life.

“I got another pawn,” his grandfather crowed. Daniel grimaced. It was humiliating how efficiently his grandfather was kicking his butt at chess. The old man pocketed his white pawn and beckoned to one of his granddaughters to refill his water glass.

Daniel couldn’t get over how old he looked. The last decade had taken its toll, and it was difficult to unite the tough, weathered man who’d helped raise him with the frail man who sat across from him. There was no doubt that Brunelli had been telling the truth when he said his grandfather was running out of time. He needed to thank him for making sure they reconciled while they still had a chance. He owed Brunelli a debt of gratitude—and Ivy, too.

He saw her clear as day in his mind’s eye. Standing in his room, the warm lamplight turning her hair into a fiery halo around her head. That’s what Ivy was, he thought, a fiery, passionate angel. And she could have been his.

“What’s wrong with you, Danny? You look like something the cat dragged home. Did you sleep at all last night?” His grandfather might look frail but he still had the same gruff way of talking.

“No, Grandpa, I didn’t get much sleep.” He took his turn, not bothering to strategize. This game was as good as over. He didn’t feel the need to expound on why he hadn’t slept. How could he explain that he’d been haunted by images of what could have been? He needed to pull it together. He’d made his decision and he had to see it through. Besides, he told himself for the millionth time—it was for her own good.

She’ll have it annulled, he reminded himself. But he knew very well that wasn’t the point. Ivy had been raised to respect vows and traditions. She put family first. She valued love above all.

She loved him. No, she
thought
she loved him. There’s a difference. They hadn’t been together long—she would move on in no time. That thought brought an excruciating jolt of jealousy. He hated the thought of her with another man.

“Earth to Daniel, yoo-hoo.”

Daniel smiled. “Sorry, Grandpa.”

“If I wanted to play chess against a zombie I would have taken the set down to the morgue.”

“Very funny.” Daniel moved his rook and ordered himself to concentrate.

His grandfather was watching him and when he spoke, he was unusually serious. “I’m glad you came to see me, Danny. It means a lot to an old man.”

“It means a lot to me too, Grandpa. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”

His grandfather’s smile was a mirror image of his own. “You’re stubborn just like me. Just like your mother.”

Daniel looked down and pretended to study the board. He couldn’t stand to see the pride in his grandfather’s eyes. He was nothing like him and definitely nothing like his mother. He was his father’s son through and through.

“So tell me, Danny boy, how is a man like you not married? You’ve got good looks and the Italian charm. What, you haven’t met the right woman yet?”

Daniel saw auburn hair and a pixie face. He shook his head. “Marriage and family aren’t in the cards for me.”

“Why not?” He looked up to see his grandfather frowning at him.

“Because I have different priorities. I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps, for better or worse. And you and I both know there is no room in that world for a career and a family. I won’t make the same mistake as him and try to have my cake and eat it too.” He gave his grandfather a knowing look. “The people you care about end up getting hurt.”

His grandfather nodded. “I see, so you’ve decided to eliminate the risk by doing away with family altogether.”

Daniel looked up to see his grandfather laughing at him. “My boy, that is the stupidest logic I have ever heard.”

He didn’t think he’d ever seen his grandfather laugh so hard. “Excuse me?”