The elevator swished open and his parents left, beaming smiles on their faces.
Instantly, Clio excused herself and Stefan let her run away for now.
The way he felt right now, it was better she stayed away until he was more in control of himself and his emotions.
All day, his parents had commented on how well Clio and he suited each other, had been ecstatic at every small exchange between them.
Hadn’t been able to keep their eyes off Clio as they went sightseeing into the city. Had demanded Clio and Stefan show them the Columbia University campus, all the spots that the media had dug up and built their love story around.
His mother had pronounced proudly that Stefan and Clio’s marriage would last longer than her own marriage of forty years, that they would continue the tradition of a long, happily married life as the Biancos always did.
His mother’s comment opened up a wound he had resolutely patched up long ago, an ache that could consume him if he let it.
Because he could never trust another woman, never reach for that happiness ever again.
And try as he did to ruthlessly remove that small part of him that wanted a fantasy to come true, Clio kept igniting it, kept pushing him toward the path where nothing but pain awaited him.
Even the happiness he had spied in his parents’ eyes demanded a high price of him.
Clio had unnecessarily brought his parents into their pretense, cruelly shown him glimpses of a future that could never be his.
And that she made him want it again was unbearable.
Closing the door behind her, Clio entered her bedroom.
Anticipated fear churned through her gut. Her fingers slipping on the keys of her laptop, she typed in her password and looked up her bank account.
Sweat running down her back, she pulled a sheaf of papers she had left on her nightstand.
Jackson’s financials…
Her gut folded in on itself as she finally pinpointed the discrepancy she had been trying to find, and the tremendous truth of her financial affairs rammed home.
Jackson had robbed her of every last penny, literally…
This was proof enough for the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Jackson. Proof enough to pull everything on him…
Her legs gave out under her and she sagged to the cushioned chair in front of the vanity, her breaths rushing on top of each other. Why it had finally come to her today, at this moment after weeks of trying, she had no idea.
Today when she had seen a real smile curve Stefan’s mouth, today when she had seen the flash of pure joy in his eyes…
Today when it seemed like she had made a difference in his life.
This was all Stefan needed from her, why he had agreed to her deal, why he had married her… And once he had it…
Clutching the chocolate-and-gold veneer of the table, she leaned her forehead to it, trying to lock the tears in her throat.
The whole day had been the upward ride of a roller coaster—going higher and higher on the tale she had spun about Stefan and her, the pressure building. Until this moment when she was crashing down.
Rosa Bianco looking fondly at Stefan and her, and weaving dreams for their future life, had been the same as looking at a reality that was even better than the one she had wanted for so long, one that she was living every day, but was still out of her grasp.
Pretending to be the woman Stefan adored was like a drug she never wanted to quit, that could distort her reality and delude her. Still, she didn’t want to give him the proof yet.
“You shouldn’t have interfered, Clio.”
Stefan’s voice behind her simmered with anger and emotion.
But she had done what she had intended. She had finally gotten past that shell of his.
She had to face the music now, but for his sake, she would do the same again.
“Turn around and face me. There’s nowhere to run tonight.”
Warning vibrated in his tone, along with arrogance. And instead of scaring her, it goaded Clio. Someone had to show Stefan what he had become, had to remind him what he used to be.
Still seated, she turned around to face him.
“I didn’t interfere, Stefan. Nor do I have any intention of running away.”
“No? Because I have a feeling you’re taking our vows literally, bella. Everything that you have been doing these past two weeks, everything you think I need, you can stop it. You have no duty toward me, Clio.”
He spat the word as if it was a curse, as if he couldn’t stand the idea of her doing anything in the name of it. Her muscles quivering, Clio frowned.
It was as if there were two parts of her within—one wanted to back down, apologize before the tension in the room exploded, one wanted to challenge him about her place in his life, wanted to hurt him as he did her.
For what else was the tightness in her chest?
Uncoiling from the chair, she straightened her spine. “Maybe I have no duty toward you as a wife, Stefan. God knows nothing but that bloody contract defines that between us. But what about as a friend who wants to do something for you, who wants to see you smile again?”
He prowled into the room and into her space. Long fingers wrapped around her nape possessively. “I have three friends—ones who don’t interfere in my personal life. I don’t need another friend.”
“So everything you have done for me then, what—?”
“That’s a different matter.”
Clio half snorted, half laughed, her temper getting the better of her again. “Can you hear yourself? You gave me the right to interfere in your life when you interfered in mine. Goose and gander, Stefan.”
“You’ve lost me again. But do not repeat this, Clio. Or I have to forget my own rules, too, and they are already very muddy right now.”
“They were over the moon to see you, Stefan. And I know that it meant something to you, too.”
Scorn filled his gaze. “Then why didn’t you invite yours, bella?”
Burying the hurt that instantly swarmed to the surface, Clio shrugged. “I did invite them. I thought a farce it might be, but this is the only wedding I’ll have. My mother said, I hope you fare better with him than you did with the American. They have no interest in my life, Stefan. Not after I walked away from the one they decided on for me.
“But having seen your parents today, I don’t regret what I did. They adore you, Stefan. To not invite them to the wedding…”
His mouth tightened.
“To reject something so good and pure, this is not you.”
“I doubted your reasons for wanting to marry me. I made you sign a filthy contract. Have you still not learnt who I am now, Clio?
“The naive, romantic Stefan you remember is long dead. In its place, there’s only poison, Clio, poison that will destroy you. I’m warning you, bella…leave me alone.”
His jaw concrete, he growled a sound of such utter pain that her gut twisted.
“Do you realize what you’ve done by involving my parents in this? They think the sun rises with you now. What happens when this is all over? How will I face them with another failure in hand? How will I explain your absence in my life, bella?”
That he still thought in such rigid terms should have brought Clio down with a thud. That he didn’t even indulge the thought of some kind of future together, when it was a path she kept getting pulled into, should have stopped her.
“I don’t know how you will. We came together to ruin Jackson. Can your parents’ happiness not be the one good thing that comes out of this, Stefan? Does our marriage have to leave only destruction in its wake?”
Because that’s how it felt right now.
Stefan had already helped her gain her self-respect, her strength, back but he was also going to steal a part of her. The damage, it seemed, was already done.
How could she stay away from him when he was so gorgeous and kind and honorable? When her heart gave a little leap when she saw him every morning? When her throat ached at the way he shut his emotions off as if he couldn’t bear them?
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his unforgiving form, hid her face in his shoulder. She felt as if she was standing on the precipice of a cliff, wanted to give in and jump so much that she was feverish from it.
He tensed instantly, his grip on her arms bruising, poised to push her away.
Slowly, Clio settled into his embrace, the hard contours and sharp angles of his body pressing and pushing her own soft curves, until they fit perfectly. Heat and hardness—his maleness made her feel so secure, and wanted.
His arms came around her finally, and her breath left her in a long whoosh. His hands moved and roamed over her back, as though he was testing their fit, too, and then came to rest around her waist. Left scorching heat on her bare flesh between her top and jeans.
Warm air from his exhale coated her skin. “Thank you for bringing them here. For bringing such wonderful smiles to their faces.”
Warmth exploded in her chest and she struggled to contain it. Nodding, Clio wrapped herself even tighter around him. “You have to let me in, Stefan. Just a tiny little bit.”
“Tiny little bit, bella? You’re like a stubborn virus.” His smile against her temple took the bite out of his words.
She had no name for what was happening. Only that, after years of unhappiness and misery, she had smiled so much these past few weeks, she was happy with herself.
She felt a sense of power over her own life, over her emotions she hadn’t felt in so long. She would tell him about the proof, but for these few minutes, she wanted it to be only about them.