Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,48
Giovanni was certain to give him.
Kill her.
She tried to put a cork in the hysteria that made nausea rise in her stomach.
Connor sat perfectly still and waited for her to answer his question.
‘No, Connor. I’m not in trouble.’ Not for the moment. Her voice was steady, but her hands shook as she spooned some more dessert into her mouth willed her stomach to keep it down.
‘I don’t believe you. There’s something going on here that you’re not telling me about.’
Oh, how she wanted to tell him.
In a gentler tone he said, ‘You’ve shared your body with me in the most intimate ways possible. I believed what we shared was real and honest. Was I wrong?’
His words were like knives to her heart. ‘Of course not.’ The last thing she wanted to do was taint the memory of what they’d shared.
His lips twisted into a parody of a smile. ‘So what’s this?’
Self-loathing weighed her down as she perpetuated the lie that was her life.
It was unfair for her, but it was even more unfair to Connor because he had absolutely no idea what was going on. No idea of the stakes. No idea she’d selfishly dragged him into this. He’d told her she was playing a dangerous game, but he was the one here who’d unwittingly stepped into a world of evil.
‘Don’t shut me out, Mia.’
She tilted her head as she looked at him. If she came across as cold and unfeeling it would be easier for him to walk away. ‘Connor, when I went to bed with you, you warned me not to get too close. We agreed this would be temporary.’
‘And not half an hour ago you agreed to let it reach a natural conclusion.’
Hardening her heart, she said, ‘I did. And it has.’
‘Just like that?’
Of all the lies she’d had to tell to keep her past a secret, this was the most difficult. She clenched her jaw and used every bit of sheer bloody determination she had to keep her tears at bay. Spine rigid, she swallowed down on the words she really wanted to say.
Ending it now is the last thing I want but it’s the only thing I can do to keep you safe.
It had to be a clean break.
But it had to be a brutal break.
‘Taking me to bed didn’t earn you the right to know everything that goes on in my
life.’
His head jerked back and his lips thinned. For a split second, she imagined she saw a wounded look in his eyes, then it was gone, replaced with fury.
Everything in her longed to tell him she adored him.
Oh, God. What she felt for him was stronger than adoration.
The truth almost knocked her sideways.
She was in love with Connor.
Deeply in love.
Totally, madly, head over heels in love.
Of course it had happened.
Part of her had loved him even before they’d become lovers—loved the strong, smart, fair man she knew him to be. Now, as she looked across at him and saw the raw emotions playing over his features, she accepted the truth.
Hell.
What a mess!
How could she have been so stupid?
Hysteria swamped her and she was uncertain whether to laugh or cry at the cruelty of it all. She’d finally fallen in love and fate had intervened to cut short her happiness.
Danger bit at her heels and, loving Connor, she had to protect him. She had to swallow down on all she wanted to say—all she wanted to reveal—and walk away.
‘Mia,’ he tried again, ‘regardless of how short a time we’ve been lovers, if you’re in trouble I may be able to help.’
Yes, she was deeply in love with this wonderful, generous man who was offering to share her troubles even though she’d wounded him. But short of hiring a hit man to take out Giovanni and end this nightmare, nobody could help her. She shook her head. ‘Thank you, but I don’t need your help.’
His teeth must’ve gritted together because she could see the muscles in his cheek tensing.
As her heart splintered, she changed the subject. ‘You know I tried to make this dish once.’ She launched into a story about the Italian cooking class she’d attended with two of the ladies from the Saturday evening mahjong group. But all the while, tension made her shoulders ache.
She feared that at any moment she’d hear Lou Correlli’s New York accent behind her shoulder, rasping, ‘We’ve been searching for you, Callie.’
Chapter Fourteen
In a secluded corner of the first-class lounge at Marco Polo Airport, Connor’s patience finally snapped.