Bartered (The Encounter #1)(49)

My heart constricted at the thought of Damen truly thinking I was working at The Riviera. The lies I had weaved to keep him in the dark might haunt me, but I had to do what was best for his faith and love for me to always remain intact. Damen was a great guy, and I loved him and longed for the future he had mapped out for the both of us.

Striding over towards the blooms, my forefinger touched the soft, silky petal before I bent over and smelled their powerful, saccharine sweet scent, overwhelmed by the emotions that rolled off me. Today was supposed to be our fourth anniversary, and even though I had pushed off all his attempts in sending me anything, he still had gone ahead with his yearly flower delivery. He was a thoughtful, wonderful man, and I was lucky that he’d decided to wait for me until I was back in England.

“Did you happen to read the note?” I distractedly asked Hugo, knowing he wasn’t far behind, watching me closely as I plucked the card off and stared at my name written in black, bold letters.

“No,” he rasped out. “I didn’t.”

Thank goodness. I silently uttered a prayer of thanks, knowing very well that Hugo’s personality—the possessive jealous kind—wouldn’t abide well with this had he read it. Damen always poured his heart in these cards, and I would hate for Hugo to invade my privacy as well as I would truly abhor the fact that he could use it against me and my father to sever the contract. That could’ve been a massive maelstrom atop of all the problems I had.

Breathing out a loud sighing release, I quickly turned my head to see where Hugo was. Just as I had guessed, he was a few feet away, scrutinizing everything I did.

Beaming widely at him, I gave him thanks for bothering to bring it here. “It’s from my friends. They just miss me, that’s all.”

He nonchalantly nodded before trying to smile back at me. “Thoughtful friends are always nice to have. You’re a lucky girl. You seem to surround yourself with people who adore you very much.”

“Thank you. Yeah, I guess I’m lucky if you put it that way.” Slowly striding towards him until I gazed upon his dark, beautiful face, I tiptoed to kiss him softly on the lips. “Working late again tonight?”

“Something like that.”

His unwelcoming attitude alerted me to make some much needed effort to please him. “Did you eat?” I questioned, but I thought better, knowing how he usually nibbled on something whilst working. “How about a nightcap? It’s quite balmy outside. The fresh air might help you relieve some tension. You work too much.”

“Aunt Julee moved into the penthouse suite in the hotel so she could function and work better from there, but her hourly daily visits are driving me mad. It seems to me that I don’t have any patience for such trivial interest in gossip and her grinding remarks about her soon-to-be ex-husband’s betrayal.”

Damn, I hadn’t thought of her since I had come back. I had been caught up texting and emailing back and forth with Damen and the addition of video chat surely didn’t help with my concentration. Julee had a lot of people to help her with the event, so maybe I wasn’t needed there. Besides, the woman had loathed me on the spot. It was difficult to be around her and breathe in her negativity without feeling less than optimistic myself.

“I had truly forgotten about your aunt and Elena. So if Julee is staying at the hotel, where’s your cousin?”

“She met a guy, and they decided to sail about Italy. They claim to be in love, or so she says. Nevertheless, this is typical Elena behavior.” He shrugged, as if it wasn’t so boggling to have his cousin depart mid-summer season.

Free-spirited and did as she pleased, I admired that about her. But at the same time, I envied that, too, because I couldn’t freely express myself without repercussions. Julee might be a total bitch, but it was apparent that she loved her daughter. My mother, on the other hand, was too busy pining for her husband to even notice that she had children of her own to take care of. And as for my father, well, there wasn’t much to say about him other than less colorful attributes that he ceaselessly reminded us of whenever he could.

“So are you up for a nightcap with me, or are you too exhausted to do any of that?” I looked at him expectantly, hoping that he’d say yes so I could at least make up for my less than spectacular attitude last night.

“Of course…” he sighed before finally giving my forehead a whisper-soft kiss on it. “I’ll meet you downstairs. Don’t make me wait long. I’ve thought of you all day.”

His blatant honesty melted my very guilty heart. As much as I wanted to tell him the truth, I knew I couldn’t for fear of unleashing something that would be out of my control and would only summon my father back in life. No, I just couldn’t.

“See you in a bit.” I waved him off before almost running towards the walk-in closet. With Damen’s letter in hand, I stashed it in one of my drawers so I could read it when I had privacy. Then I slid off my robe and chose a simple, cotton dress that wasn’t too simple yet showed enough skin to entice Hugo’s eyes.

Smelling like fresh citrus blooms and face free of any artifice, I strolled out of my room and went to go find him out on the veranda with a few candles lighting up the small, intimate garden settee. Different types of cheeses, a few selections of grapes, castelvetrano olives, and dried fruits were lavishly spread out on a platter. Vintage champagne chilled in the ice bucket, bottles of red wine, and other, harder and much pricier liquor lined about. The cozy ambiance, the sound of the soft waves hitting the shore, the faint noise of cicadas in the background, and the stoic man with his back to me as he stared at the sea before him, surely made these intimate surroundings… so much more.