Matteo (22 page)

Chapter 48

“Daddy! Daddy!” Tilly leaps into my arms and plants a wet kiss on my cheek.

“Hi butterfly,” I say, giving her a tight squeeze.

She squirms her way out of my arms. “Auntie Madison showed us how to do a plié today!” She jumps around excitedly.

“Oh really?” I say, my gaze shifting to my sister who’s leaning against the barre, arms folded tightly across her chest.

“You’re
late
…again.” She glares at me.

She’s still pissed that I brought Ellie to Sunday dinner. We haven’t spoken since then, but I know my sister. She’s holding a grudge. But this is one time that she’ll just have to get over it.

She won’t come between Ellie and me.

I turn my attention to Tilly. “Sweetie, go grab your backpack and we’ll get popsicles on the way home. Does that sound good?”

Tilly’s face lights up. “Yay!” She scurries off to pack up her belongings. She’s so cute in her little pink tutu.

I approach my sister. “Hey.”

“Why are you
always
late to pick her up from ballet practice? The parents of all my other students were on time. You can’t just waltz in here half an hour late because I’m your sister.” She’s on a roll.

“Sorry – Ellie’s mother is visiting from Europe for a few days. We all went to breakfast and lost track of time.” I meet Noemie for the first time this today and we really hit it off.

I could see her as my mother-in-law…

Madison grunts as she turns off the stereo player and begins to turn off the lights in her ballet studio. “You’re still seeing Ellie?”

I sigh. “Maddie, you’re going to have to accept her. Ellie’s an important part of my life. I’d love for you to get to know her.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

I glare at her sternly. “I love her, Madison. I love Ellie.”

Just then, Tilly trots up to us. “I love Ellie, too. She’s so nice. She’s taking me to the zoo next week. I want you to come with us, Auntie.”

Madison pushes the sour expression off of her face for my daughter’s sake. “Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetie.”

But, I see my opening here and I won’t let it slip away. Tilly is Madison’s weakness and I know it. “Auntie Madison would love to go to the zoo with you and Ellie,” I say with a syrupy grin.

“Yay!” Tilly is jumping around excitedly.

My sister looks like she’s about to kill me but I know she won’t disappoint Tilly. “So, it’s settled then. Auntie Madison’s going to the zoo with you and Ellie.”

Chapter 49

A silly grin settles on my face as I sink into the chair across from Matteo’s desk. “Are you ready?” I ask, not even trying to mask my excitement as I set my tape recorder onto the desk.

He looks at me, his smile mirroring my own. He leans back in his chair and loosens the knot of his tie. “Ready.”

I hit ‘record’ and pull my pen and paper into my lap. “So, Matteo – you were the head of the Real Estate law team at the prestigious Cartwright Moretti Stevenson at the young age of 31. And you decided to leave it in order to launch your own legal practice. Tell me a little bit about how you came to that decision.”

A pensive expression takes over his features as he thinks of his response. “Cartwright Moretti Stevenson was my father’s law firm. He and his partners built it from the ground up and I respect that. But the firm had a practices and policies that didn’t resonate with me as an individual. I became tired of living in the shadow of someone else’s dream. I wanted to build my own. From scratch. Just like my father did.”

I look into those dark brown eyes and I can see that the answer came straight from the depths of him and that he meant every word that he said. And in this moment, I develop an even greater sense of respect for this man. He wants to live a life that he believes in. He risked it all to make that happen and he’s moving fearlessly to the next level.

“How did you know that it was the right time to take this huge step in your career?” I ask, still jotting down his previous response.

He’s silent for a while, so I glance up at him. He’s looking at me – no,
into
me. “I met a woman – she’s beautiful and brave and she plays by her own rules. She built her own world from scratch instead of waiting to inherit the life that her father had built. She’s proud and determined and inspirational and her love gave me the incentive to be the same way.”

I feel my heart pitter-patter in my chest. “So, are you saying that New York City’s most eligible bachelor is taken? Matteo Moretti is off the market?” I feign ignorance.

He plays along. “I
am
taken.”

“Tell me a bit more about this lucky woman.” I know that this line of questioning is completely self-indulgent and I’m going to have to put a big, fat disclaimer on the article letting readers know that Matteo Moretti is
my
man, but for the sake of my own ego, I need to hear him tell me again what’s in his heart for me.

I listen, blushing, as he paints me with beautiful words. He speaks from the heart about how he feels for me. And it’s the mirror image of the things I feel for him.

I’m so lucky that this man came into my life.

I love him for loving me.

I love him for fighting for me.

I love him for breaking all the rules just to make me his girl.

I was broken when he met me. Although I appeared to have it together on the outside, I was in shards on the inside. And he was man enough to put me back together again. He’s the piece of me that was missing and now that I’ve found him, I’ll never let him go.

Matteo Moretti made me whole.

He’s the reason I left the
New York Flame
in Dove’s very competent hands and am gearing up to launch the
Manhattan Social Digest
, a blog dedicated to publishing exclusive interviews with members of New York high society. I’m not digging through people’s trash trying to find their dirty little secrets anymore. I’m sitting face-to-face with them and asking them the burning questions everyone wants answered.

And Matteo is my first interview.

“Next question,” he says to me with a smirk, his dimples clefting his cheeks.

“Let’s talk about your new law practice for a bit. How does your family feel about your decision to strike out on your own?” I chew on my fingernail as I wait for his answer.

His relationship with his family has been strained ever since he and I made our relationship official. Things are on the mend, but I foresee a difficult road ahead. His sisters resent him for dating a woman that they basically view as a spy. His father and brother hate the fact that they’ll have to name an outsider to manage the law firm when Michael enters politics. And his mother? She’s just cranky in general.

Matteo pulls in a sharp breath. “My family’s incredible and I love them very much. I won’t pretend that my decision to go solo hasn’t caused tensions but the Moretti kids are very close. And we support each other in everything.” He chuckles to himself. “As a matter of fact, Michael offered to stop by my office the other day to bring me lunch. He showed up with two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a couple of juice boxes. We had a good laugh about that.”

I slap my hand to my mouth to stifle a giggle.

Just then, there’s a light tap at the door. “Yes?” Matteo calls out.

Anna-Maria pokes her head into the room. “Sorry to interrupt, Matt but, do you have the Strombolis file in here?”

“Yeah – here you go,” he says scooping a file from the corner of his desk and handing it to his assistant. My eyes meet hers and we share a weak smile. Anna-Maria has been cordial with me every since Matteo convinced her to leave Cartwright Moretti Stevenson to work with him and that’s really all I can ask for under the circumstances. Matteo says he can’t do his job without her and from what I’ve seen of their work relationship, I believe him. She’s reliable, efficient and she makes him a better lawyer. So, I’ve got to respect her for that.

He returns his attention to me once his assistant pulls the door shut. “Last question,” I say, glancing down at my notepad. “So, we all know that employees tend to sneak away with little ‘souvenirs’ when they leave their job to strike out on their own. What’s the most valuable thing you stole from Cartwright Moretti Stevenson when you left?”

He tosses his head back and laughs. “That’s a controversial question,” he says. “I could get into a lot of trouble for answering that.” He’s silent of a moment. “I guess I’d say Anna-Maria. She’s excellent at her job. She’s loyal to a fault. And I can depend on her to make me look good to our clients.”

I snicker a bit. “Thanks so much for giving this interview, Matteo,” I say as I stop the tape recorder.

He eases out of his chair and rounds his desk. “Of course,” he says as he takes me by the wrists and pulls me to my feet. “Anything for you.” He perches himself on the corner of is desk and kisses me softly. “Absolutely anything for you.”

I throw my arms around his neck and straddle his hips. “So, are we gonna christen this desk today or what?” I say, smiling against his mouth.

He kisses me again. Deeper this time. “I really wish we could, but I have a client coming in –“ he lifts his wrist to glance at his watch “ – 11 minutes.”

I pout as he sets me down on my feet. “That’s too bad. I’m disappointed.”

“Don’t be,” he says as he kisses me on my forehead before starting back towards his seat. “If business keeps going the way it’s been going, we’ll christen this desk. Then, another. Then, another. Before you know it, I’ll have offices all over this country. All with desks waiting to be christened by you and me.”

I giggle. He’s so silly. But I’m so excited for him. I can’t wait to see where his legal practice goes. And where my new blog goes.

I love this man. He’s made me better.

We’ve made each other better.

I slip my notepad into my bag and grab my sweater from the chair next to me. “I’ll get out of your way, then.”

He takes me by the wrist. “I have something for you.”

I cock an eyebrow at him. “Really. What?”

He slides open the drawer of his desk and hands me a laminated card hanging from a lanyard strap. ‘Press pass’ is printed across the front.

“What’s this?” I ask, running my fingers across the plasticized paper.

“Exclusive access to Madison and Domenic’s wedding. You can take as many pictures as you want. You can interview any of the guests. And you can publish it all on your new blog.”

I think my jaw just hit the floor for a second.

I eye him suspiciously. “And, your sister’s okay with this?”

He scratches his eyebrow. “I won’t lie – it took some convincing but ultimately, my siblings want me to be happy. I told them that you’ll be around for the long haul whether they like it or not so they’re trying to adjust to the idea.”

I push a puff of air out of my mouth. “
Okay
…” I nibble on the nail of my thumb. Matteo has forced me to lunch with his sisters twice over the past few weeks. It’s been pretty awkward both times, but I could tell they were making somewhat of an effort. Still, this offer is much more than I could have expected from Madison. “Inviting me to the wedding is one thing. But letting me write a story on it is quite another,” I note.

Matteo just shrugs one shoulder as he rakes a hand through his hair. “I think it’s Maddie’s way of extending an olive branch. My sister comes across as standoffish but she has a good heart. She knows that she was rude to you when you first came around – and she would never apologize outright for that – but she wants to show you some goodwill. Plus, I think that, because of my relationship with you, she trusts you to cover the story more than she’d trust a complete outsider.”

“So, I’m not a complete outsider?” I tease.

He comes close and wraps his arms around my waist. “No, Ms. Parker. It appears that you’ve made it to the inner circle.”

I snuggle my face to his chest. “That’s really good to hear.”

That’s when Matteo’s phone rings. It’s Anna-Maria informing him that his appointment has arrived. I take that as my cue to get out of his space. He has work to do.

And I have to go shopping for an outfit for the wedding!