“NO, WE DON’T.” Kayla moved to the door and swung it open. “Not unless it’s about work. Other than that we have nothing to say.”
Frown lines bracketed Angelo’s face. “Did I hurt you that much?”
She glared at him. He really didn’t expect an answer, did he? “Please move. I’m on my way out.”
He moved aside and she passed by. She’d reached the exterior doorknob when he said, “Kayla, that was the prince’s representative on the phone.”
That stopped her in her tracks. Her heart pounded in her chest. Please don’t let the wedding fall through, too. She turned and scanned Angelo’s face. There were no hints of what had transpired on the phone.
“And...”
“The royal couple is steadfast in their decision that the chapel must be a part of the wedding. The bride was totally taken with the place. From what I understand that’s the reason Monte Calanetti was placed on the short list.”
“Did you try again to talk Louisa into letting them use it?”
His face creased with worry lines. “I did. And no matter what I said, she wanted no part of the wedding.”
Kayla worried her bottom lip. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let the royal couple believe we could deliver something that we obviously can’t.”
“It’s not your fault. I thought that Louisa would change her mind. What I don’t understand is why she’s so adamant to avoid the royal wedding. Aren’t all women romantics at heart?”
“Obviously not. And it’s my fault. Everything is falling apart because of me.”
Kayla’s chin lowered. How could this be happening? Instead of helping everyone, she was about to let them all down. Most of all, she was about to let down the man she loved—correction, the man she worked for.
Angelo stepped up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “I’ve had enough of the riddles. There’s more going on here than the royal wedding. I want to know what it is. Let me help you.”
Her heart wanted to trust him. It wanted to spill out the problems so that they could work together to solve them. Perhaps it was time she let go of her dream of being an ad executive at Amatucci & Associates.
The price for her career advancement was far too steep. In her haste to escape her home and make a name for herself, she feared that she’d lost a part of herself. Now she realized that deep down where it counted, she still had the same principles that she’d been raised with. Her caring hometown and loving family had shown her what was truly important in life.
And the fact was she could never be happy as an ad executive, knowing she’d stepped over other people’s hopes and dreams to get there. It was time to put her faith in Angelo’s kindness and generosity.
She needed his help.
* * *
Why wouldn’t she let him in?
Why did she insist on refusing his help?
Then Angelo remembered how their night of lovemaking had ended. His jaw tightened as he recalled how badly he’d handled that whole situation. No wonder she didn’t trust him. If the roles were reversed, he’d feel the same way. But he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t just walk away and leave her upset.
“I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but if you’ll give me a chance, I’d like to help.” His tone was gentle and coaxing. “I did my best for Nico and Marianna when they asked me—”
“But they are family. And...and I’m, well, just an employee.”
His thumb moved below her chin and tilted her face upward until their gazes met. “I think you know that you’re much more than that.”
It was in that moment the air became trapped in his lungs. In her worried gaze he saw something else—something he hadn’t expected to find. And it shook him to his core.
He saw his future.
It was in that moment that he realized just how much she meant to him.
He, the man who was intent on remaining a bachelor, had fallen head over heels, madly, passionately in love with his assistant. She was everything he’d been trying to avoid. Excitable, emotional and compassionate. The exact opposite of the cool, collected businessman image he’d created for himself.
The how and the when of these emotions totally eluded him. The startling revelation left him totally off-kilter and not sure what to say or do next. All that kept rolling through his mind was...
He, Angelo Amatucci, loved Kayla Hill.
“Angelo, what is it?”
“Um...nothing. And don’t try changing the subject. We were talking about you and what has you so upset.”
She breathed out an unsteady breath. “It’s the emails.”
“What emails? From the office?”
She shook her head. “Emails from the band’s manager and the sponsors. Everyone’s pulling out and...and it’s in shambles—”
“Whoa. Slow down. I think we better take a seat and you need to start at the beginning.”
Once seated on the couch, everything came bubbling to the surface. She told him about how she was involved with the after-school program. It came out about how the program was about to lose their lease unless they could come up with money to cover a hefty increase in the lease. And then she told him that she was heading up a fund-raiser—a big fund-raiser.
In fact, he’d heard about the fund-raiser. It was all over the radio and the papers. At the time, he’d been surprised his company hadn’t been approached for a donation, but now he knew why.
“And this fund-raiser, you’ve been organizing it while you were here in Italy?”
She nodded. “I didn’t have a choice.”
So this is what she’d been hiding from him. “And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“I thought about it.” His mouth opened to respond but she cut him off. “And don’t you dare blame this on me. I tried.” Her voice rose and her face filled with color. “Every time I mentioned helping a charitable organization, you didn’t want any part of it. Me not telling you before now is as much your fault as mine. I couldn’t risk my job.”
His voice rose. “You thought I’d fire you?”
She shouted back. “Wouldn’t you have? Correction, aren’t you going to now that you know?”
What he wanted to do was leave. Kayla was loud, emotional and making him extremely uncomfortable. She had him raising his voice—something he avoided at all costs. In that moment, he had flashbacks of his parents’ endless arguments. He refused to end up like them.
He started for the door. The walls started to close in on him.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.” His head pounded.
“And my job?”
“I don’t know.” He honestly didn’t. He was torn between his newfound feelings for her and the fear that they’d end up miserable like his parents. The pain in his temples intensified.
He stormed out the door, covering as much ground as he could cover with no destination in mind. He just had to get away from the arguing.
Over the years he’d worked so hard to control as much of his life as possible—keeping it the exact opposite of his emotional, turbulent parents. And then in one afternoon, he found himself back exactly where he’d started—in the middle of a heated relationship. That was unacceptable. His home and his office were kept orderly and on an even keel. Everything was how he wanted it—so then why couldn’t he control his own traitorous heart?