Page 42 of Forbidden Lord


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Sheena, as she kissed him and ran her hands over his muscles, just made him weak in the knees. He shook his head as it didn’t matter. She didn’t care about him. “I’ll get home soon enough.”

He needed to get off the phone. He checked the four wheels of his board.

“Look, I’ll meet you at Piotr' restaurant in an hour,” Stefano said.

Huh? The restaurant on the bluff was normally a tourist trap though it was reasonably close to where he was at. “You don’t have to…”

“We’re friends. I’ll be there,” Stefano said fast.

Perhaps one drink might help him clear his head. “I’ll skate over to the bluff then. Meet you there.”

Matteo put his board back on the path and skated down a hill that would soon only be accessible with skis.

Right now it was dry and cold as he raced down, the wind whipping his face.

The pain kept him alert and aware of every swish of air. She didn’t love him.

He skated onto the bluff as snow began to fall.

Below, near his home, it would be warm, not cold like this. The differing weather was one of the unique things about Avce. He picked up his board and went inside the busy restaurant.

Stefano waved for him at the bar. Matteo left his skateboard near the door and headed in toward the stools and his friend. Stefano eyed him up and down and Matteo was acutely aware of his black skater pants that clung to him and his black sports top. “Matteo, you look like you’re training for a marathon.”

If anyone in the restaurant had a problem with his outfit, he’d leave. No big deal. He sat and ordered a drink. Once the bartender left, Matteo shrugged. “It’s not that easy to erase the past.”

“I was hoping Sheena’s protests made you get her a guard.” Stefano asked in a low voice, “Things that bad with Sheena?”

Right. A vision of Sheena as he’d showed her around his house and her wide blue eyes that gazed at everything replayed in his mind. He’d wanted to kiss her then and his lips tingled for another opportunity. The bartender returned with his whiskey, neat, and Stefano’s vodka tonic. He held up his glass to cheers as he said, “No, she’s the perfect Countess. Her first ball was from all accounts a grand success.”

They sipped their hard liquor and warmth washed through to his extremities fast.

Perhaps he’d get a car to bring him home. Stefano said, “Rosalind bought a few pieces.”

“Excellent.” He downed his whiskey and ordered another.

He’d not had a good stiff drink in far too long. Since meeting Sheena in Paris, though at the time he thought marriage would end his party days.

Stefano folded his hands to his sides. “Rumor from my staff is that Charles showed up at your Villa again, after I sent you the video where Sheena ran off.”

Matteo’s face heated and he gulped the next drink and ordered another. All his life his staff saw far too much. Now instead of his father, rumors went outward toward his friends. He closed his eyes and wished that everything he’d done hadn’t caused scandal and gossip. Matteo opened his eyes and nodded at his friend. “Yes, he’s barred from my estate permanently.”

Stefano gave him that half-devilish smile that he flashed whenever they were about to cause problems and said, “That must have been satisfying to throw him out.”

“I should have barred him from the party and alerted the staff he wasn’t welcome that night, decorum be damned.” The gates were permanently barred and all the staff knew the face of the man to never let back in, but that didn’t change Sheena’s feelings.

“So that must make you feel good.”

She’d told him how she’d loved Charles, not him. And his stomach was still in a knot. “Not really.”

Stefano stirred his drink. “Why?”

An entire bottle of whiskey wouldn’t numb the idea that Sheena had married him but loved another. Matteo’s neck felt tight as he said, “Sheena had loved him.”

“Hadbeing key there.” Stefano sipped his drink.

But that was more than she could muster for how she felt about him. He’d asked her, point blank, and she hadn’t answered. She didn’t care about him in the same way. “He left her heartbroken. She told me herself.”

Stefano motioned for another round and then finished his drink. “I didn’t send the video for you to think that.”