Kat places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “He’ll come around, Mia,” she says softly. “You looked so happy together the night of the ball.”
I know we did. Because we were happy. I have no idea what happened to turn the man I love into the world’s biggest jackass. “I don’t think so, Kat,” I sniff. “He said some awful things.” The memory of his words slices a fresh welt across my heart. I haven’t told Kat exactly what he said. I couldn’t bear the pain of repeating them, and I’m too ashamed of thinking I could have a future with a man who sees me that way.
“Besides, I’ve waited too long already. He had all day yesterday to come and talk to me.” My cheeks flush at how I stupidly sat in his bedroom for hours, hoping he’d rush back in and beg my forgiveness. Tell me it was all some awful mistake, that he didn’t mean any of those horrible things he said. “But I haven’t seen him at all. It’s like I don’t even exist anymore. I’m done, Kat.” I dry my face with a tissue from the box she hands me.
The agony of Lorenzo’s betrayal is so acute that reliving his unforgivable words renders me almost numb. It’s as though my brain knows that to allow myself to feel the pain of those words would be too much for me to bear all at once, so it won’t let me. Instead, I remember snatched pieces, and I recall the hurt. The soul-crushing hurt of him eviscerating my heart all over again.
For a few hours after it happened, I even convinced myself that he’d come to me and somehow take back those terrible things he said. But of course he didn’t. Lorenzo Moretti might just be the most damaged and stubborn man I’ve ever known. He’s either beyond redemption or I pity the woman who eventually decides to stick around long enough to help him work through his pain. Because he’s a selfish son of a bitch, and if he was right about one thing, it’s that I deserve so much better.
I roll back my shoulders and swallow down a fresh wave of sorrow. “I found a few apartments nearby. Would you come look at a few with me? I have some savings and …”
Kat pulls me into a hug. “Whatever you need, honey. I’m here for you.”
