No wonder he doesn't get attached, I thought, crossing my arms. Cold, calculated contracts that rule out emotion--because his own flesh and blood hurt him so deeply. It all made sense now.
"His father lived a lie and all the money in the world couldn't save Jacob and his mother from emotional hell," Allegra tried to clear the emotion from her face but I caught a sliver of guilt before it disappeared. “It's why your lie hurt Jacob."
I thought back to the company stairwell after I let him touch me for the first time.
I lost myself, Leila. It won't happen again.
I'd thought he was just sorry that he came off as a carbon copy of the playboy that was slathered on magazines. Now that I knew he grew up with a father that wished for another life altogether, no wonder he kept me at arm's length. No wonder he was hesitant to let me in. A lie defined his childhood. I couldn't let a lie define our future.
I turned to Allegra, ready to fight for him. "I have to get him back."
She brought me in for a hug, holding tight. I felt her blessing radiating in her smile when she pulled back. "I was hoping you would say that."
She reached in her pocket and pulled out a blackberry. "Jacob scheduled a last minute meeting at Bella Monica, but it smacks of Rachel. You will go and get your time with him."
My mind jolted me back to standing awkwardly at the table at lunch, nerves eating me alive. I hadn’t been able to get through to him before. I had to do something different this time or it would just be a repeat horror show. "How do I make him listen?"
Allegra's heels clicked on the floor as she moved to the closet. She reappeared with the deep red dress I’d worn back in the boutique when I began this crazy journey. In that dress, I’d had my epiphany—the moment that I believed that I actually belonged in Jacob’s world.
"In this dress," Allegra said with a mischievous smile, "how could he not?"
****
When Allegra slid behind the wheel of the town car, she had a twinkle in her eye. We had to make one last stop on the way to the restaurant. That stop included picking up an olive skinned man with silky black hair, angular features, and a thick accent that stroked my eardrums. His name was Silvio De Luca, Allegra’s nephew. Who just happened to be a professional model.
I’d bypassed nervousness and headed straight for terrified.
I teetered on my heels while every move my impromptu date made was suave and graceful. He gave me a dizzying smile as I brought us to a stop a few feet from the cobblestone steps in front of the restaurant.
"Everything is fine?" he asked, his voice sending goose bumps over my bare arms.
"Y-yes," I lied. "I just need a minute." At least that was a bit of the truth. I needed time to digest what was about to go down. Time to believe that Jacob would even notice or care if I strut into the restaurant with some sexy guy at my side.
Oh god what if he totally ignored me? What if he saw right through it? Saw right through me?
"Leila." Silvio's warm hand cupped my cheek. "You’re all red. There is no need for nervousness."
I gave him a look. "My..." I paused as I realized I had no name for what Jacob was to me. "Jacob is in there." My heart beat erratically as I pictured him behind a table, Rachel across from him. "The man I'm in love with is here with another woman."
"Si," Silvio grinned slyly. "And as soon as you glide through those doors he'll see what a big mistake he made."
"Or he'll just ignore me entirely," I said, biting my lip.
Silvio frowned, lost in thought. He snapped his fingers and pulled me toward a fountain tucked away from the entrance. The smell of roses mingled with the rush of water.
Silvio gestured at the water. "What do you see?"
I stepped forward and looked at the woman reflected back at me. "Someone playing dress up."
"Then you do not see," he said, turning me back to face him. "I see a woman that would be beautiful in Valentino or a potato sack."
I laughed at that, a bit of a snort that scooped out the trembling and insecurities as I looked at Silvio, realizing that I’d seen his face in several magazines during the trip. This was so not my life. Falling in love with Jacob Whitmore, losing him, and using some male model to get him back.
Silvio ran a hand through his long, raven colored hair, regarding me pensively. "Maybe that's it."
I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"That you don't see," he explained. "You don't know how dazzling you are and it makes you devastatingly so." He gave me another handsome smile. "This Jacob is a lucky man."
"We're both lucky," I said softly. And that’s what I needed to tell Jacob. That we were good together. Good for each other.
I stood tall and tucked my arm back into Silvio’s. "Shall we?"
We stepped through the doors of Bella Monica and I held my breath as I scanned the impressive room for him. I stopped breathing when I found him, clad in a smoky, charcoal gray suit with a hint of color in his tie. Rachel was chattering on about something and from the way Jacob restlessly glanced about, it was far from anything he was interested in.
When his eyes tilted in my direction, I felt dizzy as I saw his face change, the primal hunger I'd seen when he showed me his private room gripping his expression. His lips parted and-
"Are you ready?" Silvio whispered in my ear.
Jacob's eyes shot to him and the lust in his gaze was promptly replaced by anger.
I forced a smile and gave Silvio a nod as I turned my back to Jacob. We walked to the bar and I eased onto the plush chair as Silvio went to get us drinks. It was hell to not look back over and see if he was watching me. As soon as Silvio brandished two crystal glasses filled with dark brown liquid, I shoveled it down my throat in two gulps.
"Relax," Silvio chuckled gently. "The hardest part is over."
"Oh I doubt that," I groaned. "We shared a-" My cheeks flared with warmth. "A, uh, moment. And then he saw you."
Silvio grinned around the lip of his glass. "He was angry, yes?"
"Yes."
His midnight eyes looked past me and the corners of his mouth nearly touched his hairline. "Then there's only one thing left to do."
I fondled with the pearls at my neck. "And what's that?"
"Dance with me."
The alcohol must have kicked in quicker than I thought because it sounded kind of like he was asking me to dance.
Silvio cocked his head toward the dance floor. "Dance with me."