No Strings Attached

Part 7 : No Strings Attached

I nodded, pursing my lips "He did."

She clenched her fists, "Oh my God. So he's a f*ckboy. A grown ass f*ckboy. What kind of person, what kind of man even does that?"

"Him."

She rolled her eyes and placed the ice-cream tub in my hands, "Eat and give me details. And juicy ones."

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Riccardo's P.O.V

Shit!

She was gone like a flash, faster than I could notice, and faster than I could pursue her. But pursue her I did. 

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me after Kimberley when I spotted her dashing away from the ballroom, like Cinderella at midnight. But by the time I'd made it past the crowds and onto the street, she was gone. Vanished in a puff of smoke. And I was left standing in the middle of the busy New York road. 

When I was talking to my ex-boss, I knew what Kimberley had thought. In fact, it was like I could feel her eyes on me like laser beams the entire time. But I pushed it to the back of my brain.I was so stupid sometimes. I never thought how my actions would affect people.

It was scary how much I was turning into a man I didn't recognise anymore. When I was a kid, I would've done anything, anything to please anyone, anything to be given at least a sliver of the attention or the approval I'd craved from my father after my mother had passed away.

I'd left home at 16, shacking up wherever I could find a sofa, an apartment floor, a spare bed, until I could make ends meet for myself. But I never complained. It was just my life and my responsibility to make something of it.

Eventually my dad sent some cash over, but it was in plain white envelope with just my name and address. No letters, no phone calls, Nothing. Of course it hurt that I seemed to be the only one of his children given the cold shoulder before I came of age. But maybe it was because I was so much like my mother. He hated being reminded of that. 

I was alone, alone to work out my life, and surprisingly, I turned out just fine. My father only saw the money he gave me, and nothing else.

But now wasn't the time for flashbacks, or to contemplate what an assh*le I had been in the past. It was time to seize the day. It was time to find Kimberley, look into her eyes and tell her I loved her.

How could Kimberley possibly bring herself to forgive me for the way I'd behaved? It wasn't like I didn't have a reputation in this city. A reputation for f*cking and ducking, a reputation for losing women's numbers, misremembering their names, forgetting their faces in a sea of the girls whose apartments I'd frequented after my divorce. 

She knew me just as well as they all did. But somehow, looking into her eyes, looking into her soul, I hoped and prayed she could see the real Riccardo Alonso. The scared kid who still felt out of place in a man's world. The ruthless CEO covering up his heartbreak from the countless rejections he'd faced - from his father and from his ex-wife. Rick. Me. 

I was ashamed. Ashamed of my past which whipped me in the face like a bitterly cold wind. But despite my self-loathing, there was hope. Hope in Kimberley, hope in a future we could potentially share together.

But I could only have that if she was by my side. As I watched the taxis pull away from the venue and blend into one another like a thousand bumblebees, my heart sunk deep into my stomach once again. 

I would just have to go home and think. Think about how I'd screwed up my life yet again through another poor choice, another bad decision, another moment of failing to think about anyone but myself. I'd lost the one good woman in my life, the one person who'd brought any sense of joy or excitement to my existence in years. And it was all my doing.

I could only imagine what the tabloid press would say tomorrow morning. After all, I was a frequent appearance on their entertainment pages, no matter how hard I tried to dodge paparazzi, or organise lunches with editors. 

It was likely lies would be made up about my new steamy love affair. It happened with Sofia, it would happen again. But somehow, I was simply resigned to anything that could happen to me. After all, what was the point if I was getting older alone? 

My thoughts strayed back to Kimberley as I stripped my tuxedo jacket from my shoulders and trudged the blocks back home. 

She adjusted her glasses and smoothed down that cute little black dress that she was wearing, her lips were and apple red that you could just fall into, her hair smooth like silk, her voice sweet like honey...

 "Kimberley Rae Scott. United States attorney for Whyte and Browns. It's very nice to meet you all."

When I discovered she worked for Whyte and Browns, my rival firm, I knew I had to hire her. Whatever the role, whatever the position, I'd make something up with ease. I'd never laid eyes on a woman so beautiful in all my days. 

My eyes flickered over every part of her body, her face, her neck, those curves and those dainty feet. You could eat her for breakfast if she was a meal.

She realised who I was almost immediately and with her words I was sent on a whirlwind rocket. But Mr. Alonso could never let a junior attorney get to him. I'd offer her a place at AAC. Call it something like.... something like..... Executive Assistant Attorney. She'd do my paperwork, go to dinners and smile with those pearly white teeth and everyone would be fooled into thinking that she was my new girl. Then I'd wait, not make any sudden movements and she would come to me....

It all seemed so sorted out in my mind. It was only then that I realised that what Kimberley said was true, I was manipulating, I was self-centred, I was egotistical, in fact I was just like a mirror image of my father.

My mother died a lonely old woman because my father had a bit on the side. He thought I didn't know but I saw the pictures of them, wrapped in each other's arms, smiling for the camera. They would have broken my mom's heart, but I didn't show it. I smiled, I laughed, I hugged my father. It wasn't for him. It was for my mom. So that she wouldn't see all the pain, all the suffering that my father caused her. She was subconsciously aware but not physically or mentally. Sometimes I wondered whether she knew. A part of me thought she did. She just didn't want to lose my father, her first and only love. I couldn't let Kimberley find a man like my father.

Kimberley was my rock, plain and simple. When her lips touched mine for the first time, it cemented all of that in my mind. I'd realised it when she'd make little jokes in the office, when she'd smile at me over the top of her computer, or in softer moments, where her empathy would embrace me like a warm hug when we talked about my divorce.

To boil it down, Kimberley was my best friend. I knew I could give her exactly what she wanted. The kiss and the way she'd melted into my arms like honey proved that. I laughed at the memory. I had to rub her ruby red off my lips so I didn't look like a fool. But I had already got that boxed ticked. I should have never kissed her, but it felt so good, so right, like the whole world was just flipped the right side up again. She'll never come back.

She'll never come back...