The Right Man

Prologue

She couldn't do it! She had thought long and hard over it, and she finally realised that she just couldn't do it. How could she walk down a church isle ready to start her life with someone? How could she make a vow before several hundred witnesses and God? How could she do all this knowing it was all a big lie? How could she do all this knowing there was a different man in her mind. How was she supposed to marry someone when she was in love with someone else?

Cassandra Adams had been in love with Luigi Amintore her whole life, and she could swear the bastard knew it. He loved her too. She just knew it! So why was she getting married to  someone other than the man of her dreams? Hell if she knew. It had started out as a game. She dated other men to make him jealous, which was the same reason she said yes to Peter's proposal. She was so sure he'd object to it the moment he heard about it, but he didn't.

She had insisted on a long engagement, nearly six months, so that he would have plenty of time to come to his senses. That didn't work, either. What the hell did he want? Did he expect her to say those sacred words 'I do' to someone who wasn't him? She had hardened her heart to him and everything that had to do with him in the past three months. It seemed as though he did the same. He had left for his home in Sicily and she hadn't set her eyes on him in over twelve weeks. It had given her the drive to get along with her wedding plans, albeit with a heavy heart.

So after so long, what was the man of her dreams doing standing at her front door, just two days to her big day, looking admittedly sexy in his dishevelled state? His midnight blue designer suit was thoroughly rumpled, almost as though he had slept in it. His tie lay askew, obviously having been tugged at repeatedly. It was a shock to see him so unexpectedly, looking like this! As a world-class chef, Sandy knew Luigi prided himself on order. He was always so organised and neat. Something had to be wrong.

"Shocked to see me?" he asked lazily, leaning against the door frame.

She almost rolled her eyes. No dumb-ass, after all, seeing the love of my life standing at my door when I'm late to my wedding dress rehearsal is a daily occurrence for me. "What are you doing here?" she counter asked.

"I was in the neighbourhood. Thought I'd drop by."

"What a nice thought. Unfortunately, I was just leaving. So you'll have to stop by for a chat at another time." She felt a surge of pride swell up inside her. She always got tongue tied around him.

As always, the expression on his face was unreadable. And, as always, it made her nervous. A few minutes ago she’d been preparing to journey out and enjoy her last few days as a free woman. Now, she couldn't even remember the name of the man she was supposed to be getting hitched to.

"Where are you going?" he asked slowly. "Maybe I can give you a ride."

"No offence, Luigi, but it looks like you could use a shower and a night's rest. You should take care of that before anything else."

"Come, now, bella, do you really seek to deny me? I've been gone for a long time."

Sandy's expression hardened. She gave out a bitter laugh. "Whose fault is that?"

A lesser man may have flinched, but Luigi Antimore wasn't just any man. That was why she fell for him.

"Cassandra I know that leaving so abruptly was unfair to you-"

"No shit, Sherlock," she interrupted snidely.

The corner of his mouth lifted in amusement and she felt her insides melt. "Such a dirty mouth."

Sandy glanced down at him and noticed for the first time how much weight he had lost.

"Luigi what's wrong with you?" She cursed herself for the worried tone in her voice. Before she knew what she was doing she had rushed over to him. She pulled him inside and deposited him on a couch. Once she had gotten a glass of ice cold water down his throat she joined him on the far side of the couch. "Okay, Lui, you have ten minutes. Why are you here?"

***

He shouldn't have been surprised at how cold her attitude towards him was. After all, it was expected. How was he supposed to tell her he thought the wedding was a joke? Just a way to get him to admit how he really felt about her. He isolated himself from her to teach her a lesson, but that plan backfired on him. She was getting married in three days and the realisation had him jumping on the first plane he could find from Italy.

He knew the moment she saw him she'd snap out of whatever stupid plans she had with this Peter fellow and jump into his arms. Or so he had thought. She woman who had opened the door to him was a stranger. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered, and the warmth that spread through him every time he saw her did just that, but her blue eyes were colder than he could ever recall. He had messed up.

He had come here with the intention of wooing her back to him, but the look in those eyes made him hesitate. For the first time in his life he was unsure of himself and what to do. Maybe she was happy with this man. What then? Twelve weeks without her had been hell, what of the rest of his life?

He cleared his throat. "So you're getting married..." he trailed off lamely.

"Yes. Yes I am."

He raised his gaze to meet hers and he caught a glimpse of vulnerability in them before she turned away from him. When she looked back at him, the cold look was back.

"Are you happy?" he asked, searching her eyes.

She smiled slightly, the first smile she offered him in months. He felt his spirit soar. "You flew all the way from Sicily to ask me if I was happy? You could've just called, you know. A lot of normal people would've called."

"Ah, but bella, I am not normal. And I would do anything for you, you know that." He reached for her smaller hand and clasped it with his, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand soothingly.

"You would do anything for me, but admit you love me," she said softly.

His thumb stilled. "Cassandra we've talked about this," he reasoned.

"No, you talked and I listened.’I am a bad man, Cassandra. Incapable of love'," she mimicked. "How do you know unless you try?"

She was fighting, he could see. She was trying to fight one last time for them. All he had to do was reach out to her, meet her half way. There was a hopeful glint in her eyes. Please, she pleaded silently, we can make this work.

Slowly, reluctantly, he unclasped his fingers from around her hers. "You hear what I say, Cassandra, but you don't listen. If I let you in, I will hurt you."

But you just did.

"You asked me if I was happy with Peter. I am," she lied through her teeth.

"What does this man have that I don't?" he demanded.

"Not a whole lot," she admitted. "But he tells me he loves me every day."

Luigi did flinch this time. He reached for her and captured her chin within his fingers. "Look at me! Do you tell him the same thing? Do you?"

Do you lie to him? The unspoken question rang in the air, because they both knew there was only one man she truly loved.

She looked him in the eye. "Peter knows about you," she whispered. "I have never told him I love him. He doesn't expect me to. I might not be happy, Luigi, but I am content. With you, I would be miserable. Knowing that the man I love can never truly love me is something I will not put myself through."

She stood up slowly and gestured towards the door. "Your ten minutes are up."

She was surprised, and maybe even a little bit disappointed, that he left with no hesitation. For the second time in her life she was forced to watch the love of her life walk away from her without a backward glance.