His Light, Her Darkness

Chapter 61: An Empty Promise

I slowly look up from, and find my eyes grazing across his jaw, and then his temple, looking anywhere but those haunting eyes. His other hand moves to beneath my chin, and steers my vision until I am unable to look anywhere but him - And those eyes.

"This marriage is not a punishment. I am not doing this to hurt you in any way... Please know that." He sounds so desperate, and his words have a strange hypnotic effect on me. I believe him, I believe every single word that he says.

I nod my head.

"When - Uh, when is it going to happen?" I ask awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make a spectacle out of it. I have the forms in my office, and when Hailey and Alistair return home, we will sign them."

Wow, that's a lot sooner than I thought.

This is all becoming real, very, very fast.

"Don't worry about it." He coos, clearly being able to see the distress painted along my features.

"Matteo..." I begin, looking directly into his eyes. "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything." He says immediately, his eyes wide, waiting for me to finish.

"Promise you won't ever lie to me."

Matteo stiffens and finally lets go of my hand. His face no longer looks calm, but rather distressed.

"Please." I say. "Please, just make this one promise. I - I want  to be able to trust you... I really do, but first I need to know that you won't lie to me."

He stands, and I follow, doing the same thing. Fixing his suit, his eyes don't disconnect from mine, despite how disconnected I feel he is from the conversation. "Mia, there are some things I can't tell you." He grits.

I bite my tongue, holding back thoughts which want to become words.

What does that mean? What is Matteo keeping from me?

"Okay...." I breathe. "I understand there are things you can't tell me, just promise me you won't lie to my face."

I grab his hands, and he reluctantly lets me take them. "I made my promise to you Matteo. You won't lose me... I will not break my promise. So please, give me this one thing."

His hands are warm in my own, and I desperately want to hug him again.

"Okay." He finally relents. "I promise. I will never lie to you, Mia."

"Thank you," I whisper.

Once again, I find our bodies gravitating towards each other.

"We're home!" Hailey's familiar voice calls out through the large penthouse.

Immediately, I find myself letting go of Matteo's hands and stepping away. I turn away from him, and bring my attention to the young couple who have just wandered through the front door with their young child.

"Sir," Alistair greets Matteo with a curt nod. "Mia."

I give him a smile, and make my way over to Hailey who holds Mirabella in her arms. "I was looking for you all day." I say.

"I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to tell you! We had to go out and purchase some new furniture for the nursery for Bella." Hailey exclaims while rocking her baby.

"It's fine. I managed to survive." I mutter, looking back around to find Matteo speaking with Alistair about something that looks to be highly serious.

"Oooooo, did I miss anything?" Hailey mumbles, just quiet enough that only I can hear her. I give her 'death eyes' and purse my lips.