Santino inhales deeply. “We met some years ago.”
I swallow nervously and nod my confirmation.
“Awesome! That makes it even easier. So happy to reconnect you two. Take good care of her, Santino.”
Allie marches off, leaving Santino and I standing in awkward silence. Finally, he says, “Look, if you can’t handle meeting with me in person, I’ll just send a courier to pick up the contracts. I can make notes and send it back to you.”
“Can’t handle meeting you in person?” I repeat his words, annoyed by his assessment of me. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Santino blinks back at me. “Didn’t you just say a mere hour ago that you wanted nothing to do with me?”
“I didn’t say that. I just…didn’t want to…” My voice trails off as I find myself at a loss for words.
Santino licks his lips with frustration when he realises I’m not going to finish that thought. “I’ll text my number to Allie, and she can get it to you.”
“I still have your number,” I snap, refusing to let Santino think I’m too weak to handle this. “If it hasn’t changed, I mean.”
“It hasn’t.” His body vibrates with frustration as he stares down at me. “Call me if you like then. Have your brother run interference if you think you need it. Makes no difference to me.”
He turns on his heel to leave, and I hear myself call out, “Sonny—”
“Don’t,” Santino says, exhaling through his nostrils and turning his head just slightly. “Just don’t.”
My chest rises and falls in rapid succession as I watch him leave. What the hell just happened? Why is he so angry? What did I even do to warrant such behaviour? Is this how he acts when he’s rejected? Get over yourself, lad.
I scamper off to the loo, fired up from that insane exchange. I take a moment to calm myself in front of the mirror because I need to get a grip before I drive back to Brick Lane.
Once I’ve collected myself, I walk towards the lifts just as a set of doors begins to close. “Can you hold that?” I call out, hoping the passenger inside has time to stop it. The sooner I get out of here, the better.
A masculine hand slams into the doors to push it open, and I nearly trip when I see Santino standing inside.
He hits me with a flat look as he gestures for me to get in. When the doors close, leaving the two of us encased in this small mirrored space where there’s nowhere to hide, it suddenly feels very warm.
This is not my night.
“Heading out already?” Tilly’s voice croaks, wavering slightly at the end as she stands behind me in the lift.
I exhale slowly, trying to calm my temper. Is it actually anger I’m feeling? No, no, that would be too easy. It’s more than that. Deeper.
It’s hurt.
Tilly Logan managed to fucking wound me in a way no woman ever has before.
“Yes,” I clip, staring up at the floor numbers as they tick downward at a snail’s pace.
Don’t engage, Santino. Don’t engage. It’s not worth it. Just wait for the lift ride to be over so you can both get the hell out of here.
“Didn’t like the band?”
“Band was fine.”
“Early meeting tomorrow morning?”
“Nope.” Just leave me alone, Tilly. You don’t want me to drop truth on you right now.
A few seconds of silence before, “Then why leave so early?”
“Why are you leaving early?” I snap, unable to hide the annoyance in my voice. I glance over my shoulder and add icily, “You’re usually up for a good party.”
“The same could be said for you,” she retorts, her eyes narrowed in challenge.
I bark out a laugh. “It’s funny how things change, isn’t it?”
Suddenly, the lift stalls, and the lights go black leaving only the red emergency bulb illuminating the small space.
“What the fuck?” Tilly shrills, and we both look over at the lift panel to see that we’ve stopped. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know.” Stepping up to the keypad, I press the emergency call button.
“Oiy, can I help you?” A voice crackles through the small speaker.
“Yes, our lift just stopped, and the emergency light came on,” I reply crisply.
“Yes, we can see that. Our repairman will head up right now to see what all the fuss is about.”
“Fuck,” Tilly mutters and then steps forward. “Can we get out and walk down?”
“You want to walk down fifty floors in that?” I point at her dress and shoes, my irritation ratcheting up to a whole new level as I realise she would rather hoof it down a million flights of stairs than be stuck in this lift with me.
“You’re stuck between two floors, Miss, so that won’t be possible. No worries, though. We’ll do our very best to get you out as soon as possible.”
“Oh my God,” Tilly groans when the speaker shuts off. Turning, she runs her hands through her long hair. “This is awful.”
“Calm down,” I grumble, not able to control the disdain in my voice as I watch her shift nervously in the small space. “I won’t be bothering you.”
“Would you just stop,” she snaps back at me, her expression matching the fiery red emergency light perfectly. “Not everything is about you.”
“You made that abundantly clear tonight. Cheers for that.” I lean against the side of the lift and cross my arms over my chest.
“If we’re going to be stuck in this lift together, the least you could do is stop being an arsehole,” she seethes, glaring at me.
“I’m being the arsehole?” I bark back, pointing at my chest.
“Yes. I’m sorry for wounding your precious pride tonight but get the hell over it.” She continues to run a hand through her hair nervously as she eyes me with disgust.
“My pride?” I push myself off the wall, my jaw clenched with frustration. “This has nothing to do with my pride.”
“Then what the hell is your problem?”
“Oh, I’m so glad you asked, Tilly.” I walk up so we’re only a foot apart, my body bowing over hers as I prepare to unload every fucking thought that ran through my mind during that entire bloody auction. “See, I have this girl from my past, gorgeous girl…fiery and fun and full of fucking life from what I remember. We had some really good times together. Sure, they were limited to some basic rules, but all good. Then tonight, I run into her after five years, and she brushes me off like I’m diseased. And that’s confusing to me, because my last interactions with her were me being rather generous I thought…some might even say a gentleman.” I throw my hands in the air wildly, waving them around as I try to make my point with a dramatic flair I can only hope will get through her thick skull. “As it turns out, she just thought I was nothing more than a manwhore with no morals and was just in it for some saviour bullshit that, frankly, hadn’t even entered my mind back then. So she pushed me away like I was a sleazy arsehole, and I guess you could say it’s been eating away at me for half a decade or so. And it turns out that five years later, nothing’s changed! She still looks at me like I’m scum, so I guess you could say it’ll keep eating at me for the foreseeable future. So no, it’s not pride. It’s genuine fucking confusion.” I’m left winded after letting every single thought I’ve had all night out as I stare at the only woman who has haunted my thoughts for the past five years. Why the fuck do I care so damn much?