Page 88 of Love You, Mean It

“Right. Fair. I just…wanted to apologize.” The simmering anger on his face drove my carefully planned opening out of my brain. “There’s…um…there’s more to this. I thought maybe—”

“This isnotthe time, Ellie.” He glanced back at the group making their slow circuit of the floor. “This meeting is extremely important.”

“I get that.” My eyes darted to the polished executive, gesturing expansively as Cheryl hung on his every word.Maybe this meeting wasn’t Theo’s doing. I clung desperately to the thought. He’d called me his fiancée, after all. He wouldn’t have done that if he’d already decided to explode things…right? And Cheryl clearly liked digging into the details…“Did Cheryl ask for it, or…?”

“Sam did. I was surprised she pulled it together on such short notice, but…that’s Sam.” An affectionate look softened Theo’s features as he looked at her.

I blinked, not quite processing.

“Sam? But why would she—”

“If it isn’t Ellie Greco.” Paul’s voice boomed out from the elevator, his smile distinctly sneery as he and Ted emerged. “Theo didn’t tell us you’d be here. Frankly, I’m not sure it’s appropriate.” He pulled a face at his brother. Ted was staring at us with narrowed eyes, no doubt weighing up my cringing posture, Theo’s tightly controlled anger.

“Theo, Paul had a few questions about the build-out that I’d like you to walk him through. If you don’t mind?” Ted raised an eyebrow expectantly and Theo nodded.

“Of course. Ellie was just going.”

“Theo,” I whispered, voice pleading. “Please let me—”

“I told you, Ellie, this isn’t the time.”

And without a backward glance, he followed his father and uncle to where Cheryl chatted with the Mangia executive while Sam tapped rapidly at her phone. The three men’s long, confident strides were so similar it had to be a genetic inheritance.

I’d been dismissed; lingering would only heighten Ted’s suspicion. And Theo clearly had no interest in hearing me out. Mustering what was left of my dignity, I headed outside, simultaneously sparking with anxiety and leaden-limbed.

I was standing in the cold next to my car, sucking my lips between my teeth, trying to formulate an alternate plan, when Sam emerged, phone to her ear, to pace the sidewalk near the entrance while she finished her call. On impulse, I scurried over, hovering a few feet away until she finished.

“Sam,” I said the moment she lowered the phone. She startled. “Hey, sorry to scare you. Do you have a second to—”

“No, I don’t.” Her lips pursed around the tart utterance. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Sam, wait! Please, I have to know—” I laid a hand on her arm to get her attention. She physically shook me off, glaring.

“Stop, Ellie. Just…stop.” She shook her head once, tendons in her neck springing out. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Sam…what’s going on?” My heart was beating hummingbird fast, comprehension dawning before she even spoke.

“Isawyou, Ellie. In the parking lot.” I reeled, the words landing like a physical blow, nearly knocking the wind out of me. “And before you say it, no, I donotbelieve that what happened in Theo’s car was just you two playing your parts really,reallyconvincingly.”

“Sam…I didn’t…”

“Save it. You lied to me, even after I gave youmultipleopportunities to come clean.” Her nostrils flared. “I have nothing to say to you right now. And neither does Theo.”

“Wait…Sam, what did he say to you?”

“It’s what I said tohim.I told him, Ellie. Everything. After what I saw…I guess I was sick of all the lying.” Her lips twisted with disgust. My heart started ricocheting around my chest as the import of her words sank in. “Luckily, he was willing to hear me out.”

“Is that why you called the meeting?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“I called the meeting because it was the smart play. Theo agreed, obviously.”

“But I thought…you said…”

“Just…stop, Ellie. I don’t have the energy for this. Suffice to say neither of us wants to see you right now.”

Even through the hammer blows of her revelation, that one little word—“us”—landed with painful finality.

“Sam, you have to understand—”

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