‘Have it...’ Abby said, yanking off the necklace, and she tossed it at him but it clattered onto the ground. ‘Take it to the old bastard. Tell him he’s got his precious necklace now. I hope you’re all happy.’
Matteo stood as Abby picked up the hem of her dress and walked briskly off.
He had a ring in his pocket but, no, some trinket wasn’t going to fix this and maybe full disclosure might prove too little too late but nonetheless he went after her. ‘If y
ou think the past three months have been a sham...’ Matteo started but Abby was too angry to let him speak.
‘That’s exactly what they have been. A sham. And you’re the biggest sham artist of the lot.’
‘I can’t believe you won’t even hear me out.’
‘I don’t need to hear you out,’ Abby shouted. ‘You’re all the same!’
Even as she said it, even before Abby saw the expression on Matteo’s face as the words hit, she wished she could scramble on the floor, not for the necklace but to retrieve her own words.
‘Don’t you dare compare me to them!’
And when she had every right to be angry—furious, in fact—she saw his anger. But it didn’t scare her—in fact, it shamed her as Matteo continued.
‘Don’t you ever put me in your father or Hunter’s league...’ He was sick to death of it. He was sick of being blamed for others’ mistakes and tired of being compared to his father. ‘I would never knowingly hurt you.’
‘You have hurt me though,’ Abby said as tears started to fall.
‘It’s called a row, Abby...’
‘And I don’t need it!’ She walked off to her car and, now furious himself, Matteo stood there and let her leave.
‘Problem?’ Ellison walked down the steps and retrieved the necklace and held it out to Matteo as he spoke. ‘That’s Abby—drama as always. Still, you kept to your end of the deal. You’ve got what you wanted.’
Matteo said nothing as he pocketed the necklace.
It was far safer.
But instead of getting into his car, he took the steps in three strides and, with Ellison following, he walked back into the home and straight into the study from where they had just come.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Ellison asked as Matteo ripped the photo of Abby and Hunter from the wall and smashed it over his knee. Not content with that he took out the image and he shredded it over and over and then tossed the pieces at Ellison.
‘What you should have done years ago.’
But shredding a photo of Hunter wasn’t enough for Matteo.
It was far from enough!
Matteo got in his car and drove, not to Abby’s but towards the airport and, as he did, he summoned his jet.
‘Now!’ Matteo roared and then having ended the call he threw his phone out of the car window.
The bastard was in LA.
Oh, this had nothing to do with making things right.
This was just about catching up on so many unattended wrongs.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ABBY WOKE AFTER MIDDAY.
Like a sad Miss Havisham she was still wearing her silver gown and her face was all swollen from crying till dawn.