Beautiful Lies

Chapter Twenty-three

Lorena

Yawning, I stretch and open my eyes. I look around the room and find that I am lying in bed, alone.

When did I go to bed? Dante must have-

Oh no, I told Dante everything. He now knows my biggest secret and, strangely, I feel relieved. I never thought he would find out and that he would react like this.

Did I fall in love with him at that moment when he held me in his arms and listened? Maybe a little, but who can blame me, any woman would have butterflies in her stomach.

I get up and go to the bathroom to freshen up. After I have used the toilet, had a quick shower and brushed my teeth, I go into the living area. I look around and can't see Dante. He must have gone out to make a phone call or something. He certainly wouldn't leave me alone in Chicago, would he?

I think about it for a moment and decide to order breakfast for us. I pick up the phone and call room service.

"Good morning, Mrs. Russo, how can we help you?"

"Hi, I'd like to order the large breakfast menu."

"Of course, can I get you anything else?"

"No, that's fine for now, thank you."

I hang up and throw myself on the couch. Dante should surely be back any moment.

As I flip through the channels, I hear a knock on the door. I'm amazed at how fast room service is, or maybe Dante has forgotten his room key. I get up and open the door with a smile. My smile freezes and is replaced with a puzzled look.

"Connor?"

"Hi, Lorena, how are you?" he looks at me with a smile.

"I'm fine, but what are you doing here in Chicago and how do you know which room I'm in?" I ask confused.

"Aren't you going to let me in first?", he asks me.

"Um..yeah sure." I hold the door open for him and he walks into my suit.

"Dante really spared no expense," he whistles while looking around.

"Yeah, he should be back in a minute anyway. I don't quite understand what you're doing here."

"Ah, didn't he tell you?" I'm slowly losing my patience with the whole guessing game. "No, he didn't tell me anything. What should he have told me?"

"He had to go back to New York at short notice and asked me to show you around a bit because you didn't get the chance. Then we can fly back."

My heart starts beating faster. After sharing such a moment yesterday, surely Dante wouldn't leave me behind, would he?

Besides, it's not like him to send Connor here. He's way too jealous to send over a guy he doesn't really know. He would have rather supervised Mauro to look after me or taken me back to New York.

"I'll give him a call," I say and go into the room to pick up my phone.

"No, why do you want to call him? He's probably in a meeting and doesn't have time."

"Yes, but I just want to briefly-"

"Oh Lorena, why can't you just do as you're told?" he hisses. Startled, I look at him. His eyes darken and he doesn't look like the nice boy I know. "Connor, what's going on?" I run my hand through my hair, stressed.

"Connor, Connor, Connor. Can you just shut your stupid mouth? Is that too much to ask? I can't listen to your voice anymore." He starts knocking over the vase in the living room, throwing the cushions around.