The Man Who Always Won Lost at Love Chapter 02
“What are you looking at?” Dante frowned, eyeing my phone.
I turned off the screen. “Nothing.”
He didn’t ask again and headed into the kitchen.
We’d been together for five years, and Dante got up before me almost every morning.
Most days, he made breakfast, coffee, and my packed lunch.
I used to think it was his way of taking care of me.
But that morning, as I watched him expertly trim the crusts off my sandwich, I suddenly couldn’t tell anymore. Was it love, or was taking care of me just one more thing he had to win at?
Dante slid the sandwich toward me. “Eat something. I packed your lunch too.”
I looked at him. “Dante.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you this good to me because you love me, or because even taking care of someone has to be another competition you win?”
He paused with one hand on his coat, but he didn’t answer.
A few seconds later, all he said was, “I have to travel for work this afternoon. I’ll be gone for a couple of days.”
It wasn’t until the door closed behind him that I remembered that tomorrow was supposed to be the engagement dinner with the Vescari family, where our families would formally finalize the arrangements.
My parents had been preparing for it for ages.
Dad had even reorganized the wine cellar for the occasion.
I’d called in favor after favor just to get my hands on a case of limited-release private-reserve whiskey so Dante could give it to Dad himself tomorrow and make a good impression.
None of that mattered anymore.
Not long after, Mom called. “Leona, what time are you two coming tomorrow? Your father was at it all night yesterday. He even rearranged the dining room.”
I was quiet for a moment. “Dante had to leave town for work. Let’s cancel tomorrow.”
There was a two-second pause before Mom’s tone changed completely. “Work? I just saw him heading toward the coast with Mireya. You didn’t go with them?”
I froze. “What?”
“You haven’t seen Mireya’s latest post? They’re at the Orsatti resort in Seabrook. Leona, did you and Dante have another fight?”
I pulled up Mireya’s latest post. She was sitting in Dante’s passenger seat with a goofy remix of playing in the background, her shoes off and her bare feet resting on the beige leather upholstery.
Suddenly, I remembered last year, when I’d broken my ankle. I’d been sitting in the same passenger seat and had only tried to prop my injured leg up a little when Dante immediately frowned.
“Leona, not with your shoes on. Don’t scuff the leather.”
But now Mireya was practically curled up in the passenger seat, and Dante hadn’t said a word.
Mom was still lecturing me over the phone. “You’re about to get formally engaged. Stop fighting over every little thing. Dante is a good match, and he’s Gian Vescari’s son. Don’t ruin a perfectly good engagement.”
All the fight went out of me. “Mom, I don’t want this engagement anymore.”
She exploded immediately. “You don’t want it? What do you think people are going to say if you call it off now? Leona, this isn’t some casual relationship. Both families already consider the engagement settled. You can’t just decide you don’t want it anymore.”
I didn’t argue.
Because I knew that even if I told her Dante had forgotten about coming to my parents’ house but had already gone to see Mireya’s mother, she probably wouldn’t believe me right now.
After I hung up, Mireya called.
“Leona, Dante and I are away on business. Do you want anything? We can bring something back for you.”
“No.”
“Don’t be jealous. The three of us grew up together. If there was ever going to be anything between us, it would’ve happened a long—”
I cut her off. “I don’t need anything.”
The line went quiet for a moment. Then Dante’s voice came through.
“Oh, right. I put in for a transfer to Mireya’s team.”
“What?” I asked.
“They need someone who can handle major accounts, so it makes more sense for me to move over there.” His tone was almost flippant. “Work hard while we’re gone. Don’t let our team pull ahead of yours by the time I get back.”
I suddenly asked, “Isn’t beating me exactly what you want?”
Dante scoffed. “I’m doing this for your own good. You’ve gotten way too complacent lately.”
I had nothing left to say, so I hung up.
It was already well past when I should have been at work. I had just grabbed my car keys when Paula called, her voice on the verge of tears.
“Leona! Where are you? Dante pulled every Grand Aurelia pricing file, client note, and contact list he handled out of our team workspace! We’re supposed to deliver in a few days. What are we going to do?”
My heart sank.
