“But, Ms. Harlow —”
“Please, Mario. I want to leave now. You can either drive me, or I’m walking.” She didn’t care how she left, but she was getting the hell out of there.
“Yes, Ms. Harlow,” he said before shutting her door and going around to the driver’s side. He started the engine and the car rolled forward. Ari thought she heard her name, but ignored it. It was time to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.
She didn’t notice Rafe running down the stairs after them. Soon, she was pulling farther away from him…too far for him to catch her.
Epilogue
Six months later
“I thought I’d find you here.”
Rafe slowly turned around and gave Shane a semblance of a smile. Of course he was at Ari’s graduation. She hadn’t spoken to him in six months, but he couldn’t get her from his mind. This was a momentous occasion for her, and he had to be there.
“Why are you here, Shane?”
“Because I knew your stubborn, opinionated, stealthy sister would be here and unable to run from me.”
“She’s still refusing to talk to you? I find that amusing,” Rafe said, smiling for the first time in months.
“You know I got called back to South America. She’s refused my calls, and for the past week since I’ve been home, she’s managed to avoid me at every turn. I know how close she’s become with Ari, so I’ve finally cornered her. It was either this or wait until next year, when I have her trapped on a private island during the Gli Amanti Cove groundbreaking. I’m not that patient.”
“Good luck.”
“Has Ari spoken to you?”
“Not a word. After the first month, I decided to give her some time. She refused her old job, moved from the condo, and went back to school. I may have to admit I was wrong about her. She hasn’t even touched a dime of the severance money I set up for her, though she’s a fool not to.”
“Why? She seems to be doing just fine on her own.”
“She’s been working at a small café for the past six months. It’s ridiculous! A woman like her, with her talents, her intelligence, her beauty…”
“And her integrity? Not everyone is as greedy as your ex-wife, Rafe. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
“I’m beginning to see that. It may just not be enough.”
“I know the feeling. Man, you do not want to defy Lia. That girl holds a grudge.”
Rafe laughed at the desperate look on his best friend’s face. Rafe knew more than anyone how stubborn both of his sisters could be.
The two men sat in the back row as Ari walked to the podium and accepted her diploma. Rafe could hear her mother’s cheers all the way from the front row. His sisters were just a decibel level quieter than Sandra.
As Ari turned toward her cheering section, she graced them with one of her award-winning smiles and Rafe’s gut clenched.
He missed her — far more than he could have ever imagined missing someone.
As he watched the diplomas being bestowed, he sat in a comfortable silence with Shane. Once the ceremony was over, he tracked Ari with his eyes, making sure not to lose sight of her. Finally, when she was alone, he made his approach.
“Congratulations, Ari.” The stiffening of her shoulders was his only clue that she’d heard him above the many voices surrounding them. Slowly, she turned, for one brief instant with a slight smile upon her lips before it melted away.
“What are you doing here, Rafe?”
“I had to see your big moment. I’m proud of you.” Silence greeted his words as the two of them stood there awkwardly. Rafe couldn’t remember ever feeling so like an intruder.
“Thank you. I have people waiting,” she said as she tried to brush him off. Rafe reached out and grasped her arm, refusing to let her leave until she heard him out.
“I need just five minutes,” he said as he began steering her through the crowd. Surprisingly, she didn’t fight him, and soon he found an empty hallway for the two of them to talk.
“Say what you need to, Rafe. But please get it over with.” The new coldness in her eyes shook him more than he cared to admit.
“I’ve made mistakes, Ari. I know that now. I shouldn’t have judged you on mistakes from my past. I miss you, and would like for us to give a real relationship a try.” After several moments, Ari’s lips turned up and Rafe felt relief fill him. This had been easier than he’d thought it would be.
“No, Rafe. You are in no way ready to be in a committed relationship. The way you treated me was abhorrent, and even worse was that I fell in love with you anyway. You’re completely lacking in self-awareness, think you always have to be in charge, and deem women as the weaker sex. What I’ve discovered about myself in the last six months is that I’m a good person. I don’t need to hide behind fake glasses or baggy clothes the way I did before I first met you. I don’t need to cower in the corner afraid of someone judging me. I’m strong and intelligent, and I won’t ever let myself be mistreated again. I know there’s a good man beneath your hard exterior, but you need to find him. If you ever do, call me — I might even answer.”
With that, Ari turned and started to walk away from him. Rafe stood there not knowing what to do. Should he once again chase after her? Should he let her go? Was their time over? For someone who always had the answers, he simply didn’t have any.
“Ari,” he called out without having any idea what he was going to say. She stopped and turned, looking at him with pity, which instantly had his anger rising to the surface. He was not a man to be pitied – not ever!
“Goodbye, Rafe.” With that she turned and started walking away again.
“There are no goodbyes, Ari. We will see each other again.” Her shoulders stiffened, but eventually the crowd swallowed her up as her feet carried her away, and like that she was gone from his life.
Walking away from the courtyard with the sounds of happiness filling the air, Rafe was at a loss. Picking up his phone, he dialed his assistant, Mario.
“Have the jet fueled and ready. I’m going home.” Rafe moved with purpose to his car. It was time to go back home to Italy, back to his home and maybe even back to the heart he had somehow lost along the way.