Massimo thought he hadn't said anything strange, but one look at Elena's pale, shocked expression had him second-guessing that thought. Maybe he hadn't phrased the statement correctly? He was out of practice talking to anyone about anything other than work, after all...
Or maybe this plan of slowly coming clean to Elena about everything was a very, very bad idea.
"I don't care either way," Massimo hurriedly stated, "but I wanted to let you know I knew. It's a pointless, little lie—one that you shouldn't feel obligated to keep talking about."
This was going badly. Massimo held Elena's gaze but he couldn't figure out what emotions were rapidly flitting across her face. Was she sad or angry or relieved or frustrated—Massimo had no idea.
It was at that moment Massimo remembered that lying
