Page 222 of Stalking Ginevra

I was his entire world and he was mine. But our time apart turned that sweet, adorable man into a Machiavellian monster. Tears sting my eyes. I glance away, my pulse quickening with a familiar ache, but then my gaze lands on the blood staining his hands.

And just like that, reality sharpens the edges of every memory—reminding me that Benito is capable of ripping out a man’s heart.

Shit. At this rate, he’ll weave a tale of an antihero driven mad with obsession, resorting to any means necessary to win back his beloved.

“Stop seeding your actions with grandiose declarations,” I say from between clenched teeth. “Give me the unvarnished truth.”

A muscle in his jaw clenches. “Alright.”

Then he tells me how he installed four men at the law firm to help Nick Terranova take control. They spread rumors, making it look like I knew Dad had embezzled the money. They withheld my payroll and froze my company credit cards to make sure I was penniless.

“What else?” I whisper.

“Your father didn’t owe money to loan sharks,” he mutters, his gaze dropping to his hands. “You were supposed to come running to me when I sent those men to your house, but you were stubborn.”

“So, it’s my fault?”

He turns away, sighs, then shakes his head. “When you ask why I went so hard, this is the reason why. I needed you to come to me for help, but you didn’t. Everything I did backfired.”

“What does that mean?”

“You told the sharks we were together, so they retreated. You were supposed to come to me for help about Bossanova, but you went to him,” he spits.

My jaw clenches. “By him, you mean Brisket?”

He nods.

“Who was, in fact, you.”

“I couldn’t have you falling in love with a masked bastard who treated you like shit.”

“Because you wanted me to fall for an unmasked bastard who treated me like a pawn instead?”

His features pinch. “There’s no excuse for what I did. I was insane.”

“No.”

He turns to meet my eyes. “What?”

“You were just being Benito,” I say, my throat thickening. “The grudges, the pride, the convoluted plots. That’s all you. After Samson died, going back to you wasn’t an option. We’ve known each other for decades. You never leave a slight unpunished.”

His nostrils flare, but he doesn’t reply because he knows I’m right. I glare at his handsome profile, waiting for him to deny it, but he sighs.

“When I lost you, I lost my humanity,” he murmurs. “Loving you was the only thing that tethered my soul.”

I shake my head. “So why didn’t you fight for me? You had so many chances to reconnect. That night in the closet, you could have taken me home. I would have given you anything.”

He meets my eyes again for a heartbeat before exhaling another sigh. “I wanted you humbled.”

“Why?”

“To punish you for leaving,” he says through clenched teeth. “To redress the balance for catering to your every whim while we were together, only for you to walk away.”

My ears ring with disbelief, fuelling my mounting fury. “Let me get this straight. You stripped away everything that mattered to me during the day, and at night came to me as a stalker who coerced me into sexual depravity?”

Breath quickening, he swallows like he’s trying to hold back a confession. “It was insanity. After an entire life of celibacy?—”

“Don’t blame this on blue balls,” I hiss, already exhausted with his excuses. “You had the chance to consummate our wedding, but you wanted everything on your terms. The moment I failed to be your obedient little toy, you manufactured my adultery just so you could trap me with breeding.”

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