Page 51 of My Italian Love Affair

But it’s still not enough.

I want to do more.

I want to break his fucking face. I want to feel his bones break beneath my hands and have his blood stain my knuckles.

Want to make sure that the next time he eventhinksabout speaking to her like that, he fucking remembers who the hell he’s dealing with.

I exhale sharply, my breath ragged, my chest heaving.

I try to shake it off. Try to push the rage down, down,down.

But it won’t leave me.

Not when I can still hear his voice, sneering, patronising, cruel.

“You made yourself look like ajoke.”

“The second Rossi started smirking at you, every single guy in that room knew exactly what was happening.”

“Now, every time you write something about him, they’ll assume it’s biased. That he charmed you, flirted with you a little, and you fell for it.”

I see red.

My fists clench, my jaw locks, and rage coils hot and tight in my gut.

How fucking dare he.

How dare he drag me into his bullshit.

How dare he use me as some kind of weapon to torment her with.

Like she’s just some stupid girl who can’t possibly be taken seriously because a man looked at her for more than two fucking seconds.

LikeIwas the reason he thought he could tear her down.

LikeIgave him the right to do that.

I can’t fucking stand it.

I wanted to shut him up right there, right then. I wanted to rip his throat out.

Fuck- I stilldo.

I don’t care if it could get me fined, suspended, even thrownout of the fucking league - I want to wreck him for even thinking he could talk to her like that.

My stomach twists.

I know she’s thinking about it too. That it got under her skin.

I’d watched as she stood there all defiant with her hands clenched into fists, her breath unsteady, but she still didn’t let him see her break.

Andfuck, if I didn’t already hate him for how he had spoken to her, then that would have done it.

Knowing that I stood back and did nothing is going to haunt me, but stepping in at that moment wouldn’t have helped her.

Because this wasn’t about Daphne's work. Not really.

It wasn’t about her talent - not even about her career.

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