Page 82 of Between Us

“There’s a fucking bruise on your neck,” Luca gritted, and he looked like he was on the verge of exploding into a fit of rage. She'd never known him to be a temperamental man, and his reaction took her by surprise. “You lied to me.”

“Roman doesn't hit me,” she insisted, and silentlythanked the Heavens her brother hadn't noticed as well. Matteo would have made a scene, and the last thing anyone needed was for her husband and her brother to get into a fight with an audience. “I got this bruise by being clumsy, but that's none of your business, Luca. And don't even think to tell Matty about it. Neither of you has the right to interfere in my life—you even less so than him. I'm happy, okay? He makes me happy.”

He stared at her, trying to decide if she was telling the truth.

Afraid he would try to dig deeper into why she had that bruise in the first place, she hurried past him, desperate to put some distance between them.

“I miss you,” Luca said from behind her, desperation seeping into his voice.

Picking up the pace, Alessandra rounded the corner into the foyer and headed up the stairs to her old room.

She didn’t misshimin the least.

???

The two knocks on the door startled her. She hadn't expected anyone to come looking for her in her childhood bedroom. Before she could open her mouth, the door opened, and her father stepped inside.

Alessandra closed the old magazine she'd been leafing through and sat up straighter on the edge of the bed.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Nero said with a smile that reminded her of better times. He closed the door behind him and took a few steps in her direction. “When you were little, you used to hide in your room every time we had guests over. I would always findyou in here, curled up with a coloring book and your favorite doll.”

When she said nothing, his smile slowly faded into a neutral expression. “Your husband is looking for you.”

“My feet were hurting.” She lied easily, wondering what he was really doing there. He could have sent Roman upstairs to find her, but he hadn’t. And as much as she wished differently, he wasn’t one for idle conversation either.

Nero glanced at her feet, still wearing the silver heels, before moving his gaze to her face. “How do you find your new life as a married woman?”

Alessandra hated when he pretended to care about something, only to follow his own agenda in the end. This time was no exception. “It's good.”

“I hear you've been to Europe.”

“Yeah.”

“Monte Carlo, hmm?”

She simply nodded in confirmation.

He turned to inspect a wooden figure lying on the nightstand. The faceless mannequin was sitting down with its legs spread wide and its arms raised, looking as if it was asking for help. Alessandra remembered leaving it like that the night before her wedding. “You're being a good wife for the Russian?”

Behind her ribcage, Alessandra's heart fluttered awkwardly, and she felt her chest fill with resentment. “Yes, Papà.”

“Good.” Satisfied with her answer, he looked up and held her gaze.

But then his eyes moved lower, and she saw the exact moment when they caught on the faint bruise on her neck. He took a step closer and raised his hand,brushing a thumb over the spot. His expression grew thoughtful.

Alessandra's pulse quickened; afraid he might start asking questions she wouldn't know how to answer. She silently berated herself for not having fixed the issue as soon as she was behind a closed door.

Instead of verbally acknowledging the marks of physical violence on his daughter, Nero's touch lingered on her skin for a moment longer. “He seems pleased with you. Don't do anything to ruin it.”

Alessandra was rendered speechless.

Before her brain could fully absorb the fact that her own father seemed more interested in a stranger’s happiness than hers, he turned on his heels and left the room.

The love she had for him died a little more, leaving room for hatred and a strong feeling of disgust that tasted like bile in her mouth and nearly turned her stomach.

???

“Congrats. You survived your firstfamigliaget-together.”

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