Page 76 of Deadline for Love

Please tell me that I was about to wake up, and this was all just happening in my mind.

“Ma Bella, this is the truth. This is all real.” He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead.

My stomach tightened, and I stared at him in despair. I couldn’t understand what was happening.

Chapter 29

“Fernando, please tell me it’s not true.” I wanted to grab him and force him to look at me, but his eyes were elsewhere, and he just sighed at my plea.

“I’m tired of pretending to be the good guy. Do you know how much I hated being seen and mocked by you as a little boy?”

My voice shook violently. “I’ve never mocked you!”

He started laughing as he unbuttoned my blouse. He didn’t touch my bra, but he stroked my collarbone, running his fingers over Nathan’s hickey.

“This ridiculous article you wrote—You must have always despised me.”

His touch was gentle, but his voice was so cold that it sent a shiver down my spine. When his finger traveled over the mark, his eyes filled with jealousy. I struggled to find my voice again, but a new feeling spread through me—anger.

“I’ve always loved you! But right now, I don’t even know who you are! How could you do something like this? How could you do this to Enzo and Maria! How—”

“Shut up!”

He interrupted and then looked me in the eyes.

“I’ve had enough of this. You have no idea. Do you know that I’m not proud of anything? I’ve completely failed in my life. My graduation was mediocre. My love of art was done in college, and no one paid attention to me. My parents constantly compared me to other children of their friends and relatives who were doctors or lawyers. What was I in their eyes? A nobody interested in a useless hobby. Do you think my parents are proud that I’m with Enzo and taking over his store?” he scoffed. “Your article only emphasized my shame. And the worst thing is that you wrote it. The person I’ve admired and loved for so long…”

He let go of me and straightened up. “Julian was the only one who recognized my art. Our art is now presented to the world. Who can say that about themselves?”

I had to swallow a gag.

“I never gave up hope that you would eventually stop seeing me as your little brother, but every time you did, you broke my heart all over again.” He walked around me once, and I felt him grab my hand and pull my ring off my finger. Enraged, he threw it on the floor and then stomped on it once.

“Time and time again, my feelings were being trampled on.”

“Fernando, please. This isn’t you. You can still sort things out, face the police…”

This time, Julian came up to me again and punched my stomach twice, interrupting me. I gasped for air from the blow, and I blacked out for a moment.

“Hey, didn’t I say you shouldn’t hurt her? I want to adorn her nicely; don’t mark her up.”

Fernando pushed Julian away and then rubbed the spot that was hit; he looked down at my leg and noticed that I was bleeding.

“What did you do?”

Julian just shrugged his shoulders and walked to the end of the room.

“I promised you that I would take care of the killings and that you could sculpt her. I didn’t promise you that I wouldn’t hurt her if she acted out.”

The grip on my leg tightened a little, Fernando’s eyes shook, but then he took a few deep breaths.

“I’ll still dress you up nicely, Bella. You’re still beautiful, even with a few injuries.” He leaned forward, his familiar scent crept into my nose, and my instincts wanted to blind and lull me into a sense of security, but that wasn’t safe anymore. It was my imagination. Fernando wanted to decorate my dead body; he wanted to kill me.

“I always loved you and hoped that you would love my artwork too because I was no longer the little Fernando who was too nice for this world. I was finally someone people respected.”

“Feared!” I corrected as I finally got the pain in my body under control. “People are afraid of you. They are disgusted by your actions. There is nothing beautiful about this. Families have lost their loved ones…”

“What are you talking about? The victims were redeemed because they were just like me. Invisible, despised by their families, and alone. Through us, they have finally found peace.”

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