Page 51 of Tortured Hearts
Forgive me for who I am.
He’s said the words so many times they’re all but tattooed on my skin as well. I don’t want to forgive him. I want to blamehim for all that I endured while he did nothing.
Because he was probably with her.
I draw back. “Go away.”
“You know me better than that.”
Pushing off the floor, I slump against the wall and face him. He’s on his haunches, poised above me with his head lowered like a predator whose personalities got mangled together in a head-on collision. “And who would that be … Johnny or Gianni?” I look away, the weight of the answer too heavy to shoulder. “On second thought, don’t answer that.”
He cups my chin, gently turning it toward him. The moment our eyes meet, the corners of his mouth curve up, causing an infuriating involuntary flutter in my stomach. “Avoiding your own questions now, Doc?”
“No. It was rhetorical,” I snap, hating the way my body reacts to him with the fire of a thousand suns. “However, you appear to be avoiding quite a lot, like telling me about yourfiancée,for instance.”
He slowly rises to his feet, his eyes darkening. “Where did you hear that?”
Oh, God. It’s true.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Like hell, it doesn’t. If you drop a line in the water, it means you have a knife behind your back ready to deliver the kill shot. So, let’s hear it.”
I climb to my feet. “There you go again, demanding answers while giving none. Well, throw up all the shields you want, Marchesi. I know your game. I spent eight weeks dissecting every move, so let me clue you in on something you don’t know.” I close the space between us. “Your eyes give you away. When you’re nervous, when you’re anxious, when you’re feeling one sliver of human fucking emotion, your pupils dilate into black holes of involuntaryhonesty.”
He drives his hand into my hair, twisting the strands around his fingers so hard my eyes water. I’m provoking him on purpose. I want his anger. I want him to make me hate him so my heart will stop needing him, stop wanting him, stop aching for him.
Instead, he lets go and palms the back of his neck. “It was Marcello.”
I nod. “He told me you had a fiancée before arriving in Providence. That you’ve always had one.” I emphasize the last part becausefuck himfor making me his mistress. Flashing a brittle smile, I fluff the hem of my dirty dress. “I hope the bride-to-be will forgive me for wearing white. I dressed for a kidnapping, not my lover’s wedding.”
He lets out a dry laugh. “The bastard can’t win on his own, so he divides the enemy.”
“So it’s true.”
“No, not in the way you think. Eight months ago, he announced I was marrying the Connecticut boss’s daughter without bothering to ask me. Cathalina and I weren’t in love. Hell, we were barely inlike. But things like that aren’t important when money’s on the line.”
The tightness in my chest eases. “So it was an arranged marriage.”
“It never got that far. I refused to bend to my father’s power-hungry whim, not only because I was seeing someone, but because I wasn’t about to be a pawn in his quest for world domination.” His expression hardens, my anger evaporating as I watch the pain play out across his face. “You know the story from there. He found out about Victoria, and things spiraled out of control fast. In the end, he forced my hand. He took her life, so I took his freedom.”
“Gianni…”
He saws his teeth, ignoring the incessant and very obvious buzzingcoming from his pocket. “But Marcello doesn’t lose and move on. He gets even.”
“That’s why I almost burned to death … and why I’m here.”
“Partly. That son of a bitch knew all he had to do was dangle your safety in front of me, and I’d come running.” He hooks my gaze, those onyx eyes swallowing me whole. “But that wasn’t enough. His favorite pastime is finding sadistic ways to destroy people. He knew the deepest cut he could inflict on me went through you, so that’s where he aimed his blade.”
It feels like there’s a heavy weight on my shoulders. “That’s the reason you were so cold before. You were supposed to hurt me. He wanted you to watch me break.”
The weight triples at his slow nod. “I couldn’t do it. That’s why I’ve kept you at arm’s length. I knew if I let myself…” He tips his head back, and I watch the slow roll of his Adam’s apple. “It’s all or nothing with you, Becca. There’s no in between. The wall I put up wasforyou. I was biding my time and playing a role.” Lowering his chin, he pins me with a stare that burns straight through my soul. “It fucking killed me to see you look at me like a … a…”
“A villain?” I say, exposing the word for what it is,him.
“Yeah.”
I blow out a slow breath. “That’s a lot to take in.”
