Page 68 of Tortured Hearts
No statement has ever proven to be so accurate and yet so wrong.
She was right. Ican’tstand to lose—until it’s the only way to win.I’mthe stain on Becca’s soul. As long as I’m in her life, it’ll always be there, darkening her path and destroying her peace. The only way she’ll ever be free of it is to be free of me.
That’s why I’ll play my role to perfection, and when the smoke clears, Becca Brennan’s glass jar will break.
Chapter Twenty-One
BECCA
Islump against the cold concrete wall, Gianni’s confession still haunting me.
“Henry was the one who attacked you in that parking garage.”
My heart knows it’s the truth, but my head refuses to give in. I don’t know what’s real anymore. Since crossing paths with Gianni, lies and truth have become indistinguishable. Evil isn’t so one-dimensional. Virtue isn’t so transparent. Sins aren’t so black and white.
“Sin is an irreversible stain on the soul,” I murmur.
Gianni’s words.
I remember him telling me during one of our more volatile sessions. He claimed sins follow you like a black cloud. You can’t outrun them. They’re a permanent part of who you are. He tried escaping his only for them to create more collateral damage.
That’s what scares me most of all, not Gianni or Marcello or the pain both have the power to inflict, but that with every tick of the clock, there’s a new sin. Eventually, I’m going to look in the mirror and see more stains than skin, and that’s a reality I’m not ready to face.
I push away from the wall with a sigh and begin another circle around the room when I hear the click of a lock. Looking up, I find Gianni on the landing in a black tailored suit, his palms braced casually on the railing.
“It seems my butterfly has found her wings.”
Just the sound of his voice kicks my heart into a furious tempo, a deadly siren’s call that lures me in, then buries me alive. I’ve fought the Devil all my life, only to fall in love with him.
I hold his stare. “Where have you been?”
“Taking care of something.”
“That’s not an answer.”
My composure bends and twists as he slowly makes his way down the stairs. “I disagree. You asked where I was, and I told you. Specifics weren’t part of the request.”
If the situation wasn’t so tense, I’d laugh. The easy banter, the slow, lethal smirk that lures you in, then buries you alive… Johnny is slipping through his cracks, and he doesn’t even realize it.
“Playing the semantics game again?” I fold my arms across my chest and watch as he descends the final step, the stretched space between us collapsing. “How regressive of you.”
He chuckles. “There she is. It’s good to see you again, Dr. Brennan.”
“Is it?” I step back, my concrete cage morphing into familiar colorless walls. “That woman was supposed to be intimidated by you. Instead, she ruined your psychiatric destructive streak, and here we are.” I punctuate the point with a sweeping gesturearound the room.
“I could’ve turned the tables at any moment, Becca.” His gaze darkens. “Believe me, I had every reason to. I tried to walk away from you so many times.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Two more steps and the blaze in his eyes combusts. “Because I fucking trusted you. Now it’s your turn.”
“You toss that word around rather freely for a man who walked out on me ten seconds after having his dick in my mouth.”
“Goddamn it, that was an emergency, Doc.”
I force out a sour laugh. “There’s always an excuse.”
“Because there’s always a fucking outside source coming between us.” He glides his palm up my neck and cups my jaw. “Other than the name and background Ihadto use, tell me one time I’ve lied to you.”
