Page 54 of Scandalous Kingpin
She lowered her mouth, softly kissing my chest, each kiss easing the pain inside me. Maybe she was the cure I’d needed all along.
“I was eight whenitstarted.” I sighed. She needed—deserved—to know this.
“When your mother’s abuse started, or … what Father Gabriel did?”
“Oh, Vittoria’s physical abuse started much earlier.” I growled. “This was when it started at school, the only place I felt any kind of peace. He took that from me.”
Her face went white as she visibly gulped, then choked on a sob. “Oh, Christian.”
My arms tightened around her. “Vittoria gave him permission to do what it took to make me ‘behave.’ She gave him fucking carte blanche.” Hot tears wet my chest. “They told me if I uttered a single word to anyone, they’d kill me. Dante, my father… the only people I still loved,” I said quietly. “It went on for years. Until the night Dante and I put a stop to everything.”
Ivy’s soothing, healing touch made my soul ache less.
“So what you told me was the end.” I nodded. “Or maybe it was the beginning for you. Because you took some control back by giving that foul woman what she deserved.”
“You were right though,” I said slowly. “It became an unhealthy way to deal with what had been done to me. And to Dante.”
Ivy shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m no expert, but I’m glad she suffered. And I hope Father Gabriel suffers too.”
“If there is a God, he must have sent me you,” I growled, cupping her face as our eyes locked. “Maybe it’s his way of remedying what he let Vittoria and Father Gabriel get away with for so long.”
Her eyes searched mine, her graceful fingers stroking my skin, easing the pain. Healing me.
I looked away, fear gripping my chest. “Promise me you’ll never leave me,” I rasped.
Her soft palm came to my cheek, pulling my gaze back to hers.
“Of course I’ll never leave you.” Her lips tipped up slightly. “Besides, for better or for worse, we’re stuck together. Married, remember?”
“Even though I’m broken?”
“You’re not broken,” she whispered, pressing her lips softly to mine. It was hard to believe I’d ever had an aversion to intimacy. It was as if, overnight—literally—she’d put me back together again and made it so her touch was a balm rather than a punishment. “Life was cruel to you, and it made you who you are. Beautiful. Justified. Vengeful. But only toward people who deserve it.” Her eyes captured mine. “You’re put together differently due to the circumstances life threw at you, but you’re no less perfect.”
I stroked her hair back from her face, brushing my knuckles against her soft skin. She was healing me without even realizing it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
IVY
Welcome to Rome.
Narrow cobbled streets. Piazzas. Churches. Fountains.
Rome had over two thousand historic fountains, fifty monumental ones and hundreds of smaller ones—or so our driver told us when he picked us up on the tarmac. “More than any other city in the world,” he’d called over his shoulder, his accent thick and jovial. I’d forever think of Rome as a city of fountains, thanks to Bernardino.
“I guess I don’t understand the obsession,” I muttered as we ducked under a balcony’s drooping clothesline.
“The ancients took pride in them, I guess. And they do come in handy when it’s hot out. Not to mention all the ones that act as coin collectors for gullible tourists.”
“Like today.” I pulled my hand out of Christian’s and wiped my sweaty palm on my jeans. “It’s like we’re baking in hell. And we’re definitely not dressed for it.”
He let out a dark chuckle. “It won’t be us baking, angel. Want to stop and buy a dress?”
It was the hottest day recorded for December in Rome, and of course, we were here. I was dressed in jeans and an off-white hand-knit Aran jumper, boiling from the inside. Honestly, I marveled how my husband managed to look cool, not a bead of perspiration on him, while wearing a three-piece suit.
I rubbed my temple, annoyed that I wasstillfeeling the effects of jet lag, even after several days. “Might be a good idea. Otherwise, my DNA will be all over this city and I’ll end up in an Italian prison.”
His eyes turned a shade of blue so deep it was almost black. “I’d sooner level this city before I’d let them put you there, angel.”
