Page 226 of Mine Again
He shifts in his chair until he’s fully facing me, eyes locking on mine.
“But what if I told you the man you love is responsible for hundreds of deaths?”
“I said I’m not interested in your lies.”
Hale sips his coffee as if we’re trading gossip over breakfast, notbarbs meant to wound. His eyes glint with that sick amusement that never fades.
“Such devotion,” he mocks. “It would almost be admirable if it weren’t so naïve.”
I push back my chair and stand abruptly. I need to get out of this room, away from him, before his poison sinks any deeper.
“You think he’s coming for you, Isabella. But tell me, how long will it be before reality dawns on him, before he accepts what you already sense deep down, that it is hopeless? And how long before he decides you are safer right where you are?”
That stops me. I pivot, fists clenching at my sides.
“Safer where I am?” My voice shakes with disbelief. “Luca would never leave me here.”
“Never?” His smile widens, and the sight of it makes my skin burn. “That’s a strong word. He’s clever, I’ll give him that, but clever men know when to cut their losses and how to best protect what matters most to them.
“If he tries to breach my estate, he dies. You know it. He knows it. So perhaps the smarter move is to let you stay. Better to lose the girl than his life and content himself with the dream of a life together one day, no?”
“That’s not how Luca operates, and you know it,” I snap before I can stop myself.
The laugh that spills from him chills me more than if he’d shouted. He leans back, utterly relaxed, savoring every second of my anger.
“So very sure,” he muses. “I wonder how long that certainty will last.”
“Go to hell.”
I turn on my heel and stride out of the room, head held high. Gerard waits in the hall, ready to escort me back to my gilded prison.
Hale’s words scrape against me like broken glass. He’s wrong. He has to be wrong.
But hasn’t Luca always prioritized my safety above everything else?
He didn’t take me with him when he left five years ago because hewouldn’t risk my life. He stayed away for the same reason, though it meant years of pain for us both.
A sinking feeling presses in, threatening to swallow me.
No, Lucaiscoming for me.
I won’t let Hale plant doubts.
Yet hasn’t he already?
Chapter Eighty-Six
Isabella
Gerard opens the door to the ‘guest’ bedroom, and I step through. The lock clicks behind me, a sound that lands like a slap. I throw myself onto the bed without grace, burying my face in the covers.
Alone. At least, physically.
I know better than to assume I’m unwatched. Hale’s eyes will be here too, hidden behind a lens so small I’ll never find it.
He’s probably hoping I’ll touch myself so he can show Luca, claim it was he who turned me on, and drive a wedge between us. Sicko.
My shoulders want to shake, and I press my lips together to hold back a scream. I’m rattled, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me crumble.
