Page 77 of Finally Mine
“I think our attraction is…complex,” he ventured.
She looked at him, held his gaze. “So, then maybe you get why Mrs. Diller coming at me tonight, airing all of that ugliness, all of my weaknesses in front of everyone I was trying so hard to impress, rocked me.”
He stroked her knee. “You don’t seem rocked.”
“There’s a lot going on beneath the surface,” she admitted.
Aldo shifted and pulled her feet into his lap. He unlaced her shoes, tugged them off. When his thumb pressed into her arch, she let out a long sigh.
“I do get it. I was out there today doing my best to prove that I’m not a victim, to cover up my weaknesses.”
Her fingers touched his shoulder, traced a pattern there as if branding him. “I’m tired of being a victim. That can’t be all anyone sees when they look at me.” Exhaustion colored her words.
Her words resonated so deep inside him Aldo thought he might split apart like an atom.
“It’s notallthey see. Yes,” he began before she could cut him off, “your relationship history is something that they won’t forget quickly. But there’s so much more to you than that, Glo. So much more. And if you keep giving them glimpses of who you really are, eventually no one will remember that Gloria.”
“Mrs. Diller will. Glenn will.” Her gaze slid to the table inside the door.
He pulled the letter out, set it on the coffee table. “I saw this on the floor,” he said.
She looked resigned, tired. “He’s been writing from prison. Vague threats. Ty’s pushing for a restraining order, but there isn’t much to go on. He’s behind bars, and he hasn’t come out and said ‘I’ll beat you to within an inch of your life when I get out.’”
Aldo swore. Thanks to him and his fucking snit fit, he hadn’t been there for her. He couldn’t imagine how she felt with Glenn reaching out behind bars to still terrify and hurt her.
She gave him a sad smile. “That’s pretty much how I feel. The legal system isn’t designed to protect victims. It’s there to punish criminals.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Speaking of bullshit, you don’t have to watch this movie with me.”
Aldo scoffed. “You can’t dangle Mr. Darcy in front of me and then take him away like that. I’m staying.”
Gloria laughed and left him to change. Aldo stared at his trembling hands. One day, he would get them on Glenn Diller. And when he did, the man would never so much as think of Gloria again.
“Sorry my TV doesn’t compare to your gargantuan one,” she teased, padding out of the bedroom barefoot. She had on a pair of cotton shorts and an original Benevolence High School sweatshirt.
“I’ll get my binoculars,” Aldo joked, trying not to memorize the way she moved around him to her side of the couch. She sank down, tucking her feet under her. He rested his arm on the back of the couch in welcome, and Gloria accepted the invitation, curling into his side.
Wielding the remote, she looked up at him. “Are you ready for this?”
43
Gloria opened one bleary eye and saw the home screen forPride and Prejudicestill on her TV. Great. She’d fallen asleep on the couch again.
At least it was a full hour before she had to get up to get ready for work. Dawn was breaking outside her windows overlooking Main Street.
She’d felt. She’d purged. She’d slept. Therapy in action. And, had it not been for Aldo, she probably would have stumbled home and sobbed herself to sleep.
A soft snore behind her startled her.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Aldo Moretta was curled behind her like a bear. His shirt was off. His wallet, keys, and cell phone were neatly lined up on her ottoman. His prosthetic leg was tucked in the corner at the end of the couch.
She felt the broad barrel of his chest rise against her back.
A riot of emotions erupted inside her.
