Shaking her head as if she didn’t believe me, as if she was in denial about what she had done to me, Kimberly was on the verge of tears. They were threatening to spill down her face as she eyed me with the saddest look that tore at my heartstrings.
“No—I—” she whispered, heavy with regret.
“Yes! It was you. Your betrayal cut too fucking deep. How do you think I felt coming home to the news of you being married?” I viciously spat out, losing my control, my ground. My emotions seized me, my entirety, consuming me whole. “Do you know how it feels to think that your life is starting to really take meaning when all of a sudden you have it snatched from you?” I asked in a mere mumble.
“I said I was sorry, Luca. Please, you must know…”
One word. That was all. And she thought this magical word would erase it all?
“You think a stupid sorry would erase all the pain I went through? Well, that’s too unfortunate because it just won’t cut it, not anymore.”
She put gold-diggers to shame. At least those lot had some pride in their “craft” by admitting or showing what they wanted out of the relationship—be it more fame or status or more money. However, with her, she had to act coy and most likely pretended she didn’t know me, taking advantage of my moronic notion that there was a woman out there who didn’t recognize the fame and money that came attached to being with me. It was laughable to think how easily persuaded I had been with her innocence and enthusiasm for life. I had succumbed to her deception, and I hated myself for falling into her trap.
“How does it feel to be such filth, Kimberly? To be married while carrying another man’s child? Does your husband even have a clue how conniving you are?”
She paled at my accusations, but she didn’t interject, so that fueled more into the burning fire gaining ground within me.
“Better yet, how can you—if it is mine—let another man’s cock fuck you?”
“That’s enough from you, Luca! I’m not going to stand here while you throw allegations,” she screeched, red from embarrassment and mortification.
“Why, my sweet one? Does it hurt too much because it’s the goddamn truth?”
This was only a glimpse of the monster she had created. Gone was the adoring man who would do anything for her. Things had changed. She had tried my patience, and soon, she would see what I was really capable of.
Quattro
KIMBERLY
“Why, my sweet one? It hurts too much because it’s the goddamn truth?” Luca slung the words at me, eyeing me as if I was the filth on the bottom of his shoe.
I shook my head, hurting beyond repair. “No …” I whispered.I never looked at another man the way I did you, I silently added, but refrained myself from voicing the words aloud.
It pained me to see him turn into this man, full of misery and loathing. It was a far cry from the sexy, carefree lothario who plagued my mind day in and day out. Sexy though he still was, the carefree persona was gone. I knew what had happened … It was all because of me, and despite trying to make amends in the only way I knew how, it still wasn’t enough. Even telling him about the baby we had made wasn’t enough to change his mind.
Before I met him, I had thought life was simple, that I could go on living the way I saw fit. However, that wasn’t the case, because little did I know that, the moment I stepped into Luca’s orbit, nothing was ever going to be the same.
Whatever he might think of me, I was never after his money. I didn’t even know who he was in the very beginning since I wasn’t familiar with racing or any European socialites, so his accusations were unfounded.
“Does he know?”he thundered like a possessed man. “Does your husband know it’s not his child?”
Anton …
Meekly nodding, I frowned slightly, knowing where he was going with this conversation. “Yes, Anton knows.”
Of course he did. It was something I had been upfront about from the very beginning.
My brusque response didn’t curtail his menacing anger. His nostrils flared as he looked at me as if he was about to implode from fury.
“Anton,” he hissed disdainfully, his emerald eyes flashing at me before he closed in on my breathing space, resulting in my pulse escalating to new heights. “Were you fucking him, too, while you were with me, Kim? Is that how you work?”
His accusation stung, but I knew he was hurting and that he was out to hurt me in any way possible. To him, it was the ultimate betrayal. His Italian pride wouldn’t let it slide. Italian men didn’t take cheating lightly. They were possessive yet passionate creatures. Love and life came hand in hand, and above all, the men considered themselves mostly Alphas, so what I had done to Luca… Well, he would forever remain bitter about it. It was as if their manhood was put in question. Maybe it was the main reason he wasn’t over it. However, for him to lay all the blame on me was purely unjustified. I had every reason not to fight for him. I knew it. I saw it.
“How dare you ask me that when it was you who had Grazia on your speed dial! You went to see her … You—you kissed her … I saw it.”
I recalled the video as though I had just watched it, and the pain he had caused me had cemented my decision. I was one of his side chicks, so losing me wouldn’t be a big deal, or so I had hoped then. I’d had no idea he would react this way. I was flabbergasted much more so after he kept chasing me. It was demented, and each time I turned him away, it chipped at my soul, at my heart, but everything was too late … much too late.
“Che cosa?” Something shifted in him. “What do you mean you saw it?”