Not even a single tear.
And it guts me.
I brush it away with my fingers while I take her hand in mine. “It’s rarely so simple.”
“I know that now. Nic has been saying it to me for a while, but I couldn’t see her point of view. Not until I met you and I realized how deep my feelings extended. You have helped to open my eyes to the truth, Massimo. Exacting revenge would not have made me any happier. It might have given me closure, but I think I would have been left feeling directionless and lonely because this is all I have known. You have shown me there is a better way and a better life waiting for me, and I want it. I want it badly enough to have let go of the rest of my plans.”
More tears shine in her eyes. “I love you, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and to let it go, but if you can’t, I will respect that decision too.”
“I already forgive you.” The words rip from my mouth without hesitation, birthed straight from my soul.
She wipes her tears away, and familiar steely determination replaces the mournful expression on her face.
There’s my queen.
The owner of my heart.
The face of my future.
The only woman I will ever love.
“Tell me,mia amata. Unburden yourself.”
“My revenge plan had several components. Killing Paulo and Saverio was only a part of it. They weren’t the only ones who hurt me. They were barely even monsters compared with the real villain of the piece.”
My heart thumps painfully against my chest, and all the hairs lift on the back of my neck as things start clicking into place.
She wets her lips and squeezes my hand. “There is no easy way to say this, my love, so I’m just going to blurt it out. It will be a shock, but I beg you to hear me out.”
I can only nod as ominous dread washes over me, almost knocking all the air from my lungs.
Please, God, no.
Don’t let her say what I think she might be about to say. Pain lashes me from all sides and it takes every ounce of willpower to mask my emotions and keep a neutral expression on my face.
“When I was thirteen, I was kidnapped by your brother Carlo. He held me prisoner in the basement of your house for seven months before I was rescued.”
Horror engulfs me as the realization of who she is slaps me in the face. “It was you! You were the girl in the cage!” I blurt as a tight pain spreads across my chest making breathing difficult.
Matching horror creeps over her face as she stares at me. “You knew?” she chokes out.
“I saw you one time. I’d been told to stay away from the basement, and it was always kept locked. Only father, Carlo, and Primo had a key. One day, I discovered it was unlocked, and I snuck downstairs.” Blood rushes to my head and thrums in my ears as the vision resurfaces in my mind. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment as pain rips through my insides, tightening and restricting until it feels like I can’t breathe.
When I open them, tears glisten in my eyes. “You were in a cage. You were naked and bleeding.” My voice cracks, and I’m barely holding it together. I cannot believe that girl was my wife. Nothing could have prepared me for this. “I crouched down in front of you. I asked you what your name was. You—”
“I said Noemi Cabrini,” she whispers as tears trek down her face. “I thought I dreamed that. I thought I dreamedyou. Carlo would drug me when I screamed too much. He liked when I fought him, but if I made too much noise, it would draw attention to my presence in the house. I started purposely fighting and screaming so he would drug me.” She stares off into space as she speaks. I rub circles on the back of her hand with my thumb, but I really want to haul her into my arms and hold her forever.
She turns her head, and the dead look in her eyes scares me. “It was better to be numb when he hurt me. He liked to make me bleed.” I am aware of the sickening things my eldest brother did to girls because rumors were rife about his depraved sexual kinks and his penchant for hurting women. She gulps, and I brace myself. “I was so out of it that day I thought I imagined the boy with the big green eyes, but I didn’t.”
“You didn’t. It was me.”
The blank look in her eyes fades as if a switch has just been flipped, replaced with potent rage. “You knew I was there, and you did nothing!” Yanking her hand back, she jumps up, towering over me, exuding anger from every pore. “You are just like your mother and Gabriele!” She begins pacing, and I’m afraid to make a move or say a word for fear of what she might do. “They knew I was down there too, and they did nothing!” she screams, picking up the wineglass and throwing it at the wall. It shatters upon impact, raining glass on the hardwood floor. “I thought you were different! But you’re a monster too!” She reaches for something and rushes me. Before I can stop her, she raises her hand to my head, and a sharp pain rattles my skull before darkness swoops in and claims me.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Massimo
“He’s awake,” Renzo says as I come to, strapped to a chair in the middle of my living room. I wonder when that fuckface arrived and whether Rina called him or he just showed up at an opportune time. Pain stabs me in the brow, and my eyes feel heavy as I force them to remain open. My wife paces the floor, knotting and unknotting her hands, looking panicked and on edge.
