That moment he’d seen her at the gala, and he’d known he’d been handed the weapon he’d sought. The woman he’d wondered about for many years.
He groaned softly and closed the picture, then opened another. This was taken years earlier. It was Kate and Augustine together, walking towards a parked car. He was talking, and she was listening. He leaned forward, so that his face was only inches from the screen. What had she been feeling in that moment? She was looking straight ahead, giving the photographer a perfect angle on her face. Her eyes were impossible to read, even though he knew her now so intimately.
Benedetto transferred his attention to Augustine’s face. Had he been angry then? What had he been saying to this young version of Kate?
Benedetto swore softly and clicked out of the photos.
He’s a good man.
Kate couldn’t have known how those words would wound him to hear. How hearing Kate describe that bastard as a good man would virtually wrench him in two.
He slammed his coffee cup onto the desk and sat down heavily in his chair.
This was a mess of his own making. Unfortunately, there was only one way out of it, and he wasn’t sure he was ready yet to let her go.
CHAPTER NINE
Kate hummed as she stirred the pasta sauce.
The nightmare of the previous evening seemed like a world away.
Her day had been busy, and now, she was with Benedetto. Or she would be soon. Her eyes lifted to the clock on the microwave. He had said he’d be back after seven, and that was only a few minutes away.
Her skin dusted with goose bumps.
The anticipation in itself was delightful. How she craved him! How she longed to wrap her arms around him and feel his warmth. To see his eyes smile at her, to see his body respond to hers.
The smile was etched on her features as she added a dash of pepper and then turned the heat off. The water was boiling, ready for pasta to be added, but she wouldn’t do that until they were ready to eat. She put a lid on the saucepan and turned it to a low simmer.
Kate hadn’t heard the door bell before; it rang through the mansion with a rather imperious, electronic insistence. Her eyes lifted to the microwave once more. Who would be calling at this hour? And should she answer it? It was unlikely to be a delivery. Perhaps someone door knocking for a charity? She really had no place, and yet the door buzzed again and on instinct she moved through the downstairs, towards the enormous timber entrance.
She pulled it inwards without pausing to wonder if she was being foolish.
And stared at the past, as though her nightmare had conjured it into reality.
Had she done just that? Was he a figment of her imagination?
No.
He smelled the same and it set off a visceral reaction in her gut. Fear, so real it transformed her body into an instrument of pure sensation, sledged down her spine.
“Dad.” She swallowed. How long since she’d seen him? Since she’d said his name? What was he doing there? How did he know where she was? A frown drew her eyes closer. Or did he know Benedetto? Was this some horrifying coincidence? Was he here to see the man she’d fallen in love with?
“Katherine,” he snapped, pushing past her and into Benedetto’s home. “So, it’s true.”
“What’s true?”
“What the hell did you hope to achieve with this?” He spun around, and he was so close to her that she flinched. The reaction mortified her. Damn it, she’d grown up since she’d last seen him. She would not let him cower her.
“With what?” Her voice shook. She was terrified, regardless of what she wished to feel.
“You’re sleeping with this bastard. Did you know he was using you? Are you using him? Did you think this was a way to hurt me more than you already have?”
Her mind was reeling. Nothing made sense. “What … I don’t know why you’re here …”
Augustine stared at her for a long, silent minute, and then he grabbed her wrist. A scream died in her mouth. She had learned not to scream, for it only made it worse. She bit into the sides of her tongue, and stared at him with silent, catatonic panic.
“This.” He hissed. Whisky was putrid on his fat tongue. He held the phone before her eyes but it took a moment for her vision to focus. Fear was making everything watery.
