“You can’t be here!” She shouted. “You can’t just … break into my flat! Again! I need you to go.”
“I came here to talk to you.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” she snapped, pulling the ends of her pony tail over her shoulder and toying with the hair nervously. Did he know? Had he somehow discovered the truth about her?
His lips twisted in a sardonic grimace. “That is completely untrue.”
“My father …”
“Is in prison.”
The words dropped into the room like tiny little pieces of flint. Kate stared at the ground as though she might even be able to see them hitting the floor.Is in prison. Is in prison. My father is in prison.
“I don’t understand.” Her enormous eyes sought his. “When? What happened?”
And shock kept her immobile, even when he crossed the room and stood right in front of her. “I found Connor.” Benedetto’s eyes searched hers. She stared up at him, waiting for him to continue. Kate wasn’t sure she would be able to speak, even if she knew what she wanted to say.
“He was working in Australia, doing research for a Supreme Court justice. Living in fear, as you were, of Augustine.”
“Why?” She stammered, her expression completely unreadable.
“You do not want these details, dear Kate …”
“Why?” She repeated through gritted teeth.
Benedetto weighed his words carefully, afraid that Kate was about to pass out. She was so pale, so fragile looking. “Augustine exercised his power over Connor to make sure Connor never revealed what he knew. Please do not make me discuss how, for I do not think you want to hear it.” He pressed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “Suffice it to say, your father knew how to get to Connor, and Connor took the threat seriously.”
Kate shuddered. “But Connor told you …”
“Connor did better than that,” Benedetto corrected darkly. “He had kept documents that proved your father’s guilt. If I had not felt jealous as hell of the man, I might even have walked away liking him.”
Kate shook her head. “You had no reason to be jealous of Connor,” she whispered.
Benedetto arched his brows cynically. “Of course I do. Kate, you slept with him. You cared for him. How do you imagine I would not envy this man?”
She swallowed. It didn’t mean he cared for her. Or that he ever had. It meant only that he viewed her as ‘his’, someone he had possessed for a time, as one might a pair of shoes or a coat. “That’s absurd. And irrelevant.” She forced her eyes to meet his.“You’re serious about this? Dad being in jail?”
“Si. I was close to having enough evidence to take to the authorities before meeting you.” He frowned, his expression somber. “If I could go back in time, I would do that, Kate. Instead of indulging a childish need to wound a man not worth such consideration. And to use you as my instrument.”
Kate nodded. “You and me both.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “Why are you here?”
He furrowed his brow. “I thought you would want to know about Augustine.” He shook his head then, a rueful expression at the corners of his eyes. “And I wanted to see you.”
Her stomach rolled. Anxiety caused perspiration to gather at her hairline. “I’m glad you told me, but it doesn’t change anything.” She sidestepped away from him, putting distance between them physically.
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed with the appearance of calmness.
Kate lifted a hand to her stomach on instinct and then dropped it. Guilt perforated her gut, but she knew it was for the best. “Can you please go, Benedetto?”
“No.” His smile was wry. “I don’t think I can. Having seen you again I don’t know why I waited until now to do this.” He propped his shoulder against the wall, perfectly affecting the appearance of nonchalance.
“To do what?”
“To tell you that we should still be together.”
She sucked in a breath and shook her head instinctively. “No. That’s not possible.”
“Of course it is possible,” he contradicted. “Especially now. You can come out in the open. Live with me in Rome. Live with me freely, and openly. Come back to me, Kate.”
