Jeromegivesmeagrave look as I approach, but neither he nor Salvo speaks as I unlock the door.
The room is silent, and I see Etta first, sitting on the corner of the bed. She turns to me with a worried look.
Gina sits on the bed, her knees pulled up, her forehead resting on them. There’s a bag on the floor, and my heart aches that she packed, wanting to flee.
Etta gets off the bed and walks toward me, placing her hand on my forearm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Then she quietly closes the door behind her.
“Gina.” I wait for her to respond, but she doesn’t move. I hate that she’s hurting; that I played a role in it. “Il mio sole.”
Her head snaps up, and her dark brown eyes shine with unshed tears, but they’re hard and cold. “I’m not your sun. I’m not your anything, Tommaso.”
She gets off the bed, faces me, fisting her small hands. “I’m nothing except the whore you made me into.”
Anger leaps forth, and I stride to her. She lifts her chin defiantly and snaps her shoulders back. Good. I don’t want her weak or bowed. She’s a queen. My queen.
My hand goes to her neck, but doesn’t squeeze, and the other grips her hip as I push her against the wall. “I’ve warned you not to refer to yourself as a nobody. And most certainly not a fucking whore. You’re mywife.”
She reaches up, not trying to dislodge my hands, but to slap me across the face.Hard. She does it again, the tears making her eyes deep, dark wells of pain. “You made me a whore. The other woman!” she screams. “How could you?”
The last words are choked.
“How could you do this, Tommaso?” Her fire is draining, and I see the cracked pieces beneath the embers. “Why?”
“Because I knew from the moment I saw you that you were mine. But I promise you, Gina, youaremy wife.”
She shakes her head. “Rosa said it was a blood contract. I know those cannot be broken. I just don’t know why you went to the lengths you did. Did you get off on knowing how easily I was manipulated and fooled?” Her tears spill free, and I feel them like they’re blades slicing my body. “Are you the one who hurt me and caused my head wounds? My amnesia?”
“No. Fuck. Isthatwhat you think I’m capable of?”
She pushes at me, and I relent, stepping back to give her some space. “I don’t know you.”
“Yes, you do.” I fist my hands, trying to remain calm. “You’re the only one who truly knows me.”
She laughs, and it’s a bitter sound. “I see and know what you want me to see. You’re a master manipulator. I don’t need my memories to know that a man like you, a criminal leader, is ruthless and conniving.”
“Yes, I’m ruthless, and yes, I’m conniving. I’m calculated and have a black soul, too. But I’ve never manipulated you, Gina.”
“Bullshit.” Her lip quivers before she bites it, staring up at me. “Did you laugh with your buddies at how naïve and stupid I was? How you had a nice little virgin to warm your bed before your big day?”
“This isn’t what you think.”
She steps forward and slaps me again. “I’m leaving.”
“The fuck you are.”
“You can’t force me to stay,” she shouts.
I laugh darkly. “You just said I’m a criminal leader; that I’m ruthless and conniving. You haveno ideathe lengths I went to keep you. The lengths I will goto keep you.”
“Tommaso.” Her mouth trembles. “Please,” she whispers. “Don’t force me to stay here. Don’t force me to watch you marry another woman.”
I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, cupping her head while I hold her tear-filled, pained gaze.
“You said you’d never break me or harm me. Your word or your life.”
My thumb wipes away her tears. “I will never break you, nor will I harm you, but I am sorry I didn’t get to explain everything first to spare you this hurt.”
“Hurt and harm are the same. You’re splitting hairs.”
