I shake my head. “Hurt… That pain heals. But harm is lasting damage, and that I will never cause you.” My hand tightens on her nape. “Rosa is not my wife, nor will she ever be, because I’m married to you.”
Gina tries to protest and deny, but I press my thumb to her lips.
“Let me explain. Please.”
She stares up at me with that haunting pain that’s gutting me, but finally nods.
“There was a marriage contract signed for Rosa and me; however, my father forged my signature. Initially, I didn’t fightit, suspecting it was another way he was trying to control me and knowing that a marriage of alliance was likely always going to be my fate because that’s how our world works.
“But then I met you...” I smile down at her. “And I was a goner for you instantly. Your radiance was the light to my dark. You felt it, too.”
She trembles under my hands and pushes against me, and I let her have the space.
“You felt it when you woke up in the hospital, just as much as you feel it now, Gina. Even if you don’t have those earlier memories of me, you know in your heart and soul what you felt, and that you trusted me.”
“Trust you?” Her voice shakes. “How can I possibly trust you?”
“Because you know who I am,” I insist. “You see and get all parts of me. Only you.”
She walks to the bed and gingerly sits on the edge. I go to her and squat down, looking up at her.
“I’ve been trying to figure out why my father forged my signature to force this alliance with the Altera family. After I met you, I knew I could never marry anyone but you. So yes, I took advantage of the situation. Before your head injury, I had planned to convince you to marry me as soon as possible, but with your amnesia, I pivoted.
“I did lie to you, telling you that we had already married right before you were injured. And the vow renewal ceremony was my way to actually marry you without having to confess my sins to you until it was time.
“So, yes, I’m ruthless and conniving. And if I had to do it all over again, I would, because there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go.”
“You’ve trapped me here.” She blinks, and another tear slips free. “I’m a prisoner.”
“No, you’re my wife, and I’m keeping you safe.” I wipe the tear away. “Arturo mentioned to you that everyone thinks you’re missing. That’s because I’ve been protecting you here, trying to figure out how your father plays into what happened to you, and the threat I know is hanging over you.”
She shakes her head, not wanting to believe her father would do something to hurt her.
I cup her face and say gently, “NotBabbo—that version of your father would never have hurt you, Gina. But the man he is now is not the man he was when you were younger.”
“Mamma?My mother?” she whispers.
Based on her whimpered, fragmented words during her nightmares, plus the little I do know about that day, I strongly suspect she witnessed her father kill her mother. But if her mind is protecting her, and she’s not ready to recover those memories, I won’t be the one to push her or give her any graphic details.
Not the fact that her mother’s neck had been broken, or that Davide’s throat had been slashed, or that I have footage of Caruso and Leandro putting what was likely two bodies rolled in blankets into the trunk of a car.
“Did my father hurt her? Hurt me?” Her hand lifts to the back of her head.
“I think he did, yes.” The pain on her face damn near kills me. “I was keeping you safe from him and protecting you from the backlash of breaking the marriage contract with Rosa.”
She pales. “It’s a blood contract. Blood payment will be demanded.”
I reach for her and kiss her softly. “I needed time for my plan to be fully implemented. You, as my wife and carrying my child, will force the ‘Ndrangheta to side with me, and the Alteras will not be able to hurt you.”
Panic etches across her face, and she pushes to her feet. I catch myself before I end up on my ass, then rise.
She’s even paler than before. “But they could demand your blood, Tommaso. They could kill you. And I’m not pregnant.”
I smile, pulling her to me. “It’s not the way I envisioned it...but congratulations, wife, you’re pregnant.”
Chapter 35
Gina
