"I'm wrong?" Her brows arch up. "How am I wrong when it's been the same person from the very beginning?" She pauses, looking at me as if she'd been struck. "Do you love her?" she asks in a small voice, her features drawn in pain. "That's it, isn't it? You've loved her all along."
"No," I answer, struggling to choose my words carefully. "She's a dear friend and nothing more. She's Luca's godmother," I say, and her eyes widen in horror.
"You let that whore near my son?" she screeches, launching herself at me once more, the tip of the knife resting just above my heart.
"She's not a whore," I say through gritted teeth, knowing that in her volatility she could easily stab me—even accidentally. "She's a friend. Anelderlyfriend," I add for good measure, but the suspicion doesn't disappear from her eyes.
"How many times?" she asks brokenly, her voice cracking. "How many times did you betray me?"
The knife keeps digging into my skin, and I feel a trickle of blood making its way to the surface.
"None," I say, raising my head to look her in the eye, hoping she'll see the sincerity in mine.
"Don't lie to me!" she cries out, the knife digging deeper and the pain intensifying.
"I'm not," I reply calmly, my hands cupping her face. There's so much hate in her eyes, and all of it is directed at me.
56
ENZO
I fucked everything up.
"Kill me if that's what you want, but I swear to you I've never betrayed you in my life." I wrap my hands over hers on the hilt of the knife, helping her drive it forward into my chest.
She shakes her head at me, her cheeks stained with tears.
"Don't lie to me. One thing I asked you—never lie to me," she murmurs, frantic and distraught.
"I'm not. Not this time." I've lied plenty of times to her in the past, and that's why we're here. If I could have been more open with her... more honest... none of this would have happened.
"I don't believe you," she sobs, her hands still on the knife.
I close my eyes briefly, the painful knowledge thatIdrove her to this point making me hate myself even more.
What have I done to you, little tigress?
"Then do it," I find myself saying, my hands tightening over the dagger. "Kill me. Get your revenge." I tell her as I help her stab me deeper. "Just tell Luca I love him," I whisper my last wish.
I feel the skin breaking under the sharpness of the knife, the physical pain dulled by my own soul's ache.
"And you, little tigress. I'll always love you," I murmur right before I give the hilt a push, gasping at the pain.
But just as the pressure of the knife reaches an unbearable point, it's gone.
Allegra stumbles back, falling on her ass, her eyes wild as she takes in my bleeding chest and the droplets of blood that now linger on the blade.
"Don't lie to me," she whispers, stunned on the spot, her eyes never leaving my wound.
I don't mind the pain as I move into a sitting position. My hand goes to the gaping hole in my chest—deep but not life-threatening. My fingers come back soaked in blood, and I make quick work of my shirt, taking it off and pressing it over the wound.
"I'd never lie to you. Not about this."
"Lord," she gives a manic laugh, her eyes once again filled with disdain, "it's even worse then. Tell me, where was this love when you were fucking others behind my back? You think I haven't seen all the evidence? Lived it on my own skin?"
"It's not what it seems," I start, trying to defend myself, "and at the party, Iknewit was you."
She frowns, her pretty brows drawing together in the center.
