‘I won’t be a prisoner,’ she says, as if it’s self-evident. ‘You said yourself you’ll give me as much freedom as you’re able to manage.’
‘But you didn’t want that, remember?’ The cold in me is beginning to melt no matter how hard I try to hold onto it, fury coming hard on its heels, thick and hot. ‘You’ve made no secret of the fact that it’s not enough for you.’
Colour is leaching from her face, making her green eyes seem even greener. ‘Yes, I did say that, but… Maybe I’ve changed my mind.’
My fury leaps higher. I was expecting her to grab her freedom with both hands, not suddenly decide she doesn’t want it after all. Which is unacceptable.
The wolf is elemental, savage with sharp teeth and claws, and it doesn’t understand what I’m doing. It doesn’t understand why I’m sending her away, when all it wants is to keep her.
But I’m not the wolf now and I refuse to be Stefano, and so there’s only one way this is going to go.
‘That’s too bad,’ I say coldly. ‘I’ve made my decision.’
She’s sitting rigidly upright, the sheet now clutched in her hands. ‘I like the villa and I like you. I like being your wife.’ Her tone is light, but there’s a strange current running through the words.
‘Since when did you suddenly like being here with me?’ I shouldn’t keep arguing with her, not when nothing she says will change my mind, but I can’t seem to stop. ‘When not a few hours ago you were telling me that it wasn’t enough?’
Her mouth tightens and she looks down at her hands clutching the sheet. ‘You’re right. If I’m pregnant then—’
‘Caterina,’ I say roughly, unable to let go of the sense that she’s hiding something from me. ‘Give me the truth.’
She continues to stare down at the sheet for a long moment. Then abruptly, as if she’s come to some decision, she lifts her head and meets my gaze. There’s some powerful emotion burning in her green eyes. It’s fierce, hot, determined, and it momentarily steals my breath clean away.
She lifts her chin. ‘The truth? Okay, here’s the truth. I changed my mind because I think I’m in love with you, Vincenzo. And now I don’t want to leave you.’
The shock of it guts me. All I can do is stand there staring at her, the words echoing in my head. That thought that she might fall for me, the man who did all those terrible things to her and her family, never occurred to me, not once. And for a second I can’t believe it, that she must be lying to me in some way, but there’s nothing but truth in those beautiful eyes of hers.
It’s too late. You’ve hurt her. Irrevocably.
There’s an agony somewhere inside me, but I ignore it. I have to. The Argenti legacy must be more than all the violence and death my father perpetuated and it must be more than what I’ve perpetuated myself. And it has to start right here, right now, no matter how much she loves me.
I give her a slight but regretful smile. ‘Unfortunate,’ I say. ‘But nothing that can’t be fixed. You’ll have to forget me,gattina,since I will not be featuring anywhere in this new life of yours.’
Her gaze is very fixed and she sits still as a statue. Then abruptly, she drops the sheet, leaps from the bed, coming over to stand in front of me. She’s beautifully naked, her hair tumbling around her shoulders and falling in an inky waterfall down to her waist. Her eyes blaze with the spirit of the warrior inside her; she’s ready to fight a battle and she’s ready to fight hard.
‘No,’ she says fiercely. ‘I won’t go. I want to stay here with you.’
But it’s a battle she can’t win, because I am a warrior too, and I’m stronger. I have the scars to prove it.
‘I don’t care,’ I say coldly, clearly. ‘If you won’t go then I’ll make you.’
The blaze in her eyes falters as she looks at me, finding no give in my expression. ‘Vincenzo…’ She lifts a hand to my face. ‘Please…’
I stand rigid as her fingers brush my skin and there’s a part of me that wants nothing more than to kiss her palm, pull her close, tell her I’ve changed my mind after all.
But I can’t. This is the way it has to be and after all, I’m used to pain.
‘I’m going to organise some documents for you,’ I say, my voice flat with control. ‘Pack your things.’
Then I turn and stride out of the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-One
Caterina
ISTARE ATthe doorway as he retreats through it, shock still reverberating through me. My heart feels as if he took it between his strong hands and ripped it in two, and I can’t stop trembling.
Stumbling back, I sit on the bed, my eyes prickling.
