“Fuck Valentina.” The words come out like a growl. ”It’s you and me, Sophia. Always and only you and me.”
“Vin—” I can’t listen to this, but he won’t let go of me.
“The way you close your eyes when you eat something you love. The way you patiently explain things that I don’t want to understand. The way you make everyone around you feelspecial.” His jaw tightens. “I want to be the man who makes you feel special.”
I close my eyes, steeling myself against his words. I don’t know what he wants. I don’t know why he’s doing this. And even if he means every single word, one thing remains unchanged.
“I wish you were,” I say softly. “And for a minute, I thought you could be. There were moments when you made me feel like I was the only woman in the world.” He rises to his feet like he’s going to pull me into his arms again, but I raise my hand. “But when all was said and done, you’re the man who made me feel worthless. You took all the worst things I think about myself and confirmed them. You broke my heart, Vin. And then you left me.”
I’ve had a year to make peace with these words, and they still stick in my throat. “My husband would never do those things.”
I watch those words hit him hard. Pain shutters through his expression, and he reaches for my hand.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia.” His voice is hoarse. “You’re right. I don’t deserve you.”
‘Sorry’ is not a word I ever expected to hear from Vin Demonio. I can feel that he means it. I love him for it, I do. But I don’t trust him.
“I didn’t say you’re not deserving,” I say carefully. “You are. It’s just that I can’t—”
“I know.” He bows his head. “Please don’t say it again. I can’t hear those words again.”
I nod and slide out of his grasp, turning towards the door.Hurting him is not what I want. But I can’t let him hurt me again.
“Sophia.”
I turn back to him. His head is still bowed, his hands loose at his sides.
“My father’s funeral is a few days from now.”
My chest tightens. Ah, that’s what this is about. “Would you like me to handle the food, Vin?”
He looks up at me. “That’s not what I was going to ask.” He crosses to me and takes both my hands in his. “It’s going to be a hard day. You’ve already done more for me than I have any right to ask, but if you would be there—just be there, nothing else—it would mean everything to me.”
I look at our hands. The scars on his knuckles. The way he rubs his thumbs gently over my skin.
“Be there how? What do you want me to do?”
“Just be there.” His voice drops. “Just be near me. It’s going to be a shitty day, but everything is better when you’re with me.”
“I don’t know, Vin.”
He squeezes my hands. “Please, Sophie I’m begging you. I can’t do this without you.”
The silence hangs heavy between us. Then I nod, and is eyes light up. “It doesn’t mean anything, Vin,” I say quickly. “It’s one day. I’ll be there, but that’s it.”
“Thank you.”
It sounds genuine, and I drop my gaze to our hands, watching as he lets me go. When I reach the door, I look back and see Siena in the hallway with Emilia. She nods once, very small, and I smile softly and wave at Emilia.
I let myself out into the hall, closing the door behind me with a breath of relief. Waiting for the elevator, I try to bring my heart rate back to a normal level.
It’s just one day. I can survive one day. Right?
31
VIN
My suit is already hanging on the back of the bathroom door when I wake up the morning of the funeral. It’s the suit that Sophie picked out for me when she was here before.
