He’d taken advantage of every chance to get a glimpse of her; he lingered by her room; he used his charm and money to convince the hospital staff to get her out of the psych ward—they can still put her on a suicide watch in a normal room, like a normal person—get him a room close to hers and tell him when they walked her down the halls.
Most of the time Maggie wouldn’t make eye contact, but when she did, her face was like stone, hard and unyielding. He wasn’t sure what was going on in her head, but it wasn’t good as far as he was concerned.
He looked at the flowers flanking the hallway. Huge arrangements her visitors had brought.Don’t they know she doesn’t even like flowers?
One of the nurses walked by, throwing him a familiar pitiful glance. He’d been getting a lot of those lately. He was the poor man with the broken heart. No one knew—or believed—he was the villain here. The one who drove his girl to take her own life. A fucking murderer. He covered his eyes with his hand as a sigh trembled out of his chest.
“She wants to see you.”
Mike’s head jerked up, and he saw Nick coming out from her room, glaring. Instantly, Mike scampered to the door, but Nick stopped him midway.
“I haven’t told her about Andrea. The psychiatrist said it’d be dangerous.”
Mike bobbed his head and took a wide stride before Nick’s strong grip fell on his shoulder. “I won’t let you hurt her again. I won’t let anyone hurt her again. So tread carefully, Gennaro.”
Mike shrugged Nick’s hand off his shoulder and stepped into the room. She was standing by the window, her back to him, her hair light brown in the sunlight. He wanted to run to her, hold her, kiss her and pour his heart out. Instead, he stood, paralyzed by his own mistakes, cursing fate.
“Close the door,” she said, her voice hoarse and tired, yet steady.
He did as she asked and walked toward her.
She shuffled to spin around. Her eyes barely met his. “You look like shit.”
Damn right I do.He forced a smile. “You look good.” His lips quivered. “Beautiful.”
Looking away, she took slow steps toward the couch. She was struggling to sit on her own, so, without thinking, he rushed to help her. She didn’t object or throw up when his hands touched her arms. He gazed at her, and then they were both shaking with tears in their eyes.
She stroked his hair, and he cried harder. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her palm, and then placed it on his cheek.
“I can’t.” She withdrew both her hands.
He chewed on his lip as he straightened his back and sat next to her. “Maggie, please listen to me. At least, let me tell you what happened that night. Maybe—”
“Maybe what? I’ll know what a monster my mother is? I already know that. I’ll know you, too, were abused and feel sorry for you? I already do. It doesn’t change anything, though.”
The tears in her eyes compelled him to bow his head.
“Before we got together, I’d always thought you were never going to see me as a woman because I was your friend’s daughter. I’d never thought it was because I was the daughter of your abuser.”
“No.” His eyes widened. “I’ve never thought of you that way. Never.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“You have to believe that because it’s the truth.”
“How could you even have feelings for me? How could you touch me?” Her voice shook at the end. “Was it some sort of Stockholm Syndrome or something?”
“No. No. No. This is…” He shook his head hard and fast. “I know she must have told you that you reminded me of her because she told me the same thing. That’s a complete lie.” He gazed at her, willing her to believe him. “I’ve never seen her in you. Not once. My feelings for you have absolutely nothing to do with Andrea.”
She labored a breath. “How’s that even possible?”
“You of all people know your mother for who she really was. How she manipulated everyone for her benefit. All those years she’d made me believe that I was the one who seduced her. For fifteen years, I thought I was the guy who made your mother cheat on your father and almost destroyed your family. Only when you opened up to me about how she treated you I realized she…”
He felt as if he was choking, and he shoved away the memory. “But that didn’t make me think of you differently. Believe it or not, I loved you even more that night. We were both abused by the same person, and I only saw it as something that could connect us, not tear us apart. Only that night I knew my love for you wasn’t wrong, and the idea of us seemed possible.”
He meant every word. And in a twisted manner, he was grateful that Andrea had messed with his head in the past. If she hadn’t done that, he would have never remained her client, and he would have never had the chance to fall for Maggie. The best thing that had ever happened to him.
“Still, you should’ve told me,” she said. “And before you say anything, I know you wanted to tell me, and I idiotically asked you not to. But with something that devastating, you should’ve tried again and again and told me anyway. You shouldn’t have hidden it from me like everything else, thinking you were protecting me. Because you weren’t. You should’ve given me the choice. Don’t you think I had the right to choose, Mike?”
