Wasthiswhy he wanted her to leave?
Wasthiswhy he had tried to keep his distance?
Wasthiswhy he did not want to hear her speak about her feelings?
Chapter Seven
THE HEAD OF SECURITYmade his call and sent his report to his superior, who also made his own call as he sent an envoy to Cayed, in which a closed-door top-secret meeting was ongoing. The envoy delivered the handwritten message to the concierge, who then passed it on to an executive assistant. The older woman folded the piece of paper after reading the message and knocked on the door before handing it to her employer.
Sheikh Nassif read the note with a raised brow before passing it to the man seated next to him.
"I think this is for you, my friend."
Giancarlo frowned as he unfolded the piece of paper—-
She has stopped eating.
—-and got to his feet as soon as he read its contents. "Please excuse me," he said tightly before walking out of the room.
"Please accept my apologies on my husband's behalf. Both of us love how fieldwork adds spice to our marriage. But even I have to admit that it does have its drawbacks—-" The woman's cherry-red lips curved in an appreciative smile as the restaurant staff came in with their entrées. "This is one of them, for sure. Don't you think it's unfortunate that Giancarlo has to miss this gorgeous piece of lamb?"
Her words released the tension in the room, and the others laughingly agreed af Giancarlo's misfortune. His abrupt departure was all but forgotten, or at least it was exceptfor Sheikh Nassif, whose amused smile effectively concealed his thoughts, and Giancarlo's wife herself, whose gaze turned calculating whenever it lingered on the doorway.
The time it took to drive from Cayed and back to the capital was cut in half with Giancarlo himself taking the wheel. But two steps into the room, and he knew right away he had walked into another trap. This time, her hunger strike was her bait of choice, and he had fallen for it again. Hook. Line. Sinker.
"Are you really married?"
Her face was pale, her gaze blank, her tone steady.
But even so.
He heard her heart crying out loud and clear, and while he had never intended her to know about his marriage—-
"Yes."
Hefelther shatter even when all she did was stare at him. Her gaze searched him wildly, and he knew she was begging him without words to say something else. Anything that would help her make sense of his marriage and allow her to stay.
Forgiveness wasn't even a question.
She had already forgiven him.
And continued to love him.
But when all he did was gaze back at her without any intention of saying anything else—-
"You win."
The quietly spoken words were an admission of defeat. So why did it feel like he was the one who had lost?
Giancarlo opened the door and stepped back. "You're free to go then."
Sarica didn't deign to answer.
Didn't even look his way as she walked past him.
He clenched his hands against the urge to pull her back and stop her from leaving.
Told himself that it was better this way as he watched her go.
