Page 228 of Marcello

That’s when he lost it.

“Why don’t you want to talk about your own shit?! If you want to know about me so badly, you go first! Spill your guts, then I’ll spill mine!”

This was it.

This was the moment I’d feared all along.

If I told him where I came from and what my father did…

If I told him who I really was…

Then he wouldn’t love me anymore.

He would leave me…

And he was everything to me.

I sat there staring at my plate. I tried not to cry, but I felt a tear run down my cheek.

As soon as he saw it, Romeo turned back into the man I loved.

“Hey… hey, don’t cry,” he whispered, his voice suddenly kind.

He came over and knelt beside me. I turned away from him because I was afraid he would look in my eyes and know the truth:

That no matter how bad his job was, what I did was infinitely worse.

I turned a blind eye to evil…

Because I was too cowardly to do anything else.

“Hey – look at me,” Romeo whispered. He put his fingers on my chin and gently turned my face towards him. “Please – look at me.”

I gave in, but his face was blurry through my tears.

He smiled. “There’s only one thing that matters – and it’s that I’m utterly, completely in love with you. I would die for you.”

I sobbed at how sweet he was being.

He kissed me, and I kissed him back.

I wanted him more than I could ever explain to him…

And I was more afraid of losing him than he could ever imagine.

He was my entire world.

When we stopped kissing, he whispered, “We’ll talk about it… all of it… when we’re both ready. Okay?”

Unfortunately, I would never be ready – because as soon as I told him the truth, I would lose him forever.

But I smiled and nodded anyway.

We kissed again…

And then I let him pull me to the bed, where we made love.

It was slow and sweet, and I savored every moment…