Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
“Oh, Dante.” I’m shaking inside, shivering as I recall that tragic night. “Why? Why did you have to deceive me?”
“There was no other way. No matter what kind of man your father was, you wouldn’t betray him knowingly, that’s not who you were or are, and I never would’ve allowed you to carry that guilt. The guilt was supposed to be mine. Only mine.”
I bite back tears. “You had so many opportunities to come clean after you tracked me down in Denver. Why didn’t you tell me the truth then?”
“I tried, many times, but you didn’t want to hear it.”
That’s true. I remember him trying to tell me on several occasions, but I wasn’t ready to listen. I can still see him standing in front of me in the house where I was working, trying to make me understand that I was more than the spoils of war, so much more than I ever could’ve guessed.
You’re not really interested in what I’m saying. No matter what I tell you, you’ll twist it into what you want to believe. When you’re truly ready to listen, we can talk about it again.
And my reply to that? Hell will freeze over before I listen to you.
My mind goes back to that day in the basement when he returned from a trip with the chilling evidence of the men he’d killed for me—a gold ring and tooth. I asked him why he was so dead set on keeping me. He told me that he’d been clear about his intention when he’d taken my virginity, and I shot back that I hadn’t known he’d played me. He said he’d done it for a good reason, for Lee but also for me. And I refused to believe him when he declared he’d done it to keep me.
“Bullshit,” I said. “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe me or not, there was no other way.”
“Like hell. You didn’t have to go that far.”
“For you? I would’ve gone to the ends of the world, darling.”
“Don’t lie to me more than you already have. It’s never been about me.”
“We’re not going to continue this conversation. I told you you’re not ready to listen to me. We’ll talk again when you are.”
I’ll never forget my reply. My exact words were, “I hate you so much. You have no idea.”
Yes, I was too blinded by hatred to hear him. But now that I’m coming to terms with all the crushing emotions I carried for so long inside me, I’m finally ready to listen.
“Believe me, Tatiana, there’s nothing I wanted more than for you to come to me out of your own free will.” His golden eyes gleam with the darkness that’s so much a part of him. “But I was always going to make you mine, no matter what means I had to use.”
My heart breaks a little more. “I did, Dante. That’s the irony. There was a time when I came to you freely.”
“Until you discovered the man I truly was.” His smile is resigned. “And now you want to leave me again.”
I give a start. “How did you know?”
“I know you. When your memory returned, you hated me all over, even more, if such a thing is possible. I saw the look in your eyes in the hospital. Did you really think I wouldn’t know what was going through your head?”
My heart starts pounding. “Are you going to stop me?”
His smile turns bitter. “No.”
Taken aback, I gape at him. The answer goes against everything he’s done and said up to now. “Don’t you want me anymore?”
His laugh is hollow. “Oh, I want you, Tatiana. Make no mistake. I’ve never stopped wanting you. But there’s only one thing I want more, and that’s your happiness.” His lips thin, the strain around his eyes apparent. It almost seems as if he’s forcing the words out when he speaks again. “So I’ll give you this. I’ll give you your wish. You nearly died. Because of me.” He bites out, “Once by the hand of your own father and twice by the hands of others. Multiple times if I count the men who came after you. God knows, you’ve more than earned the right to live your life the way you choose.” He gets up, his hands balled at his sides. “I won’t stand in your way any longer. You can have the house if you want it. Whatever you need, it will be yours. You won’t want for anything for the rest of your life. I’ll make sure of that.”
I get up too, wincing at the pain. “No, Dante. You don’t get to drop that bomb on me and then tell me I’m free to go.”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
“What I want is a husband who likes and accepts me for who I am and not as a pawn to use for his revenge.” Biting my lip, I stare up at his face. “Isn’t that what you’re kind of telling me, that you like me?”