In normal circumstances, I’d laugh at her remark, but humor was hard to find now… not when we were headed for disaster. We merged onto the main road, destined for the one place I dreaded most. Gemma meant more to me than anything,even my mother’s vengeance. I’d do whatever was necessary to protect her.
She frowned out the window. “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the estate.”
There was no easy way to say this. “We’re not heading back to the villa.”
She relaxed into her seat, a smile breaking out on her face for the first time since awakening. Probably the last smile I’d ever see of hers. “Oh, good. We deserve a break from Carina.”
My mouth opened to clarify, but I remained mute. For the next twenty minutes, I pretended her words held true, and we both journeyed far away from the mess disrupting our lives. Reality set in, however, when I parked in front of the airport and helped her out.
She frowned again at our stop.
I grabbed her suitcase and a yellow folder from the trunk.
She followed me around the car; her face stark white. “Enzo? Why are we here?” Her eyes widened at the suitcase I’d wheeled to her side.
I handed her a ticket, and she read the details. “Sydney?” Her mouth snapped open. “Am I going home?”
I tightened my jaw, ignoring the stinging in my nose. “You are.”
She scanned our surroundings. The shrill ring of an aeroplane soared above our heads. “But where’s your luggage?”
“I can’t come with you, Gemma.” My throat closed, and I bit my inner cheek. Withdrawing the paperwork from the enclosure, I flattened the form on the bonnet. “I need you to sign.”
She analyzed the legal paperwork and pelted me with an outraged stare. “Divorce papers? You want me to signdivorce papers?”
Passersby stared, their luggage wheels rattling on the pavement as they hurried past.
I extended the pen, keeping my hand steady by sheer force of will, but she smacked my arm away.
“Why are you doing this?”
Dismissing the urge to pull her close, I tilted my chin. “Don’t… don’t make this difficult,” I kept my voice steady and offered the pen again.
She whacked my hand away a second time. “Carina put you up to this, right?” She grabbed my face, forcing me to meet her eyes. “Don’t listen to her. Enzo, come with me. Come live with me in Australia.”
Carina would hunt us down no matter where we fled. My derisive grimace was reflex. “You don’t get it, do you?” She wouldn’t sign unless I shattered her, unless she believed I wanted this. “This…” I waved my hand between us. “Was all a game from the start.”
She swallowed, stumbling back a step. “No,no. Youtoldme at the festival your feelings were real. You said you didn’t lie. Why lie now?” Her lip curled, not in a snarl, but in a tremor of hurt so profound it almost looked like defiance. She landed several punches on my bicep. “Stop lying!” She shoved me with surprising strength, but I didn’t even flinch. It was her momentum that betrayed her, sending her stumbling back, off balance, the fight draining from her eyes.
“It worked, though, right? The constant lying…easing yourpatheticfear of dogs, sharing sob stories about my lousy childhood, flying in that cardiologist for your father….Heck, that specialist scored me bonus points since you were so grateful after your father’s party the other night. You were sowilling, weren’t you?” A snicker ripped from my chest as I shook my head. “I almost pitied you when you practically begged me to make love to you.” I let out a cold, short laugh devoid of any humor. “You want the truth? Here it is. It was an act. Every touch, every word—all calculated to get me exactly what Ineeded.” I stepped closer, invading her space now that her fight was gone. “Did you honestly believe someone like me...?” I let the question hang, implying her foolishness, “would fall for a woman like you?” I sneered, and a flicker of pain crossed her face, so I pressed harder. “You think anything could be more important than my family? Than my mother? You were a means to an end, Gemma. A reset button.” I bit the inside of my cheek as her eyes welled up. “I need this charade finalized. I need you gone so I can get back to my real life.” I thrust the pen once more. “Now sign the papers. There’s someone else waiting—someone who actually belongs in my world. Someone I intend to marry now that this… inconvenience… is dealt with.”
She choked on a sob. “All this time… you planned on marrying another…” Her nose wrinkled. “Let me guess? That Valentina woman.”
I gave a curt, indifferent nod, twisting the knife. “Does it matter who? Just sign.”
Sobbing, her shoulders shook.
I swallowed hard, forcing my gaze over her head toward the wall, clenching my jaw until it ached.Don’t look at her tears. Don’t look. If I did, the carefully constructed cruelty would shatter.
She snatched the pen and signed the document, the cheap plastic rattling against the paper between her trembling fingers. Her sobs softened into broken hiccups as she wiped furiously at her nose with her sleeve. “I hope you’re happy,” she whispered, the words ragged. She faced me, her eyes bloodshot but starkly clear now, stripped of illusion. “You and Carina won.” Her voice was small, hollowed out. “You kept your vow.” Shaking her head, she lugged her bags, the movement jerky and uncoordinated.
I stepped forward to help, but she shoved my hand away and passed me one last glare. “Congratulations.” With that final word, she stumbled forward, her legs unstable as she wheeledher luggage through the automatic doors, not once glancing back.
Sinking into the driver’s side, I placed my head on the wheel and belted out all the fury from my lungs.
I switched on the engine and sped out of the airport, headed for home. No. Not home. My prison. Once parked at the villa, I charged inside. “Carina!” I paced the foyer, my voice echoing off the high ceilings.
She descended partway down the stairs, stopping on the third step, her eyebrows raised at the commotion. “Enzo?”
