Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 27333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Damn her, damn her, damn her.
He should have known better than to let her get under his skin.
Should've known better than to let himself believe such a girl like her truly existed.
He was the Beast of New York.
Did he really think she'd always be loyal to him, and that no one would be able to steal her away?
Yes, I fucking did.
She knocked on his door at a quarter to midnight.
What the hell?
It seemed he was wrong about her, after all.
What he had assumed earlier was carelessness on her part was actually a complete absence of care, since she was now standing in front of him.
Damn her.
Did she mean to drive him crazy by saying goodbye before leaving him for another man?
"So..."
His wife had changed into a dark-colored shirt and jeans. Her face was bare of makeup, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She had obviously been crying, and she was just as obviously struggling to find the right words.
Why, dammit?
Why couldn't she choose him?
What did he have to do to make her choose him?
A part of Lorenzo was viciously tempted to show his wife just how much of a beast he could be and tell her there was no fucking way he would let her leave him.
But the other half of him was already dead.
Because he realized now that all he wanted was for her to be happy.
"You haven't told me what's the plan yet."
And if her being happy with another man was part of the plan—-
So be it, Lorenzo thought hollowly.
He had never imagined his wife could be this cruel or crazy, to actually expect him to protect her even when she was already with another man.
But so fucking be it.
His wife lifted her chin. "Whether you like it or not—-"
Lorenzo only stared at her. Did she really believe—-
"I'm coming with you."
—-he would understand what she meant by coming with him?
What the hell was she talking about?
"There's no need to pretend," his wife muttered. "I've lived my whole life with Giancarlo. Do you think I wouldn't spot someone paranoid like him from miles away? We both know this—-" Gazelle impatiently gestured to the necklace he had given her. "—-comes with GPS tracking and recording—-"
His wife ended up gasping as he yanked her inside his room.
"Damn you."
Her tears finally fell, but he was not moved at all, since his heart was still half-dead after what she had made him think.
"I thought you were leaving me for him, damn you!"
"I would never—-" She suddenly stopped speaking, and she was now looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time.
"You're jealous," his wife whispered.
Lorenzo was this close to shaking some sense into her.
Why was she suddenly talking like an idiot?
"Of course I'm jealous," he snarled down at her. "How the hell can I not be jealous when everyone knows Bianciardi is a much better man—-"
"I love you," his wife blurted out.
And just like that, Lorenzo completely forgot what he had to say.
"I've known it for some time," Gazelle confessed unevenly, "but I was worried I'd scare you off if I told you."
All he could do was stare at her, and a smile wobbled over her lips.
"That hurt me earlier, you know."
"I...hurt you?"
She nodded, and his chest tightened.
"I'm sorry," Lorenzo said tautly. "I didn't know I was hurting you or how I was hurting you—-"
"I know that now. But earlier, when you were just suddenly so silent—-"
He finally understood where her pain was coming from, and his chest tightened all the more.
"It was like you suddenly changed."
Her voice broke, and his own heart broke with her.
"I'm sorry, tesoro."
She started crying in earnest as soon as he called her his treasure, and all he could do was take her in his arms.
"I thought you g-grew bored with me," she choked out.
That he had made her think such a thing flayed him.
"Mi dispiace." I'm sorry. "I never meant to hurt you. But seeing you with another man, and hearing the things he said, and thinking that you believed him—-"
"I understand." His wife wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I just wished I had figured it out sooner."
"Figured out what?"
"What you kept secret from me."
Lorenzo stiffened. "I have never lied to you—-"
"But you never told me you're different with me either."
Ah.
"Or that you only enjoyed talking to me. Alone."
Incredibile, Lorenzo thought. The smugness in his wife's tone was undeniable, and he actually found it cute.
"And I get this, too."
He stared at her warily.
"What you're doing now."
Her tone was gently teasing but tender at the same time, and he just didn't know how to handle it.
"Every time you're suddenly silent, it just means there are things you don't want to say. Or things you're not ready to think about. And as much as I want to tease you about this—-"
His wife cupped his face.