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“I wanted to.”
“That’s not an answer to my question.”
“Dominic, please, you must understand I was sworn to secrecy.”
“So, you were afraid to tell me your secret.”
“No!”
“Then why didn’t you?”
I inhaled. “Honestly, I wanted to get away from it all. I don’t ever want to talk about it because it brings my reality crashing in and that makes me wallow in self-pity. And there’s no point in that because my life is still mine. Pitying myself won’t change that.”
“Where have you been the last week?”
My eyes widened. “At my grandfather’s estate.”
“Getting ready to meet your future?”
I shut my eyes and reopened them. “I had no choice.”
“You were going to marry my father?”
I could feel the anger pouring from him.
“I had no idea it was your father, or that this was his estate. All the details have been kept from me until this point. I was only told it was my time to play my part in this wicked underworld game. I was held captive. My phone was taken and I was watched day and night. And yes, all that happened because of my grandfather’s wishes. He did this because I rebelled against him and this life. I couldn’t get away, okay?”
His Italian curses went on for the better part of a minute.
“If you had told me this, I could’ve protected you.”
“I didn’t know I needed protection from my own grandfather! I thought he was my protection. That was the whole purpose of changing my name and making me enroll in school.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you happened to enroll in the school where I’m an administrator.”
“If that is true, I have no idea what the reason would be.”
“To get close to me, perhaps.”
“I would need to have knowledge of that, wouldn’t I?”
He stared at me so long I thought he’d burn a hole in my face.
“Dominic—”
“How can I trust you?”
“I’m in here with you right now. If you don’t trust me, you could toss me over the balcony and never have to worry about it again, but it would be in vain because I am yours to keep.”
“But you answer to another man. Mine…” he growled, “would never.”
I was becoming exhausted, and I wondered if he meant to wear me down.
“I’m afraid of him,” I confessed. “He said…” I hesitated and left that statement incomplete. “I have not been placed in your life to trip you up or whatever you think is happening. Please believe me. I never wanted this life.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.”
