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“I don’t think she’s the kind of woman who would lie about what’s in her heart.”
“Intentionally, no. I think she liked the fantasy of me better than the reality. When faced with the prospect of telling her family about the guy who wasn’t Catholic and didn’t have a drop of Italian blood in his veins…not so much.” He shook his head. “Until then, I’d never heard that money didn’t fix everything.”
“Maybe she just needed time to tell them gently.”
“I understood why she didn’t want to spring the surprise on them the day her brother died, but I thought she’d do it in the next few days. Certainly before the funeral. But she didn’t. Instead, she attended without me.”
“Ouch.”
Jason hated to admit even now the agony that had caused him. He’d needed to lend her support, hold her hand, and be her rock. But she’d turned away from him and anything he might have provided her. Instead, she’d disregarded their vows, not to mention the promises she’d made to him as her Dominant, and elected to do everything for her family alone. In some ways, he’d been proud as hell of her strength and tenacity. But he’d been fucking infuriated, too.
“She barely called that first week. Never came to see me. I left her umpteen messages. It didn’t take long before she stopped returning them. A week slid into a month. I’m not unfamiliar with the mayor. I asked him to poke around to find out what the hell was wrong. He did some digging, and I learned that Gia was consoling her parents and helping her sister-in-law through an injury of some sort. She was also caring for her nephew and newborn niece.”
“She had a lot of people counting on her. Her communication could have been better, but you can’t fault her priorities.”
“No. However, I can fault her for turning into a one-woman vigilante squad, determined to bring down the gangster who’d killed her brother.”
Thorpe nodded. “If you discovered that she was gunning for him, you absolutely had to deal with the situation.”
“And I did,” Jason confirmed. “As soon as I found out, I called and left her another message, telling her that she had twenty-four hours to contact me or there would be hell to pay. I’d had enough. I missed my wife. She hadn’t let me lift a finger to take care of her, goddamn it.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing. A day went by. Then another.” He dragged in a deep breath. “She didn’t bother to refuse; she just didn’t acknowledge me at all.”
Thorpe sat up and leaned across the desk. “Seriously?”
“She went back into that ghetto and tried to arrest the punk by herself. And he shot at her. I was fucking done.”
“I don’t blame you. What did you do?”
“I reached out to a few people, called in favors, greased palms.” Jason shifted in his chair. “I had her put behind a desk. There was no way I was going to stand by and watch her get killed.”
“I’m sure that got her attention.”
“Oh, she came to see me that night, angrier than hell and itching for a fight. I was dumb enough to give it to her. She threw her ring back at me and stormed out. Hell of an early Christmas present.” He shook his head grimly. “I haven’t spoken to her since.”
He’d tried. For months, he’d called. Not to apologize. He wasn’t going to say that he was sorry for trying to keep her safe, especially after she’d backed him into a corner. But he’d left messages asking her to fucking talk to him, to at least meet him halfway. Nothing. The last time he’d called her, he’d gotten a recording that her number was disconnected. Somewhere between fed up and worried, he’d climbed into the car and driven across the city through rush hour and road construction to her house—only to find that she’d moved out months ago and new owners had taken her place.
Never once had Gia asked for his help. She’d just picked up and carried on with her life as if he didn’t matter. No, as if he no longer existed.
Damn it, his chest throbbed again.
“These last months must have been difficult, but you did the right thing. You can’t force her to submit if she doesn’t want to put herself in your hands.”
“Don’t I fucking know it.” Jason raked a hand through his hair. “Since she apparently wants nothing to do with me, I keep expecting her to file for divorce. I’m surprised she hasn’t.”
“Why haven’t you?”
“Since I can’t find her, that’s not possible.” No, that was an excuse—and he knew it. “Even if I could, I’m not ready to quit. We only had twelve hours together as man and wife. I’ve seen people get divorced quickly, but even that would be a record.” Besides, their time together had been damn near perfect. He needed to understand why she’d ended all contact and cut him off at the knees. He might have to give her up eventually, but he refused to do it without a fight.
“I don’t know Gia’s side of the story,” Thorpe admitted. “When she called to revoke her membership, she sounded stressed and upset. I pressed gently, but she wouldn’t talk. I’d be violating my own rules if I gave you her current contact information, but I can call and ask if she’d be willing to speak to you.” He sighed, sneaking a sideways glance at Callie. “Because if someone left me like that, I wouldn’t rest until I had answers.”
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER THREE
Gia Angelotti sat across from Jason and tried not to visibly shake. Impossible. The man—and the power that rolled off him—always rattled her.
