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Christine stared back at me with pleading eyes. “Are you going to tell your father?”
I shook my head … she was worried about … herself. “Unlike you, I don’t want to see you hurt,” I said, and stormed away.
I knew Angelo would catch up in no time. From the corner of my eye, I could see him throwing money on the table. Even before I had reached the entrance he was walking next to me. His cap sat low on his head, hiding his eyes from view. I saw his hand snake out and hit the button of the elevator. The doors switched open immediately. I walked in and waited stiffly for him. It was a small space, but he managed to keep a generous distance away from me, just as I had known he would. And I hated it.
A wave of loneliness suddenly overwhelmed me. At Christine’s betrayal.
“You can stop investigating who gave my location away to the kidnapers,” I said bitterly. “It was just like you said. Christine let herself be bought by some smooth-talking guys. They persuaded her to put a tracker in her purse.”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“Yeah, so am I.”
For a while, neither of us said anything as we crossed the deserted underground car park. Then I stopped and looked at him. “Are you going to tell my father?”
He shrugged. “She’s young. She made a mistake. If you are not going to see her again or reveal important things about yourself to people who are friends with her, I guess it won’t be necessary.”
“Thank you,” I said softly. “Thank you. I know it sounds like I’m being silly, but I know her parents. They are good people and it will break their hearts if anything bad happens to her. She is everything to them. They even sold their home to send her to the university in England and they live in rented accommodation in a horrible part of town now.”
Angelo just shook his head. “That’s a real shame.”
“That’s what I thought too. I was planning to buy them a nice house, because I thought it would eventually go to Christine, but now I’ll just move them into a nice house and let them live out their days there.”
His sharp gaze softened. “That would be a really nice thing to do.”
“Can I drive?” I asked. “I don’t want to stay still. I need something to distract me.”
“Okay,” he agreed, and passed the car key to me.
We walked to the car in silence.
Once in the driver’s seat, I turned on the engine. Then I couldn’t wait a second longer. I switched off the engine and turned to him. “Why are you still here? You said you couldn’t protect me after being so intimate with me. So why are you still here?”
He folded his arms across his chest ... his gaze straight ahead. “I’ll leave,” he said, “when I can convince myself you’ll be okay if I do.”
My heart stumbled. I felt raw and I decided I didn’t really care anymore for relationships that did not serve me. If someone was going to leave me anyway then let them go. It killed me to say it, but I did. “It’ll hurt,” I whispered, “but I won’t die. I’ll recover. You don’t have to force yourself to stay just because you’re worried about if I’ll be able to take your absence or not.”
“Okay,” he said, turning his gaze towards me. “Then I’ll put it this way then. I’ll leave when I’m able to convince myself that I’ll be okay if I do.”
Shock reverberated through me. I returned my gaze to him, eyes round at what he had just said.
He released a shuddering breath. “I wanted to be sure you were the one. I wanted to give us some time. I had plans, but they needed time. After Fabio proposed to you last night though, I knew there was no need to wait a moment longer. You are the one. You always were. From the moment I saw you at the pool, you got into my brain, my blood. I’m going to fight for you, Sienna. Just be patient. As you know very well, I need your father’s approval.”
Tears fell from my eyes and splashed onto my cheeks. “He’ll never give it. Not to you.”
He took his hat off his head, placed it on his lap, and then curved his hand around the side of my face. “Will you trust me? I know what I am doing. I promise to be the man waiting for you at the altar.”
I leaned into his warmth and his touch, my heart close to bursting. I nodded blindly, tears filling my eyes. I breathed in the warm, male scent of him and felt like I was in a beautiful dream I didn’t want to wake up from. I wished I could remain inside my car in the car park forever. The rest of the world could go to hell. I would never have believed he would make such a promise. God, how I wanted to believe him. That we could actually have my father’s blessing. A part of me knew it was a lie, but with the same stubborn determination I refused to believe Christine could have been the one even though it was clear she was the only one who could have done it, I clung to his promise.
