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“Never,” I rasp. “It wasn’t like that.”
“I read the forums. They’re saying Frederic Capello might have even engineered your dad’s death. You spent five years locked up because of him. Anyone would be murderous.”
My heart pounds so hard that it aches.
She shifts in her seat. “My biological father took so much from your family, and I was standing in the way of getting it back. I’ve had six months to come to terms with it, and I can’t even say that I hate you.”
“Emberly?”
“Thank you for coming here to apologize,” she says, her words a monotone. “I appreciate the closure.”
My brows pull together. This isn’t my Emberly. Where’s the rage? Where’s the fire? She’s flat. Cold. Dead. “What does that mean?”
“That I want you to leave. If you want your money back for the paintings, or the rest of what I inherited from Frederic Capello, get in touch with Martina at the Di Marco Law Group, and she’ll send over the paperwork.”
“I don’t want your money.”
With a groan, she rises off the sofa and heads for the door. Seeing her so distant is a kick in the balls. It’s like I’ve broken her heart beyond hope. I hold her by the shoulder.
“Please, let’s talk.”
“There’s nothing left to say.” She shrugs me off. “You got what you wanted. In return, you gave me false hope that I was talented and worthy of love.”
My eyes widen. “No?—”
“Yes.” She reaches the door. “You were using me to get back at my father and you’ve succeeded. Unless you’re here to put a bullet through my heart, we’re even.”
My jaw drops. She’s serious. Even though she cries herself to sleep and calls out my name at night, she still wants me to leave.
“But what about the baby?” I ask.
She glances down at her bump. “I was pregnant by the time we met. Didn’t you ever wonder why Jim pursued me so relentlessly?”
I shake my head. “He wanted your inheritance. You’re just saying that to hurt me.”
Shrugging, she looks me straight in the eye. “If it was your baby, I would have had an abortion. I wouldn’t let any part of you continue living in my body. The only reason I’m keeping this child is because his father is dead.”
Shock steals my breath, and I reel forward. My detective didn’t find any computerized medical records for her, so I know nothing about the rate of her pregnancy. Just as I’m trying to process Emberly’s revelation, she walks out, leaving me alone in her apartment, staring at the closed door.
* * *
I wait all day for Emberly to return, hoping she isn’t skipping out of town to find somewhere else to hide. If she’s still in contact with the Di Marco Law Group, they might even help her relocate.
When it gets dark, I send a text to the men I’ve stationed in the apartment opposite to message me the moment Emberly returns. Then I walk to my car and drive back to New Alderney.
A numb fog clouds my senses on the journey home, and I replay our conversation again and again and again until I’ve analyzed every hurtful word.
Emberly gave me no room to maneuver. She wouldn’t believe that while I was scamming her, my feelings for her had grown into love. She was even sympathetic to my reasons and offered me the rest of Frederic Capello’s wealth.
I thought the baby would be my way back into her life, yet she cut me down. It even makes a sick sort of sense that she left Callahan the moment she discovered she was pregnant.
Fuck.
I can’t even complain, considering I was the one who turned a simple kiss into a month-long abduction.
My phone rings, interrupting my thoughts. I pick up, hoping it’s one of the men watching over Emberly.
“Roman?” says a familiar male voice. “It’s Ernest. When shall I expect you at the gallery?”
