AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4
Portofino, 2000
Today was supposed to be an ordinary day. When I woke up this morning and had breakfast with my daughter, I never imagined my life would come down crashing and burning by dinnertime.
Remy looked as cheery as she was when she left to take a stroll around the plaza with her basket full of baked treats, but the man behind her was pure darkness. He was looking at me like I stepped out from the dead, and maybe for him I was.
Roman Stefani. The love of my life. The father of my baby. He represented everything I hated in life. People like him ruined my life.
“Look, Mama.” Remy ran to me and showed me a hundred euros bill. “Can I start ballet now?”
“I… we’ll talk later, ok.” I wanted to hug her, but my hands were shaking too hard. “Go upstairs, baby, ok? I have a few things to do.”
“Ok.” My precious Romina, always so good. “Can I say goodbye to the doggy?”
I looked at Roman’s feet to see a monster of a Doberman looking cocky as hell in his leash. That wasn’t a doggy; that was a damn mighty form of wildlife.
“Baby, I don’t think so…”
“No, Mama, it’s ok.” Before I got to say anything in protest, she bolted to the dog and petted him between the ears. All the beast did was push its head into her palm. “Max is a good boy.”
In perspective, he looked less dangerous than the man holding the leash.
“Ok. Upstairs now, Romina.”
She turned to Roman before leaving.
“Goodbye, sir. Thank you.”
“You are very welcome.” He spoke to her calmly, in his usual velvety voice.
“Will you come and see me when I’m a ballerina?”
I felt like a sword of pain slashed my heart right open listening to Remy. She was always so open to people; sometimes I was worried that she felt I wasn’t enough for her. She was a loved child, but she never got the chance to be daddy’s little girl because I’d stolen that from her.
Roman’s answer didn’t help my mood with anything.
“I will be in the first row. Listen to your mother now.”
Romina disappeared up the stairs to our private rooms, leaving Roman and I in a suffocating silence. I took a second – just one lonely second – to look at him. He hadn’t changed one bit in six years. He was still the beautiful man that swept me off my feet in six hours and made me feel like the world was mine. His brown hair was perfect, his eyes looked like someone dripped chocolate in them, just like my daughter’s, his beard was short, like he always kept it, and his body was still rock hard. Sexy, beautiful darkness that I loved…used to love.
He’d lied to me every day we’d been together.
“How did you find me?” I whispered after checking once more to see if Remy was out of there.
He let out a very low and unamused chuckle before pushing the door open and ordering the dog to wait outside.
“I didn’t find you.” He put his hands in his pockets and took a couple of steps towards me. I was so grateful for the counter between us. “In fact, Portofino is the first place I wasn’t looking for you in the past six fucking years.” He kept his voice low and controlled, but I knew Roman. His words started stretching with tension. He was mad, and that terrified me. The man I loved was sweet and gentle, but the man that was hiding behind that façade could have been anything. A gangster. A man without religion.
“You know why I left.”
He stroked his chin and shook his head.
“No. No, Salvatrice, I have no fucking idea, because you left me a four-word note that could have meant anything, so why don’t you spell it out for me.”
“Roman…”
His face changed when I said his name, like he ate something bitter.
