Page 152 of Corrado

Why?

Because she was right.

Entirely.

What made it worse was the pain he could plainly see staring back from this woman as she stood just a few feet away from him, hugging that book close to her chest, and refusing to meet his gaze. Her stance, the aura she was giving off, it all screamed one thing.

She felt unwanted.

Discarded.

Secondary.

It only left him more torn.

“Do you think he’ll come back?” she asked suddenly.

Corrado sighed and tipped his head to the side. “Eventually. It’s a messy thing … me and him, I mean. We’re not normal. Nothing about our relationship has ever been that, you know? We’ve had an open bedroom for years where women were concerned, but this was different. Things were different this time, and I can’t expect you to understand it.”

Ginevra nodded. “That’s what you meant by loyalty, right? You weren’t unfaithful. You were disloyal.”

He stiffened, realizing just how much she had heard in his conversation with Cree.

She didn’t give him the chance to reply before she added just as fast, “But you’re right, Corrado, I don’t understand because you never thought to tell me. You didn’t give me the chance to try to understand. Instead, I get to be the person in the middle—the one ruining something for someone else. I get it, though, it’s not about me for you, right? I’m not the one you want.”

Instead of coming into the office to drop off her book, and get a new one, she set it on the stand next to the door. All the while, Corrado’s heart raged because this woman didn’t understand.

She didn’t know anything at all.

Not about him.

Or Les.

And certainly not how he felt for her.

She deserved to know.

“You’re wrong,” Corrado said behind her. “You are entirely wrong, but I don’t know how to explain this to you because it barely makes sense to me.”

The last thing she needed to do was stand there and let that man justify his shitty actions to people he claimed to care about. And yet, something deep inside her soul came to wrap around her heart tightly, keeping her still in the doorway, even if her back was still turned to Corrado.

“Try, then,” she whispered.

“Ginevra—”

“Try, Corrado. That’s all you have to do. Try to explain it to me. You owe me that much, at least. I think you owe someone else a lot more, but he’s not here, so for now … we can deal with this. Me and you. Try.”

“There’s never been a you, Ginny.”

The crown molding on the hallway took her attention as she considered his words. “I don’t understand what that means.”

“Exactly, and neither do we. But there has never been a you—oh, there’s been women, yeah. Women he and I shared, or women we found separately, but there has never been a you. Someone like you who I felt something for, someone I was interested in beyond taking to bed. The more I tried to ignore it, because I did try, the worse it became.”

Corrado sighed loudly. “And that makes this complicated thing more fucking complicated than it already is with Alessio and I. That’s not your fault. You didn’t make us complicated or create this mess. We did it. The bigger problem is I don’t think this can be simplified down to who I want here, and that’s what you want me to give you. Isn’t it?”

Twisting her hands together, she wanted to say no. It would be a lie, though, and Ginevra wasn’t a liar. So, because she couldn’t say no, she chose to say nothing at all. It was just easier, and God knew there was enough about this situation that was hard.

Her heart felt like ashes.