Page 69 of Unravel Me

I close my eyes, ashamed of every word leaving my mouth.

"I was eighteen, deeply convinced I could handle anything and foolishly craving the fastest road to success. So… I contacted that recruiter. He looked through my Instagram and accepted me immediately. Almost overnight everything changed. The lucrative contracts started coming in, and my following exploded. But with that came the other part of the arrangement. The Ring." I close my eyes, scared to look at Mauro.

"Most of the men weren't that bad. Some were already older, over sixty; some were betas, a few were even omegas, and most of them were simply bored with their marriages. I hated it, but I forced myself through it. For a few months it was… bearable. Then Rocco Ferro, a mafia man known for his brutality, joined the Ring."

Something finally changes on Mauro's face. It's subtle, but his jaw noticeably clenches. And his heart is pounding sooo loudly.

"Before it was my turn, he'd already been with several other omegas from the Ring. Two ended up in the hospital, and another barely avoided it. So the Ring members voted to throw Rocco out. He didn't take it well, and one day… he abducted me." My voice shakes as I say it. I need to take a short pause before I finish this part of my story. Taking a deep breath, I notice a small gesture from Mauro toward me, as if he wants to take my hand, but I subtly pull it back. I need to focus and push through the worst part.

"He… raped me. And he intended to kill me. It was supposed to be Rocco’s lesson for the men running the Ring, but… his relatives stopped him."

I draw a deep breath. Mauro slowly turns his head aside, his eyes growing distant for a moment, as though some thought has pulled him far away, but again, his heart speaks another story. It’s galloping like a wild mustang.

"A week later, at an event I had to attend, a man approached me and asked what I was doing there and why I'd gotten involved with them. We started talking, and I was in such terrible shape mentally that I told him the truth… that Rocco was planning to kill me. Mark seemed outraged by what he'd heard and promised he would help me. We soon started a relationship. I agreed only because he was my chance to escape. Thanks to his family's political influence, he had considerable sway over many of the Ring's members, and he essentially bought my freedom from them."

Mauro's eyes return to my face. He's still listening intently. I get the impression he's making an effort to control the turmoil inside him, to focus, but he's still not quite managing it. His emotions remain stirred, his body tense.

"I probably wouldn't have stayed with Mark. We were far from perfect, but then Rocco Ferro forced his way back into the Ring and gradually rebuilt his influence. A few times when I ran into him at different social events, he'd warn me that I'd better stay with Mark because he had his eyes on me, and the moment I tried to leave… he'd be waiting for me."

I lower my head for a moment, fighting my sped-up pulse.

"So… I married Mark. The media portrays him now as a monster and a serial rapist, but in the beginning, he hid his… sickness. I was his broken angel, someone he'd rescued and could keep under his control. He managed my career exactly as he wanted. My Instagram grew, and I gained a certain level of fame. As a politician, he wanted someone at his side who brought supporters and attention. But the pressure of his political career kept mounting. Stress, setbacks, losing debates, constant disappointment. Gradually, our marriage changed. He started taking everything out on me, and then… the violence began."

Mauro's fist tightens even further. I can see the whiteness of his knuckles.

"Our son was born through surrogacy because Mark didn't want…" I pause, wincing bitterly. "…my body to be 'ruined’, as he put it. Tommy gave me a reason to keep going in this cruel, fake world, and I poured everything into raising him. Mark never loved him. The abuse only worsened, but I endured it for my son's sake and because I feared what would happen if Mark stopped protecting me from the Ring. A few months ago, everything collapsed when what he'd been doing to other omegas, his staff, and our surrogate came to light. The scandal broke, he was arrested, and the rest… became public knowledge."

I straighten a little and slowly let out a breath. I managed to say it all and not crumble into a million sobbing pieces, yay.

For a moment, we sit there in silence.

CHAPTER 12: JARED

Present day

Mauro's hand, which has been resting on the nesting kit, moves toward me and brushes lightly over my forearm. He pulls it back almost immediately, but the gesture is… sweet and consoling. I let my eyelids fall slightly, because I know the final piece of information still has to be said.

"Mauro… you need to know that I didn't come here by accident. I came here looking for my True Mate. A matchmaker with an incredible reputation told me I'd find my fated mate somewhere in these woods."

As I say it, I give him a pointed look, but still… Mauro's expression barely changes. He watches me with unwavering attention, though there's still a hint of tension beneath it. This time, however, it seems tinged with slight unease, as if something new is bothering him.

"In the forest… I went into heat." I trail off again, biting my lip.

Now is the part that sounds like pure fantasy, and I’m planning to watch for even the smallest reaction on Mauro's face and in his energy.

"It’s going to sound like crazy talk. There was… a being in the forest that stayed with me throughout my heat. It glowed with green and golden light. It's possible I imagined everything, delirious from heat, or maybe I ingested something, but I need you to know that something happened out there. I wasn't alone. At least I don't think I was."

A quiet pause follows. Mauro simply keeps looking at me as though he's waiting for the rest of the story. He doesn't seem remotely surprised by the possibility that I spent my heat with something supernatural. No shock. No disbelief. Nothing. He simply waits, and I have no idea what that means.

So I keep going.

"About the nesting kit. I don't know if I'm ready to accept a gift like this from anyone, or everything that comes with it. It wouldn't be fair to you. My life is complicated. There may still be dangerous people looking for me. I have a little boy depending on me."

I stop speaking and cough lightly.

"Then there's this whole mystery surrounding my True Mate, who's supposedly somewhere around here." I narrow my eyes, fixing him with my gaze, hoping he'll interrupt me and confess, clearing things up. But no. He stays stubbornly silent, which is a bit… discouraging.

"I’m confused, Mauro," I whisper, sighing. "I don’t know all the facts, and I can’t make sense of anything. I don’t want to promise something that could fall apart tomorrow. And I come with a lot of baggage. We’re drawn to each other, yes, but common sense tells me I need to be careful. So for now, I can’t accept this."