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She flinched as if I had struck her and cradled the bundle, those beautiful amber eyes sheened with tears, her skin paler than a ghost’s. I wanted to drag the words back and apologise… Me, who had never apologised to anyone, until I had met her.

The thought of how weak she had made me already had the panic clawing at my throat.

I grabbed my jacket from the dresser chair, slung it on.

But as I headed towards the door, she lurched forward and grabbed my arm, the puppy still wriggling against her chest.

‘Dante, what’s wrong? Why can’t we keep it?’ She looked distraught at my reaction. Her gaze searched my face, looking for something I had told her wasn’t there. The fear that it might be there after all only made me feel more exposed, my emotions choking me.

I tugged my arm free. ‘Get rid of it, or I will destroy it for you,’ I said, then I charged out of the room, desperate to outrun the sound of her sobs and the puppy’s barking, and the waking nightmare which was hurling me back to that terrible day, when I had failed everyone. Those I’d loved, most of all.

Evie

I stood frozen in shock as I watched Dante disappear and slam the door behind him. Fatigue and heartache dragged me down, the harrowing sense of loss overwhelming.

The man I loved didn’t exist. Had he ever existed? And how could I stop loving him now? Because I couldn’t seem to turn off my feelings for him, despite the damning evidence I’d just witnessed with my own eyes.

The puppy licked my chin, scooping up the tears streaming down my face. I brushed them away. I would have to find it another home. It devastated me that I couldn’t keep the pet, that it wasn’t the answer I’d hoped for… But what devastated me so much more was Dante’s violent reaction to a defenceless puppy—his threats against it. Because it had forced me to face the truth about him.

I’d been kidding myself all along. All those aspects of his personality, the signs of love for me I’d thought I’d glimpsed over time—his tenderness, his need, his playfulness, his approval and admiration—I’d imagined them all.

The man I’d seen in that dressing room wasn’t traumatised by something that had happened twenty years ago. He was a monster. And somehow, I was going to have to find a way to stop loving him… Or he would destroy me, too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Dante

It took over an hour for me to walk off the fear that had consumed me as soon as I had seen the small dog in Eva’s arms.

The memories that I had locked away for so long had played through my head on a loop as I headed through Central Park, intending to make it to the offices of Rocco Properties. But somehow, I hadn’t reached my destination, because with each step I took, each painful breath scoring my lungs, as the old nightmares had died, a new one had taken its place.

Eva’s beautiful face, ravaged by shock and grief. The expectation and excitement I’d witnessed so many times in the past few weeks, that had begun to frighten me so much… Gone for good. Because I had killed them.

And suddenly, everything that had terrified me so much had no power to hurt me now—because what hurt so much more was the thought of Eva never looking at me again with hope in her eyes. For me, for us.

What the fuck had I done? With my fear, my anger?

I called my PA and told him to cancel the meetings I had scheduled for the day, as I found myself turning back through the park, towards the townhouse. As I entered the front door, I noticed the bunch of spring flowers arranged in a vase on the hall table.

Eva’s doing. Just one of the many things she had done in the past weeks to make our house a home. The small touches that she found so fulfilling and I had tried so hard not to notice. Because I was a coward. Just like all the times she had tried to ask me about my past, and I had shut her down so ruthlessly, trying desperately not to let her get any closer… When I knew now, she was already lodged in my heart.

I jogged down the stairs to the basement level, where the staff lived and Eva usually started her day.

But when I entered the kitchen area, an area I rarely visited, only Maria was there, busy polishing some silverware.

‘Where is my wife?’ I asked, my throat rusty.

She stood and gave a small bow, making me aware of how little I knew her, or any of the people that worked for me. I gave orders. But Eva was the one who had forged a relationship with all of them.

‘She said she had an early meeting, Mr Malvini,’ she said, but then her eyes became shadowed, her cheeks turning red. ‘She seemed quite distressed when she dropped the puppy off with me. She told me I needed to find it a new home…’

The puppy. Eva’s puppy.

I felt sick with guilt. The puppy I had threatened to kill, because I’d been so fucking terrified of the feelings for her which I could no longer contain. Feelings I’d tried to destroy.

‘It’s still here?’ I asked.

‘Yes, sir, it’s sleeping in the pantry.’