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“I was still upset about what happened. This gave me closure. It gave me justice. Now we can both move on.”
“Justice?” she whispered. “Pretending to execute me is justice? For me trying to save my father’s life? What about everything that’s happened after that? What about Martina? Christmas? How many times have I told you I loved you without you saying it back? I signed all that stupid paperwork to prove your money means nothing to me. I did all of that…but you really couldn’t let it go?”
I held her gaze without any idea what to say.
“You somehow found a woman who loves you for you…and you do this to her?”
“You aren’t so innocent—”
“We’ve come a long way since then. We’re different people now—both of us. We have a little girl at home right now, and you thought it was appropriate to pull this stunt? Fuck you. Just…fuck you.” She held up her hand and looked away, like my presence was too much for her.
I hated myself for how much I’d hurt her. I hated myself for being the cold and vicious man I was. “We’re even now. We can move forward and start over—clean slate.”
She gave a sarcastic laugh. “Let me shoot you in the head, and we’ll be even.”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen. Bates shouldn’t have done that—”
“And you trusted that hotheaded psychopath? I bet he’s the one who talked you into doing it in the first place.”
I didn’t confirm it.
“Because the man I’ve been sleeping with wouldn’t have done that on his own.” She still wouldn’t look at me.
“I will punish Bates for what he did. He won’t get away with this.”
“I couldn’t care less about him. You’re the one I care about, Cato. He’s not in this relationship—you are.” She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her gaze focused on the door.
“I’m going to kill him.”
No reaction.
“I’m going to shoot him in front of the fountain.”
“Is that how you solve all your problems?” she hissed. “Making them kneel and take a bullet to the brain? You already picked your brother over me, so there’s no point in killing him. Whether he lives or dies makes no difference to me.”
I stared at the side of her face and the white gauze that nearly matched her pearly skin. I could feel the hatred ripple out of her body in waves. All the love and affection I used to feel from her disappeared. I’d done terrible things to her in the past, but she’d somehow still loved me. But now…it seemed like I’d pushed her too far. “I’m sorry.”
Her arms tightened over her chest. “Can I go? I need to get home and check on Martina.”
Forcing a conversation when the wound was so fresh wouldn’t change anything. She was livid with me and needed space. Maybe once she cooled down, she might listen to me. “I’ll take you home now.”
When we stepped out of the car, it was dawn. The sun rose over the horizon, and her blood was still visible on the ground. Drops of it had been left behind. She stopped and stared at it, like she was reliving that moment.
Then she marched into the house as quickly as she could, like she was trying to get away from me.
I let her get a head start.
I joined her in the baby’s room upstairs. Siena sat in the rocking chair and breastfed Martina, rocking back and forth slowly as the sun filtered through the open window. I stared at her from the doorway, thinking about how beautiful she looked—how terrible I felt.
She looked up when she realized I was there. “Go away.” She barely raised her voice as she addressed me. “Don’t make me ask you again.” She looked back at our daughter who was eating breakfast from her tits.
I wanted to stand there and watch her nourish our daughter because it was a beautiful sight. There was something so simple about it, so peaceful. But I knew I wasn’t welcome—and I shouldn’t be welcome.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I went to my office to work.
10
Siena
There were no words to describe what I was feeling.
Other than the pain I felt in my head, I felt pain everywhere else too—especially my heart.
I hadn’t seen it coming because I trusted Cato so blindly. Even if he didn’t say he loved me, I knew he loved me from the bottom of his heart. I knew he would never hurt me, never torture me.
But I was wrong about all of that.
Maybe he didn’t love me.
Maybe I was just a stupid fool.
I moved some of my clothes and essentials back into my old bedroom while Cato was in his office. There was no way I would be sleeping next to him anymore. I used to hate sleeping in my bed alone, but now I preferred it over the man who’d betrayed me so violently.
