AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Haven’t you seen enough?’ She moved to take the file from him.
He looked up. ‘These pictures, when were they taken?’
‘When do you think?’ He continued to stare at her. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake. There’s a date stamp on the back.’
He flipped a few over and stared at the dates. ‘This is dated six weeks after we parted.’
So he remembered when he’d ended their engagement? Why wouldn’t he? He’d documented her every move to use as evidence against her. ‘We didn’t part, Rocco. You threw me out of the Palermo villa and the Milan apartment.’
The brief flare of his patrician nostrils was the only indication that he’d heard her. ‘You remained in Milan all that time?’ He was frowning again.
‘I remained in Milan for two months, as you well know.’
He didn’t answer this time as he set down one photo and
picked up another. After examining each one, he finally picked up the transcript. Again he took his time reading the two-double-sided court document that forbade her from ever contacting Rocco Vitelli or coming within speaking distance of him.
Finally, he closed the file and stood. His face had grown gaunt; his pallor even more ashen, as if he’d received the worst shock of his life. But with his back against the window, Mia couldn’t be certain. What she could see was that he was staring at the file as if it were an alien being.
‘Makes grim reading, doesn’t it, seeing it all in black and white? Now that you’ve refreshed your memory, can you please go?’
He lifted his gaze to her and Mia bit back a gasp at the stark torment in the dark depths of his eyes. When he exhaled, it emerged a harsh, cracked sound.
‘I have no idea who did this to you, Mia. But it wasn’t me.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘EXCUSE ME?’ Mia was sure her hearing was playing tricks on her.
‘This—’ Rocco lifted the file ‘—was not my doing.’ His voice was as stark as the look in his eyes. With abrupt movements he slammed the file on the chair. ‘I swear it.’
Light-headed with the rapid drain of blood from her head, she swayed against the cabinet. ‘This is not your doing,’ she echoed the words through numb lips. Her brain struggled even harder to grasp their meaning.
‘No. It is not.’ He advanced as he spoke until he stood right in front of her. Up close, she could see the terrible tension that gripped his face, held his body taut. ‘If the evidence in that file is to be believed...’ he paused at her outraged gasp ‘...then someone has perpetrated a terrible injustice on both of us.’
‘Someone?’ She’d found her voice, even though it emerged higher than she would have wished. ‘You seriously expect me to believe that this had nothing to do with you? That someone else did this? How stupid do you think I am?’
He let out another harsh breath and grasped her arms. ‘You need to calm down so we can talk about this rationally.’
‘No!’ She wrenched herself away from him. ‘Enough. Please, enough. Whatever game you’re playing, it’s gone on long enough. You said you’d leave once I showed you the evidence. You’ve seen it. Now leave.’ She was hanging by a thread, and she didn’t know how much more she could take. Rushing to the door on unsteady feet, she reached for the doorknob.
‘I understand you’re emotional—’
She rounded on him. ‘Of course I’m emotional. I’m human, not a robot like you. I don’t revel in mind games the way you do. At least have the decency not to insult my intelligence. You know every single shred of evidence in that file is the truth. The charges may have been trumped up, but it’s based on the truth, or a twisted version of it. I sent you those emails. I made those phone calls. I camped outside your office for a chance to talk to you. For two months I tried to get you to talk to me, and I used every means available to me because I thought you had the right to know about your unborn child. But to use it against me that way? To accuse me of stalking?’ She stopped to swallow a sob that threatened to escape. ‘You disgust me, you know that?’
‘Basta! If you would just calm down and think this through properly, you’ll realise I speak the truth.’
‘No. You listen to me for a change. I want you out of my house, and out of my life. Here, take the file with you. You can refresh your memory over a glass of Chianti. But know this. If you ever turn up on my doorstep again, I will take action against you for harassment.’
Her rant went unanswered as he slowly dug his hand into his breast pocket. ‘Did you hear what I said?’ she demanded, fighting a wave of hysteria that threatened to suck her under.
When his hand emerged, he held his passport. He turned to retrieve the file. ‘Come here.’ His terse command achieved the opposite. She held her ground and remained by the door. After a moment, he looked up. ‘Mia, if you want this nightmare to end for both of us, indulge me for a moment. Per favore.’
Against her better judgement, she moved towards him, morbid curiosity biting into her. He had the file opened to where his statement was etched in grim black and white. Words like dangerous, unhinged, obsessed jumped out at her and she cringed as tears prickled behind her eyes.
Rocco flipped the statement to the last page. Opening his passport, he held it next to his signed statement. ‘Do you see a difference?’
Blinking, she frowned. ‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’
