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Nico’s lips compressed to form a gash in his face. “He’s broke. He kept saying it had been a bad six months. He reeked of alcohol when he first arrived. Honestly? He needed me to bail him out. And I didn’t know then what I do now. I felt sorry for him. I just remember the way he was in school, and I wanted to see him succeed. So I told him I’d invest in him – that I’d set up an amount for his use. His effort, my capital, we’d split the returns. I thought it would be a way to get him back on his feet without making him swallow his pride.”
She nodded, her delicate features impossible to read, but hearing him say what he’d offered her abuser made him sick now. “Did you feel he’d be able to do that?”
“No.” He grimaced. “Not necessarily. But I felt I owed it to him to allow him to try.”
“And lose your money?”
“I have enough money.”
She nodded again, slowly, and all he could do was stare at her beautiful face, marred by the beginnings of a bruise, and swollen at her cheek. He hated to think how often she’d been like this because of Michael. He hated a lot of things in that moment.
“I’m the reason he’s had a bad six months.” She whispered the words. “Is that what he meant, do you think?”
That she thought so was impossible to tolerate. “He’s the reason he’s had a bad six months, a bad life.” He moved closer, brushing her lips with his, needing her to understand. “Losing you hurt him, of that I have no doubt, but not because of who you are. Because he lost the ability to control you, and he thrived on that. I am so sorry you ever went through this. I’m so sorry you’ve ever known a day’s fear in your life.” He kissed her again, still gently, but with all the truth of his feelings. “I wish there was something I could do to take that pain away.”
She put a little distance between them, lifting a hand and running it over his undamaged cheek. “Don’t you see, Nico? You have.” And she smiled, a smile that reminded him so forcefully of the way she’d been the day they’d met. It was like the sun piercing the clouds in the sky. “I came here so broken and then I met you and without even realising it, you put everything back together inside of me.”
His chest compressed. Something burst through him. Something good. Warm and pleasant and addictive.
He didn’t speak – there was no need. Not when her perfect words hung between them.
But a moment later, a little line formed between her brows. “What will happen to him?”
The warmth dissipated and for the briefest moment there was something else. A flash of jealousy. It surprised him, and he suppressed it immediately, refusing to feel it. She wasn’t asking out of concern. It was natural she’d want to know. “What would you like to happen to him?”
“Honestly?”
Jealousy fired once more.
“Yes.” His word was hoarse, and curt.
She bit down on her lip, her eyes scanning his face. “I just never want to think about him again. I don’t want to be afraid of him, I don’t want to know he even exists.”
Nico expelled a breath of relief. “You won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because he’s going to prison for a very long time.”
“Prison?” Her eyes flew wide. “Really?”
“Oh, yes, cara. I intend to make sure of it.”
“Seriously?”
“Here, in Italy, what Michael did this afternoon is assault. And the fact he threatened to kill you, in my presence, makes it likely he’ll get a very long sentence.”
“How long?”
“The maximum for aggravated assault is twenty years. It won’t be that,” he shook his head. “But with two charges for assault, and a charge for his threats, it could be up to fifteen.”
“Fifteen years?” Her mouth opened. And sympathy crossed her face. “So long?”
Jealousy, again. “You don’t want this?”
“I –,” she dropped her eyes to their legs, her expression impossible to read. He didn’t pressure her but every moment of silence pulled at his nerves. “I wish I didn’t,” she said earnestly. “I can see the way his life could have turned out, and I wish he hadn’t turned into the kind of man he is. But he did. And he hurt me and he scared me and honestly? I don’t think he’s capable of stopping himself. I think prison is the best place for him.”
Pride. Admiration. Affection. He felt every single one of those emotions to the core of his being.
