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“What happened?” I blink in surprise and Alessandro laughs softly and pulls me closer.
The man doesn’t even move, as Alessandro says loudly, “We set up a meeting in a restaurant to rescue you. We had planned it down to the very last detail. My grandfather had paid all of Massimo’s men off and they had agreed to switch their loyalty to him.”
He laughs out loud. “Not that Massimo knew, of course. He thought he had the upper hand as always and believed we were walking into an ambush. But we were never going to take a chance with you. Whatever happened that day, you were coming back with us, and Massimo would leave Scarpetta in a body bag. I was hidden from his view with my gun trained on his head and as soon as the diversion arrived, I was to take him out.”
He laughs and circles the body of a living corpse and shakes his head. “Then everything changed. Just before I pulled the trigger, you stepped into the line of fire. Before anyone registered what was happening, you injected him with something that obviously terrified the shit out of him.”
“It was me?” My eyes are wide as I look at the man I brought to his knees and Alessandro nods. “He fell and took you down with him, which is why you hit you head. So, it was you who brought the great Massimo Delauren down and I’m guessing it was an act of desperation to set you free from a mad man.”
I inch a little closer and stare at the man who appears so defenseless now. “But he’s so old.” I curl my lip in disgust and Alessandro spits, “You can thank your father for that. He promised you to his friend, and you never got a say in the matter. He kept you locked in his mansion and made you his wife before we even knew you had gone.”
I stare at the man in front of me and watch a flicker of emotion spark in his eye, telling me he recognizes me. I stare a little closer, looking for a sign that I remember anything about him at all, but all I feel is revulsion that this man called himself my husband.
The more I stare, the braver I am, and something stirs deep inside that is growing.
Alessandro stands beside me and takes my hand and I whisper, “You say I’m this man’s wife.”
“I’m afraid so baby, but Angelo is arranging the divorce as we speak.”
“I don’t need a divorce, Alessandro.”
His hand tightens on mine, and he says gruffly, “What do you mean?”
I peer into the crazed eyes of a stranger and one thing is as definite as I’m standing here. One memory is returning and far from being a bad one, it’s one that fills my heart with relief.
Turning to Alessandro, I say with determination.
“I don’t need a divorce because we never married in the first place and I can state as fact that I have never had sex with this man in my life.”
CHAPTER25
ALESSANDRO
Inever expected that. I stare at Winter in shock, and she nods, a determined glint in her eye. “This man may still be a stranger to me, hovering like a shadow out of focus in my mind, but I see the day as clearly as we are standing here.”
“Tell me.” My heart is pounding because this is big news, to me, anyway, and Winter laughs with relief.
“The day I was taken, I remember something. A conversation that I’m hearing now. The details may be blurred, but the words are not. He told me that I was to be his wife and I strongly disagreed. I told him I would never marry him. He would have to kill me first. He didn’t seem to care and just told me that to the outside world, we would be husband and wife. Nobody would question him and there would be no need to go through the formalities. He would arrange the paperwork and the actual ceremony wouldn’t be required. I remember being so afraid of what that would mean, and I can hear him laughing as he told me he wasn’t interested in me for sex. He preferred boys, anyway, and I would be just a figurehead, a wife in word only, an adornment on his arm and a smokescreen to fool the outside world.”
She shakes her head and smiles so happily it’s infectious and the relief we share at this news is like a cluster bomb of emotion exploding in my face.
“I’m not married, Alessandro. This man is not my husband.”
She stares at me with so much delight in her eyes I can’t resist reaching for her and pulling her close, kissing her so deeply her groan sets my libido on fire. Not that it changes how I feel about her, but it’s like a refreshing shower over my soul. Winter is not married, which changes everything.
We almost forget we have a silent audience and as I kiss her deeply, I am consumed by passion. I have waited so long to have her in my arms, I could spend hours kissing her without coming up for air. She is my breath, she is my beating heart, and she is the blood that fills my veins. Winter is everything to me, and her past is now a dark memory that I will not allow her to drag into our future.
She pulls back and the sparkle in her eye matches my own and she whispers, “I can’t wait another minute, Alessandro.”
I know exactly what she means and with a huge grin, I take her hand and turn to face the shell of the man who once wielded so much power, driven through fear.
“Our business here is done.”
I make to pull away, loving the madness dancing in Massimo’s eyes, almost hammering to get out as he is locked inside his own worst nightmare.
“Wait.” Winter stops and pulls me back.
I look at her in surprise and she says anxiously, “What are you going to do with him?”
