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Explain that to me!
All along I knew she still loved De Marco; she never hid that truth from me. And I had told her it was okay, because you can love more than one person full-heartedly.
I have witnessed that now. To say that I love Gualtiero De Marco doesn’t seem right. I don’t know the man, nor do I want to get to know him or spend any time with him.
Yet I feel something for him. But what exactly, I don’t want to analyze. I put it down to the triad thing Ella spoke about. It’s all the explanation I need.
Is De Marco truly walking away from her?
It seems unfathomable after he moved heaven and earth to find her.
But he is. When I checked in with Gary and called off the backup, he confirmed that CCTV recorded De Marco boarding his plane, which was tracked flying toward Italy.
He’s somewhere across the Atlantic right now, having left behind the woman he loves.
Of all the outcomes I anticipated, this was not one of them.
My heart goes out to him. My respect for him grows. De Marco is walking into a future without Ella. It would take a mountain of strength and control to do this.
I’m not sure I could. It would break me. Then again, what wouldn’t I do for this woman? If it meant she was safe and happy…
I gave De Marco my word, and I intend to keep it.
His sacrifice won’t be in vain. I owe him that much.
The phone rings in Ella’s handbag, causing her to stir. It’s Rhia’s ringtone; Ella would want to fill her in on what’s been happening. I retrieve her mobile as she sits up and hand it to her. She still looks tired and worn out.
She answers her friend’s call and puts her on speaker.
“Hey, sweets,” she says sleepily.
“Oh gosh, did I wake you? It’s the middle of the day for you, isn’t it?” Rhia sounds confused. “And why is there humming?”
“How are you, Rhia? You’re on speaker,” I tell her before she has a chance to divulge any private girls-only content.
“Oh, hey, Ade. Where are you guys? I thought you’d be back in Atlanta by now.”
“We’re on the way home. We took a little detour via Brazil,” I say while Ella gulps down a bottle of water.
“Brazil? Oh my god, did you go to the Formula One?” Rhia asks, squealing. “Why aren’t you still there? The race is tomorrow.”
“We watched the qualifying today and had planned to stay the whole weekend, but other things happened,” Ella explains as I take a seat in the back of the plane to give them time to catch up.
“What other things?”
“Tiero was there.”
There’s only silence on the other end, and after a few seconds, Ella taps her screen to make sure they’re still connected. “Rhi, are you still there?”
“I’m just speechless.” Now there’s a first. I haven’t known Rhianna Bannaghan for long, but even I understand this doesn’t happen often.
“Are you okay?” Rhia asks, concern replacing her easygoing tone.
“Yeah. Tiero let me go.” Ella pauses, seemingly still in disbelief. “I’m free to be me again. You and I can talk whenever we want now and visit each other anytime.”
“He let you go?” Rhia repeats. She finds it as hard to believe as the rest of us. “Gualtiero De Marco has given you up?”
“Yes,” Ella softly says.
