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My stomach flips with unease. I almost regret having asked, but if my time in the service has taught me anything, it’s better to rip off the bandage and get to the bottom of things, even if you don’t like what’s there.
It’s always better to have all the facts so you can make decisions accordingly. Anything else leads to mistakes and wasted time. I abhor both.
Riley twists her fingers in her lap. “How much do you know about me?” she eventually asks.
“I have access to your personnel file, but I haven’t read it. I asked Gary about you yesterday and he told me about Gualtiero De Marco… how he kidnapped you after you spent a few days together.”
She nods, her body language squirming with discomfort. She straightens her spine as if to steel herself and lets out a long breath.
Reluctantly, her eyes rise to meet mine, uncertainty in their green depth.
“I fell in love with Tiero in the few short days I spent with him.”
The words are a bullet to my heart.
She’s in love?
Gary had told me she cared for him, but hearing her say it? It’s a completely unwelcome revelation.
I’m sure my face falls as fast as my plummeting stomach. I’m suddenly not hungry anymore, the smell of the cooking omelet making me sick.
“I was holidaying with a couple of friends in Sicily. That’s where I met him. Someone was trying to run him over, and I pulled him out of harm’s way. That’s how it all began.
“I spent time with him every day after that until the end of my trip. He wanted me to stay longer, but despite my feelings for him, I knew he wasn’t right for me. It was only meant to be a vacation fling. A very memorable one, but I always intended to go home to Dublin. Just that he didn’t let me… he had me kidnapped. I tried to escape a few times but was always caught. Turns out he hid trackers in the jewelry I was wearing.”
She takes a sip of her water as I turn off the stove and push the frying pan to the side.
I hate what I’m hearing.
A memorable vacation fling.
The thought of Riley in bed with another man is crushing… of him kissing her, touching her, making love to her…
Jealousy is a completely useless emotion that never leads to anything good. Yet it’s what I’m feeling right now. I want to hunt Gualtiero De Marco down and hurt him, hurt him bad.
“At first I was so furious with him, but over the next few weeks, he wore down my defenses…” She steels herself and then adds, “And I slept with him again… realizing too late we didn’t use protection.”
Oh no!
Please don’t let this go where I think it will.
“Tiero wanted me pregnant to bind me to him and make it impossible for me to leave. He might have even given me fertility drugs. Then I escaped, and on the way over here, I took a pregnancy test. It was positive.”
Fuck me.
She’s pregnant… with another man’s child.
NO!
No wonder De Marco is hellbent on finding her. He knows there’s a fair chance she is carrying his child.
I’m gutted. Yet, strangely, I’m not at all deterred. Then a glowing wave of unfamiliar emotions almost sweeps me off my feet.
All this means there is more of her to love, because the baby is a part of her.
De Marco is not here to look after her, but I am. And I’m not going anywhere.
My protective instincts when it comes to this woman kick into full gear.
