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“The bastard. I can’t believe I fell for his lies.”
Matteo interrupts us, holding his cellphone out toward me. “Someone wants to speak to you.”
Cara steps back as I take the phone and press it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Rory?” It’s Nico’s voice. Something inside me melts at the sound of it even though I can’t detect any emotion there. Tension floods out of my body that I didn’t even know was sitting in me. “Are you safe?” he asks.
“I’m safe,” I reply, feeling tears swelling at the edges of my eyes. “Are you?”
“On my way back. Don’t move from there. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Give the phone back to Matteo.”
I do as he says, walking with Cara into the main living space.
The other woman is holding a hand out toward me. “Rory,” she says, smiling as we shake. “I’m Santina. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
We sit together and in the time it takes for Nico to get home, I find out a lot of things. She tells me about her marriage to Giovanni, about how loving he was at first. She shows me the bruises on her neck, tells me how much Nico has been looking out for her.
I find out she’s on birth control to make sure she can’t get pregnant. I listen in shocked silence to it all. We talk until the front door of the house opens and Nico walks in.
He looks straight at me and the cold dead shark eyes turn into something different. He doesn’t seem to care how he appears. There is warmth there, concern, a little fear. I even detect a hint of tears, his eyes sparkling in the light as he marches over and throws his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he says. “You’re a damned smart cookie, getting out of that basement.”
I crane my neck to look up into his eyes. “Don’t need no man to rescue me,” I tell him before bursting into tears.
He holds me tight for a long time, his hands moving slightly up and down my back like he’s checking I’m real.
Eventually, we sit down with the others. I’m beside Nico, my head on his shoulder as he talks. “The marriage wasn’t valid,” he says to the room. “Giovanni bribed the priest to make sure the paperwork wasn’t legal.”
Matteo coughs. “You’re supposed to meeting with the commission tomorrow.”
“I know that,” he snaps back.
“What are you going to tell them?”
Santina pipes up. “Why not get married today?”
Nico looks from her to Matteo. “Can you arrange it?”
“It’ll take a few calls but I reckon we should be able to get it done.”
“Make sure you get a different priest.”
“That one will be removed from our books. Permanently.”
“So, why are you still talking to me?”
Matteo gets up and goes into the next room. Nico turns to face me. “Giovanni said you’re pregnant. Is that true?”
I nod back at him.
“You’re sure.”
“He made me take a test in front of his guards.”
