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“Sabine always tells me it’s good to talk,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “They abused me. Beat me. Raped me. I was their servant. Their verbal punching bag too. My father’s and my brothers’.”
I squeeze her hand in mine.
“It was all I’d ever known. When I was eighteen, they promised me to Lorenzo Moretti, but he married Anya, so they proposed a marriage to Dante instead. My father was desperate for an alliance with the Morettis, so much so that he would even give me up. Not that he cared about what they might do to me, but that he and my brothers would lose their toy.”
I sit in silence as I listen to her story.
“My father’s big mistake was trying to pass me off as some innocent virgin. He even had one of those operations where they stitch a woman’s hymen back in mind for me. Can you believe that?” She snorts. “Like that was all he had to do to have me in tact again. Like that would undo all of the sick, twisted shit those fuckers did to me.”
She takes a long swig of her drink before she goes on.
“Anyway, Dante knew there was something not right. He has that kind of sixth sense about stuff, you know?”
“Yep, I sure do.”
“And when he found out, he took me in. He told everyone we were engaged and I never went home again. His father was happy that he was getting married, and mine was satisfied that his alliance with the Moretti’s was about to become a reality. We planned the wedding and everything. Dante said it had to look real. He never told me his plans but he just kept telling me everything would work out and that I’d be safe. Then the night before our wedding, he told me I was leaving. He gave me a new identity. A new name, social security number. He even called Sabine and told her I was leaving if she wanted to come with me, and thankfully, she did. My father and brothers disappeared that night, no doubt by Dante and Maximo’s hands, not that he’s ever told me and I would never ask. Then Lorenzo and Anya drove us to this house and we’ve been safe here ever since.”
“Lorenzo and Anya?” I ask.
“Yeah. He’s a good guy too. Don’t let that gruff exterior fool you.” She laughs. “Even Maximo.”
“Maximo the psycho is a good guy?” I shake my head, laughing as I feign my disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“Is this the first time you’ve seen Dante since then?”
“No. He calls in from time to time. He sends the kids presents for their birthday.”
“No way!” I cannot believe he sends anyone birthday presents.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you for sharing your story with me, Nicci. I know it’s not easy to talk about pain,” I say softly.
She narrows her eyes as she stares back at me. “Yeah, you do know.”
She squeezes my hand and we sit back against the swing and watch the sunset. “He said he wasn’t my white knight,” Nicci adds. “But he so was.”
“No way. He said that to me too.” I roll my eyes, and we both laugh.
“And?”
And what? Is Dante Moretti my white knight? Not even close. “He’s not my white knight. Pretty sure he’s my soulmate though.”
“Even better,” Nicci says, clinking her glass against mine.
“Yeah, way better.”
Chapter48
Dante
It’s growing dark as we head back to Chicago. Kat yawns in the seat beside me.
“You okay, kitten? You want to stop at a motel for the night?”
“No,” she says with a sleepy smile. “I want to go home.”
