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To marry her.
"That's what we need to tal–"
"What the fuck?" someone says outside the door. "Who the fuck are you?"
Everyone in the dining room turns toward the door at the same time.
"Let me go!" Athena cries.
My heart leaps into my throat as soon as I hear her voice. I jump to my feet, crossing the room in three steps to yank the door open. Luca's man, Alessio's holding her as she tries to break free of him.
I take one look at him with his hands on her and launch myself at him, grabbing him by the throat. We crash into the wall across from the dining room, knocking a painting off the wall. Glass shatters at our feet.
"Don't fucking touch her," I snarl.
Alessio's face turns red as he nods, holding his hands up.
"Diego, goddammit. Let him go," Rafe growls behind me.
"Touch her again and it'll be the last thing you do."
"Diego, goddammit." Luca grabs my hand, trying to pry it off Alessio's throat.
Athena makes a sound behind—a choked sob. As soon as I hear it, I drop Alessio, spinning to face her. She's pressed up against the opposite wall, eyes wide and face pale. She's in my shirt, the ends tied up to make it fit her. Her hair is loose and natural around her face. She didn't take the time to put it up like usual before she followed me here.
Jesus. She followed me here.
"Bella," I whisper, moving toward her.
"Don't touch me."
"It's okay, bella. It's me." I reach for her, trying to calm her down.
"I said don't touch me," she cries, stumbling out of my reach. "Don't ever touch me again."
Everyone is crowded around, watching in complete silence. I don't think anyone knows what the fuck is going on, who she is, or where she came from. I suddenly understand all too well, however.
"You heard."
"I heard everything," she spits, tears spilling down her cheeks.
No, she didn't hear everything. She only heard enough to kill whatever was blooming in her heart for me. It's written all over her face. Betrayal. Anger. Disappointment. Regret.
"I was so stupid. So freaking stupid."
"Bella."
"Don't call me that!" she yells. "You don't get to call me that anymore."
"That's my cue to get the fuck out of here," Coda mutters, ducking back into the dining room.
"Same," Domani says, following behind him.
Alessio retreats too, but no one else makes a move to follow.
They simply stand in silent witness to my worst nightmare. And yet again, it's one of my own making.
"What do you think you heard, be…Athena?" I ask softly.
"I don't think I heard anything. I know what I heard." She swipes at her eyes. "Was any of it real to you or was I just a means to an end?"
"Jesus Christ," Rafe mutters. "You two need to resolve this on your own. We'll be in my office."
I jerk my chin in a nod, not taking my eyes off Athena. We stand silently while Rafe, Luca, and Mattia file down the hall past us, not speaking. Only when they're gone, do I speak again.
"You think it was a game?"
"Wasn't it?" She glares at me. "Seduce and ruin the rookie FBI agent so anything she has to say is no longer credible." A hysterical laugh chokes her. "God, I was so stupid. Of course, that was your plan. Why didn't I see it?"
"That's not–"
"Don't." She gives her head an angry shake. "Don't stand here and lie now, Diego. I heard everything."
Fuck. This isn't how this was supposed to go. We were supposed to talk. I was going to lay out the reality of her situation and explain why I made the choice I did. But anything I say now will fall on deaf ears. Any trust she had for me was shattered the minute she overheard that fucking conversation.
"You don't understand what's at stake here. I did what I had to do, bella. If we go down, this entire goddamn city will turn into a warzone. We're trying to prevent that." I scrub a hand through my hair. "We've been trying to prevent it for a fucking year."
"So you had to sleep with me?" she demands. "God, you're such a liar, Diego. You didn't seduce me to stop a war. You did it because I was something you couldn't have, and you couldn't stand it."
She's not entirely wrong. Maybe I could have found a different way, but I didn't want to find one. I wanted her. Right or wrong, I still want her.
"Maybe there was another way," I acknowledge. "But you still don't understand what's at stake, bella."
"Then explain it to me!"
"If the Valentino empire falls, the other families will go to war to claim the throne. This city hasn't seen a mafia war in decades. It won't survive one of this caliber. No other agent assigned to look into this has looked too deeply. They've kicked a few rocks and then gone on. You weren't going to do that. You were determined to get the truth."
