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“Because Bianca and Vincent fell in love when I was certain her life was carved out in hell. Gabriella and Lorenzo fought the odds to find love. None of us will ever fall in love in a traditional sense, but do you think it’s possible in this world?” Caterina asks. “Or do you think they’re the exception?”
“I… I’m not…”
She continues. “I believe Bianca and Gabriella couldn’t fall in love until they laid themselves bare, and I don’t mean that in the literal sense,” she clarifies. “I mean that all their twisted secrets and the darkest parts of their souls had to be shared until they could feel free enough to love.”
She watches me intently, her face twisted with worry.
“If that’s true,” she whispers, “doesn’t that scare you?”
I nod.
She mimics the gesture. “I don’t have any secrets, but everyone is complex and maybe a little bit fucked up. What if you open yourself up and you’re rejected?”
My hands shake, and I place them on my lap and out of view. “Do you think Diego is the type of man to dig into secrets before allowing himself to fall in love?”
“I think Diego is the type of man who knows your secrets before he knows your name.”
Acid rushes my throat, and I pick up my glass, gulping at my water in search of relief.
“You’re afraid Diego would never love you if he knew the real you.”
“No.”
Yes.
“Whether he loved me or not would be irrelevant.”
“Why?”
“Because my life would come crashing down around me if the world knew who I really was.”
She smiles, but the gesture is full of sadness. “His love wouldn’t be irrelevant. It would be the only thing that would keep you fighting for the life you’ve built.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
DIEGO
Istare at my screen, trying to understand what I’ve found.
None of it makes sense.
I started with the date. The stupid password she insists on using for everything that requires a six- or eight-digit code.
There wasn’t much to go on. Her dad’s death is seemingly insignificant to her, so I have to surmise that something else went down on that day. But the Bianchis look clean. As clean as a family built on crime can look anyway.
I did it to protect people.
That doesn’t add up.Whodoes she think she’s protecting? More importantly, why is she taking on the burden of someone else when she believes the truth could destroy her?
I had considered investigating her and her brother’s secret the day she barged into my home unannounced and accused me of attempting to destroy her and threatening my life. I decided against it because I honestly didn’t care what she was hiding. Their business was none of mine. I wouldn’t spy to unravel their outfit. They’ve become too important to our cause. If something worth mentioning blasted itself into my knowledge and it was too big to ignore, I’d take it to Lorenzo. But I would never do anything to put Alessia in danger.
And then she all but wrestled me into a black suit and demanded I exchange vows of forever.
After Lorenzo told me to spy for him, knowing what I already did felt wrong. I hated Sia for what she’d done, but I believed she had good reason. I knew she didn’tloveme, even if she declared she did. I was obsessed with the woman, but love hadn’t existed between us. We didn’t evenknowone another. We’d sharedonekiss. One toe-curling, soul-shattering, thought-rendering kiss. She’d onlyjustlearned my true identity, and then we were married.
On our wedding night, she had confessed that CJ had proposed only weeks earlier, and at first, I surmised that the ranks had begun to circle, so to save herself from having to marry a man who was a blink away from wearing an adult diaper, she made a gamble. But why me and not the billionaire heir to the Lincoln enterprise?
Two people.
