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Liza stared at him, searching hard for something he couldn’t show her. If this was where his list of sins ended…maybe. Maybe he could apologize for his actions, find a way to earn her forgiveness. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Finally, something in her expression broke. There wasn’t a sign of the happiness and joy he’d witnessed in Hawaii, or even last night when she’d lain next to him in his bed. Now, there was nothing but a deep sadness he was helpless to take away.
“We can’t pay that debt,” she said softly.
“It’s not your debt.”
His words struck a chord, and he saw a flash of that fire he admired so.
“We’re a family,” she asserted. “It is our debt.” Unfortunately, the spark of temper sputtered out too quickly, replaced by confusion. “I just…you have to help me, Matt. Have to explain this to me. Why? Why are you doing this? After everything…” Her voice faltered, clueing him in that she still hadn’t revealed their affair to her family.
“I told you who I was, Liza. I never lied about it.”
“This isn’t who you are,” she insisted.
Matt’s ability to hold it together crumbled as she stood there, determined to see the best in him. “This is exactly who I am! Open your eyes and look at me.” He reached for her upper arms, gripping them. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tony and Luca both take a step toward him, but Liza shook her head, waved them off. “Really look at me!”
Liza’s gaze never wavered. “I am.”
He released her instantly, her words a punch to the gut, as she looked at him with that fucking misplaced hope in her eyes.
How? How could she still look at him like…like he was worthy of anything more than disdain?
Turning to his desk, he opened the top desk drawer. After Patricia’s visit, he’d retrieved the original marker from the safe in his office. He flipped open the file, aware that all three Morettis were watching, that they saw what he had in his hands.
“This is the original marker. What you have is just a copy.” Matt stared at Tony, pushing down the rush of emotions rising to the surface, each one capable of shredding him to pieces.
He took a steadying breath, then turned to Liza. “You want to settle the debt?” he asked woodenly.
She didn’t respond immediately. His clever girl was too astute not to understand that what he was offering would come with a catch.
Finally, she nodded, just once.
He handed her the marker. “Accept that this is me, agree to walk away, and you can tear that up.”
“Walk away?” she whispered, her hands trembling slightly as she held the paper.
“From me. From us.”
He didn’t bother to look at Tony and Luca. He could feel their shock without having to see it.
“No.”
He’d expected that response, had been prepared for it. “Then pay me the money.”
Matt forced himself to look at her, to see the tears glistening in her eyes. They were his punishment, his to bear.
“Matt.”
“Decide quickly, Liza, because this offer isn’t going to last much longer.” He was going for cold, but he feared his words sounded too desperate to pull it off.
“Tell me why,” she demanded.
Matt wanted to refuse, but even now he could tell she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, searching for something that might excuse all of this.
“I…can’t. We should never have started this, should never have let things go so far. I’m not the man you think I am. This marker is just the beginning of my sins.”
Liza frowned. “You have more ways to hurt my family?”
