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Dinner is filled with small talk afterward. Everyone excuses themselves to their rooms for the night, as Hawk and I make our way to the room we’re sharing. He closes and locks the door behind us.
Suddenly, my nerves are on edge. “You afraid someone will kick the door down?” I ask.
He shakes his head and says, “No, but I did promise no interruptions.”
I sit at the edge of the bed and try to brace myself for what he’ll say.
He sits beside me and inhales deeply. “I was with Angelica. You were right, she was my first. And yes, I asked her to marry me, but it was because she told me she was pregnant, and I felt it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t because I had some vision of my life with her. What I didn’t know was she was engaged to someone else. It was arranged by their families long ago, but her father entertained the idea of us when he found out who I was. By the time I knew her fiancé existed, he was my enemy. Matteo had become my best friend, and he knew about his sister’s arrangement but hoped I could save her from a loveless life and marry her instead.”
He shakes his head and continues. “At the time, I thought I loved her. But that was until I realized I’d been played for a fool.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Matteo came up with the idea we should fight for her, as in an actual hands-on fight. I went along with it thinking I needed to prove myself worthy. I trained hard leading up to the fight, with my own father. He taught me everything I needed to know. Except to trust no one.”
I squeeze his hand as he continues to tell his story. “The Rossis kept trying to get me to go home with them so we could talk. At the time, I blamed them for my parents’ separation. Only later did I learn my own father killed my uncle Victor in a fight much like the one I was about to enter.”
He stands now. “Angel wouldn’t let me attend doctor visits with her. But one day I went anyway. I wanted to be a part of anything to do with my child. But I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her walk into her appointment with Rocco De Luca, the man she was supposed to be engaged to. I waited for them to come back out, and when they did, he held his hand over her still flat stomach protectively while he kissed her lips.”
My hand flies over my mouth. “I’m so sorry, Hawk. That must’ve been awful.”
“I finally gave in and came to the Rossi mansion to hear them out. At that point, I had nothing to lose…except my father again. They told me what happened and even got my mother on the phone to confirm everything. I confronted my father and told him what I knew. Then I confronted Angel and demanded she tell me the truth. She came clean with me and told me the baby wasn’t mine. She said he forced her to have sex with him because of their arranged marriage looming over them and he wanted to prove I was only a fling she was getting out of her system before they married.
“I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Everyone had lied to me or had an ulterior motive except Matteo it seemed. He thought his sister was having my baby, not Rocco’s. I didn’t tell him the truth and she didn’t either. She let him believe I walked away from both her and the baby,” he says.
“Why did you continue with the fight, then?” I ask, wondering why he’d still fight for a woman who did him wrong.
“I went to Aldo and my dad with Vincent backing me. I told them what I knew about my uncle Victor and that Angel was pregnant with Rocco’s baby. I told them I was done, and I wanted out for good. But so many people had bet on the fight and Aldo figured his daughter would marry either me or Rocco regardless resulting in a joining of power between families. He told me if I won, he’d let me out, but he said I could never show my face in Nashville again because I’d create a scandal for Angel.”
Hawk turns to face me again. “The night of the fight, Angel begged me to forgive her. She shouted she loved me, and I turned my back on her. Matteo witnessed it and still didn’t know what was happening. During the fight, Rocco and I stayed neck and neck, both giving as good as we got. He finally took me down and had me in a chokehold. He whispered taunts to me about my family and about me being such a naïve fool to ever think the baby was mine or that I’d marry Angel. He rubbed it in how he had sex with her bare until he knew she was pregnant. He said she loved every minute of it and said she was using me. And I lost it. I broke out of the chokehold, and I almost killed him. I injured him so badly he was in rehab for a long time. He still walks with a cane from what I understand.”
“And what happened when you won? I’m sure everyone was assuming you’d marry her?” I ask, not sure I want to know.
“She was waiting with tears in her eyes as I approached her. I told her I didn’t want to see her again and now she could marry her real fiancé and have his baby. Matteo didn’t hear any of it because he was busy celebrating with his dad. He thought we won. It was only later he found out I left and was done with Nashville. He’s hated me ever since because he thought I got his sister pregnant and abandoned her. My grandfather threatened everyone. I was not to be touched or they’d cause a war and there’d be no mercy shown.”
“Why didn’t you tell Matteo the truth?” I ask. Maybe if he knew, he would stop this nonsense.
Hawk glances at me and his shoulders fall. “I may have been done with her, but I know how much he loves his sister. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what a lying bitch she truly is.”
“What happened to the baby? And why didn’t she go through with marrying Rocco?” I ask.
“From what I heard, she miscarried. And as far as Rocco, her father no longer thought it was good for their image for his only daughter to marry someone who could be beaten so badly, especially after she lost their baby,” he says flatly.
I almost feel sorry for her…almost. But I do feel bad for Matteo. If he knew the truth, would he be so hard-pressed on getting revenge?
“What if you told him now?” Brittney asks.
“It wouldn’t change anything. I doubt he’d believe me,” I admit, feeling a little lighter after telling her the truth.
“You won’t know unless you try,” she says with a small smile on her face.
“Is there anything else you want to know while I’m sharing?” I ask as I pull her to me and wrap my arm around her back.
She studies me for a moment. “You thought you loved her, but then realized you didn’t. You said you might be falling for me. How do you know you might love me? How will you know it’s real this time?”
I stare in her amber-colored eyes and think to myself,there hasn’t ever been any doubts with you—and I wish I’d realized it much sooner. I place a soft kiss on the tip of her nose and then say, “I’ve already fallen, baby. I couldn’t be in love with her back then because I’d already fallen in love with you. I simply didn’t know what it was or how to handle it back then. And it’s something I wish I could do differently. Can you forgive me?”
Tears shimmer in her eyes before she speaks. “I’ll forgive you if you do one thing for me.”
