Page 8 of Beautiful Vows

I swallow, trying to recall the night. The night someone killed a man for me.

Antonio pauses the recording and waits for me to continue.

“And later, it was your voice I recall who was talking to my father before I left for England.” My heart pounds in my chest as I struggle to recall the fragmented memories of that fateful night. “It was you...”

With a nod, Antonio silently acknowledges my words.

“Why did you do that?”

“I promised your mother I would always look after you,” he says. But the gentle swallow on his throat tells me there’s more to tell.

I have to know. “The other person there that day. What was he there for?”

Antonio glances at Dominic momentarily before flicking his eyes back at me. He raises the remote control. “You already know the answer to that question.”

I say nothing more, not knowing if Dominic knows the extent of that night.

I shake my head. “Please tell me who the hell you are, and why you took me home that night.”

“As you wish,” Antonio says, creaking his neck from side to side in an unusual sign of worry. “I did it to save you." He pauses before adding a moment later, "to save my daughter.”

My father?

Why am I not surprised?

I want to question him, but he presses the remote for the recording to play and I glance at the screen.

I watch with misty eyes as my mother looks directly into the lens, a small smile on her lips before she takes a deep breath and looks behind the camera, as if gathering the strength from who she sees.

“Tony…”

My breath catches in my throat when I hear her voice. Another sob leaves my lips when a stray tear rolls down her cheek. She swipes it away, determined to present a brave front for me.

Through my blurred vision, I see Antonio rise from his seat and around the desk towards me. I get it. His paternal instinct is to comfort me in my moment of anguish.

I raise a hand, a gesture pleading for him to stay where he is. “Stay,” I whisper through trembling lips, my voice barely audible over the blood whooshing in my ears.

I need space to process what I’m seeing. I don’t want his pitying hugs right now.

He claims he is my father, but he’s not my dad.

I choke out, “Did you love her?”

Tears coat Antonio’s eyes when he replies, “Very much so.”

Chapter 3

Dante

It’s the middle of the night, and I’ve been back in Australia for less than a day, but I can’t sleep. It could be jet lag, but I know it’s more likely to be my need to eliminate every threat to my wife’s life.

I don’t want our marriage to be a secret any longer, but I know there are still people out there who will want her dead.

Eduardo Gallo for one.

Perhaps more, once Lia Bailey’s real identity becomes common knowledge.

As I work out my next move, the only thing that will help me plan is pounding a punch bag.

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