Page 46 of Always Meant To Be

I nod, and throw the gauze, before looking at him. I raise a brow. “So, if I gave you my body at home, only between the hours of nine in the evening to four in the morning, then spent the whole day hanging off another man’s arm, let’s, I don’t know, say, Damian Allens, for example….” Romeo growls at his name. I continue, “How would you feel, Rome? Day in, day out, I watched her fawn all over you while I was left in the shadows, having my heart broken; how would you feel if I did that to you?”

He winces and grumbles, “I’m a fucking idiot….”

I snort. “No denying that here.”

Huffing, I grab the needle and thread before swallowing hard. This isn’t the first time I’ve stitched him up, but this wound is probably the biggest.

“Ask me another question,farfalla,” he rasps, trying to distract me from my fear of hurting him, even if he deserves it.

I clear my throat, and thread the needle, before bending, carefully pulling his skin together, gently poking the needle through. He doesn’t make a sound, but he does tense.

“Ask me, baby,” he commands again, seeing my hesitation.

Taking a deep breath, I ask, “The photos?”

He hums, then grunts. “Since our engagement was announced, she’s spent the past six years sending me explicit photos, hoping to sway me. I deleted every single one but didn’t realize they saved in that folder.”

I nod, not sure whether I believe him as I thread the needle through his skin. “The calls?”

“Ignored,” he admits. “You can even check yourself. Click on the number, and you’ll see they are all missed calls.”

I nod again as I pull the thread tight and murmur, “The locked folder?”

He chuckles. “Not sure I want to tell you that while you’re threading a needle through my skin,farfalla.” I look at him and narrow my eyes at his grin as he admits, “The folder isfull of photos and videos of you and me.” I furrow my brows in confusion, only for his grin to widen. He admits, “Normally, when we were intimate, you’re in the throes of it and don’t realize I’ll record us or take photos of you.” My mouth drops open, and he chuckles with a shrug. “Can’t say I’m sorry about it, baby, especially when you’ve withheld your body for weeks. It’s my spank bank.”

I feel my cheeks heat, and I dig the needle into his skin harder than normal, making him wince and chuckle.

“See, I knew I shouldn’t have told you while you were stitching me up.”

A small smile builds on my face. I am kind of happy he had the sense to put it in a locked folder, despite him doing it without my knowledge. I sigh and tie the thread into a knot before cutting the remaining thread.

I grab all the used gauze and throw them in the trash, then I go to the cabinet and grab the antiseptic cream and bandages, before going back to my husband, feeling his eyes on me as I go.

I gently spread the cream over his wound, then grab the bandage and a clean piece of gauze. Placing the gauze over the wound, I wrap the bandage around his waist, and I ask the one question I haven’t wanted to, but know I need to.

“How does she know about your scar on your thigh, about your piercing, if you haven’t slept with her?” I ask timidly, not looking at him.

I feel him move, and I look to see he’s grabbing his phone. He does something, then turns it to face me and rasps, “Press play,farfalla.”

Frowning, I quickly tape his bandage up, then do as he asked, and press play.

I watch in horror as Liliya sneaks into our room, looking around. She’s in a short pink mini dress and silver heels, theclothes she wore to our first wedding anniversary party, which Mamma Russo demanded she throw.

I watch as she goes over to my dresser, fisting her hands as she looks at all the expensive perfumes and jewelry Rome bought me.

“Jesus, she’s really holding herself back from smashing everything,” I mumble, and Rome snorts as we watch her storm over to the bathroom. It’s then I notice she has her purse as she opens it, and pulls out….

“Holy crap, is that a camera?” I ask in shock, my eyes wide as I look at Romeo.

He nods. “I found it the same day she put it up, but not before I got naked. That’s how she knew,farfalla….”

I blink a few times in shock and stutter, “T-the choker?”

He winces. “That was your mother. She’s already expressed how much she regrets it, but she bought Liliya the replica one of yours, hoping you would walk away on our wedding day.” He gently cups my cheek again and rasps, “Your father, when he slowly tortured your mama, taking everything away from her, found a secret account worth millions in your name. She admitted everything.”

I furrow my brows. “She was going to help me run?”

He nods. “She was.”

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