Page 81 of Forbidden Deception

He wants to hold my hand?

Mother and Father didn’t want that with me. Ever.

Is this a test? What if they were right and he truly wants to get rid of me so he can live without someone holding leverage over him?

“Are you ready?” he asks, his face void of any emotion, but the strength and kindness behind his words is enough to wash away my hesitance.

He doesn’t know who I am, how I act or do things. Just the double doors to my left are enough to push me to be the person I want to become. Seeing the light outside cements my final decision.

“Let’s go.” I grab his hand, and we both head out despite my heart shivering with nerves.

“You took too long,” I manage to whisper, my voice scratching at my throat. I didn’t want to show so much emotion already, and he might throw me out, but I’m holding onto the hope that he gave me.

He stops in his place, looks over his shoulder at me, and it’s like his resolve wavers. His brows pinch, and his eyes hesitate.

“I couldn’t reach you, Venezia. Father and Mother did their best to keep me away from you, but they didn’t know that I wouldn’t let go of my sister.”

I shut my eyes for a second.

“They told me you would never want me. That you didn’t want a sister and that no one would get me out of there. That I didn’t deserve to live except for being a pawn they needed in their game for keeping you under their control.” I suck in a breath, hoping, praying, it’s not true. “Is that all true?”

He looks stricken but quickly composes himself.

“Only that they held you as leverage over me to make me do what they wanted.” He looks away instantly, as if ashamed.

“Those guards? Those letters? Was that you?” I need confirmation. I need to hear it from him.

He nods, and only then does my breathing return to normal. Shuffling closer to him, I stand with him at the top of the stairs, looking out of the doors towards cars lined up in the parking lot.

“Did no one ever stop you? Are you married? Did no one ever question you looking for me?” Surely, he has a life outside of looking for me, as he stated in his letters.

Remo lifts his left hand in between us, and I gasp at the ring on his finger.

“What’s her name?”

“Aurora Torre. Aurora Cainn, now.” A small smile lifts his face—if his micro-expression could even be called a smile.

A laugh spills out of me at his reaction.

“Like the princess. I can see that you love her by the look on your face.”

He looks in love. He looks like what the prince’s in books were described when in love. He looks like he won’t let me go.

He’s proving our despicable parents wrong with every word from his mouth and his actions, and some of the anxiety wrapped around my heart like a thorny stem loosens.

“Will I get to meet her?”

“Yes.”

32

I’ve never thought about what would happen when I found a person who is it for me, who cares for me and wants me.

I never thought about what I would do, too focused on the success of the company, constantly proving myself despite being the owner and having full control over the board members, but I think that insecure feeling of not being enough is a deep cut that just won’t heal.

Venezia often whispers words of encouragement to me before and after meetings, even when they go south, and it stops me in my tracks and makes me look at her.

I keep expecting her to just turn her back to me and tell me this isn’t what she expected from me, to say I shouldn’t have done something or could have improved; instead, she is pushing me beyond my limits with such kindness and unwavering happiness that it feels as if I have been infected with it too.

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