Page 77 of Twisted Obsession

‘Well, I never signed any divorce papers… did you?’

‘No,’ she whispered. I watched her swallow as realisation gripped her. ‘Salvatore told me our marriage would be annulled, if he found out it was real in the first place.’

‘Annulled by who?’ I questioned, twisting my head at her.

‘Salvatore explained the Pope would do it.’

I couldn’t contain the small laugh that left me as realisation sunk in. ‘Interesting.’

‘What’s interesting?’

Refusing to answer her directly and unable to sit any longer, I stood abruptly, causing her to move her torso back ever so slightly.

‘Do you honestly think you really know your brother?’

‘I do.’ She nodded vehemently.

I stared at her. The beautiful woman I had always held close by in my heart all the years we’d been apart. The same one that was now positioned perfectly in the middle of my large bed and once again my cock shifted, letting me know he was fully engaged with the sight I was taking in.

‘Salvatore lied to me, didn’t he?’ she added.

Like a tiger circling its prey, I began to move around the bed, as I put all the pieces together in my head.

‘Yes.’ I could have added more but didn’t want to intensify her hurt.

‘How could he.’ Her words weren’t a question, but more of a statement.

‘Has he ever even spoken of me again?’

‘No… no one speaks of you, or about you, not really. At least, not when I’m around.’ I watched as one tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped it quickly away. ‘Do you know how hard it’s been to live there without you, knowing that you had to be still alive somewhere, but not knowing where?’

I stopped walking and thrust my hands into the front pockets of my trousers, as I turned towards her and absorbed her honesty.

‘I have an idea of how that feels,’ I admitted.

‘Obviously, I saw you in uniform just the once and knew you’d enlisted… but that was all I had. It was only when I told Sera and Mia a few weeks ago that I needed to sort out my past,that Mia suggested I had to come to Malta, and for the first time in all these years, I understood with absolute certainty that I’d find you here.’

‘I remember lying on the floor of the church, not knowing where you were…by the time I was admitted to hospital with my injuries it just about broke me, not knowing where you’d been taken, nor how you were,’ I disclosed, no longer able to hold in how I felt about her.

‘Hospital?’ Her eyes widened as though she could feel my pain.

‘I told you I was sprawled on the floor of the church hoping you’d come back, and the longer I stayed the more punches and kicks I received. Finally, just before I lost consciousness, my uncle had seen to it that I was taken out of there and to hospital.’

‘Your uncle let Salvatore beat you?’ She shook her head in disbelief.

I pulled my hands from my pockets and opened them in front of her. ‘You know how our families work, Giovanna. Uncle Graham had pleaded our case, hoping for a resolution, but Salvatore demanded I made amends for the offence I had caused him and for what I’d done to you. I refused to walk away in case you came back, so Salvatore’s men laid into me until they were able to drag me out.’

Out of the blue, I comprehended that I’d closed the gap between us when Giovanna moved closer and getting up on her knees, she took my hand in hers. As soon as our skin connected, my body felt alive, more alive than I’d felt in years, living on the edge of my family and on the very edge of existence.

‘So, he couldn’t save you?’

‘My uncle being there probably saved my life… I can’t think of another reason a man like your brother would let me walk away, but that was as far as his reach went.’

‘Maybe Salvatore let you live because he knew I loved you? Or maybe he let you live because of Sera?’

‘Possibly.’ I shrugged; over the years it was something I’d thought about often. Especially since I’d left the army and was now working so closely with him.

‘He let me live, but I carry the scars, inside and out.’ I placed my empty hand over my heart, letting my guard down, no longer willing to hold anything back. If she left after tonight, she would leave in absolutely no doubt of exactly how I felt about her, and I would somehow live with the pain, and truth of that. ‘My face was black and blue, and I couldn’t see out of one eye for three weeks, because they’d detached a retina and I needed surgery. They also broke two of my ribs, my nose and snapped a bone in my wrist.’ I ran a finger down the bridge of my nose as if to show her and her fingers gently caressed mine in response. Just that simple touch sent an explosion of electricity through my body.

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