Page 46 of Borrowed Bride

“It was you. Pretty little Gianna. Innocent little Gianna.”

My head spins, warring with what I feel to be true, and all this new information Fawn provides.

“And I saw myself.” Fawn’s voice is suddenly soft. “I saw his next victim and I knew I had to get you out of there.”

“No,” I whimper as tears flood my eyes, fueled by conflicting hormones and confused thoughts. “Marco was nice to me. He was always nice, and I was on the streets, Fawn. I know the Barrone’s only deal in drugs!”

“Of course that’s the word they put out on the street,” Fawn snorts. “Do you think anyone would buy from them if they knew the truth? I can give you names. Countless names of missing women and children he sold on the black market. I could show you pictures that would make you sick.”

She sighs deeply and her tongue clicks behind her teeth.

“Instead, I got you out. Shame about Tara, though.”

Cold prickles down my arms and through my tears, I glare at Fawn as the pieces slowly click together. “Tara?” I say tightly. “You did that? You hurt her?!”

Fawn nods. “A necessary incident.”

“What the fuck did she do to deserve that?” I yell suddenly, and Freya snuffles in her crib. “You nearly killed her!”

“She was feistier than I expected,” Fawn admits. “But I needed to make you see the danger you were in, Gianna.”

“So far, the only danger here isyou,” I mutter.

“Your little Tara was digging a little too close to home about Cherry, and I could see how you looked at Marco with fucking doe eyes. As soon as you learned that Cherry was up to something, I knew it was only a matter of time before you told Marco. And then he would sell you, like he sells everyone else. So I did what I had to do to get you away from him.”

Thinking of Tara in that hospital bed makes me weep and I ache to know what happened to her. “You couldn’t have picked up the phone?” I ask through my tears, sobbing softly as my chest cracks with grief.

Is Marco really a monster? Has he been selling women and children on the black market? Was his story to me about needing a wife all part of some elaborate ruse?

“You wouldn’t believe me,” Fawn says. “Because you don’t believe me now after everything you’ve seen. But I would rather you don’t believe me while being miles andmilesaway from those monsters. So I don’t really care.”

“Then why are you here?” I snap, raising my head to her. “I’m out! I left him. I’ve been running. So why even come here and tell me all of this?”

“I check in on you from time to time,” Fawn says, and her voice is softer. “Cherry found the pregnancy test in the bathroom not long after you left, and I realized there was a danger you would go back to him. Pregnant and alone? He would look like Fort Knox. So when I heard you went into early labor, I came to make sure that never happens.”

“You just expect me to believe you, huh?”

“No,” Fawn says. “But look into your heart, Gianna. Think about what you know, or even how little you know. You have a daughter to protect?—”

“I swear to God,” I spit, rising slightly on the bed. “If you harm her, I will kill you, do you hear me?!”

Fawn laughs lightly. “You wouldn’t stand a chance against me, darling. But I’m not here for that. I am not the monster here. I’m here to offer you safety.”

“Safety?” I spit, wiping furiously at my tears. “You harm my friend to force me away from the man I love, then you tell me all of these horrific things in order to keep me away from him. Where is the safety inanyof that?”

“I’m not the only one on your tail,” Fawn says. “I’m just the one that got here first. You have to understand, Gianna, that while Marco is a monster, his child is like liquid gold to his enemies. The both of you are.”

Hopelessness washes over me in a suffocating wave. “So what?” I whisper. “What the hell do you expect me to do?”

“You mustn’t tell anyone about me, but Leonardo can help you.”

“Leo?” I gasp, thinking back to the last time I saw him in that warehouse. “He’s Marco’s enemy.”

“For good reason,” Fawn mutters. “But he is a good man and he can keep you safe. You can’t run anymore, Gianna, not with a newborn. You need protection.”

Fawn has clearly endured hell, but her hatred for Marco might be clouding her judgment. Still, the offer of safety for my daughter, for a life away from the violence, is tempting.

If only to give me a few months to bond and rest with my child. Leonardo, to his credit, has always been kind to me. That doesn’t change how I feel deep down, though. My love for Marco is boundless, and yet it sours in my mind with the new information.

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