Page 96 of The Thief

Not just my building.Every single building in the square.

He could have asked me to move in with him. He could have insisted. But he didn’t. He knew I wasn’t ready, so instead, he spent an absolutely insane amount of money to protect me.

He didn’t do it because I was a distraction.

He did it because I was important to him.

Yes, of course, I distract him. I’ve been distracting him since I got to Venice, but he’s never seemed bothered by it. In fact, until tonight, I would have sworn he liked it.

Tonight, someone pointed a gun at you.

And the moment that thought crosses my mind, I feel everything click into place. Antonio put bodyguards on me from the start. He’s openly expressed his desire to wrap me in bubble wrap. When he saw Marco about to shoot me, it was his worst nightmare come true. It makes perfect sense that he’d flip out and push me away.

He’s probably at his house right now, back from the hospital. Bruised and bandaged from the bullet he took for me, and all alone. Dante would have probably offered to stay with him, but knowing Antonio the way I do, he would have sent him home.

Who’s going to make sure he’s okay? Who’s going to be there to bring him a glass of water and some ibuprofen? Who can he call if he needs help?

He sent you away. He didn’t want you with him.

The last time my heart was broken, I ran away, so far and so hard that it took me ten years to find my way back home.

This time, I don’t want to wait ten years to see Antonio again. I don’t want to pack up and move to Florence or even further away. I can’t.I don’t want to.

I’m going to go to him. He might throw me out again; that’s a risk I’m willing to take. He might open his mouth and repeat those same hurtful words, but I don’t care.

Back at the docks ten years ago, I didn’t want Antonio’s help. I was ready to tell him to fuck off; I might have even said the words out loud. But Antonio didn’t leave me alone. He stayed with me when I needed him the most and offered me the companionship I so desperately sought.

I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him be alone tonight.

He never gave up on me, and I’m not going to give up on him either. I refuse to let his fear rewrite the truth of us.

His mother didn’t fight for him.

His uncle turned his back on him.

I’m not going to join them. Fuck that. I’m going to stay and fight for Antonio Moretti. For us, for our relationship.

For ourlove.

But when I get to my apartment, Valentina and Dante are already there. One look at their faces, and I know something is terribly wrong.

51

ANTONIO

Ikeep slipping through the haze.

Everything’s blurry and fragmented, and I can’t hold on to anything.

At first, the memories are about loss. Being abandoned, people leaving me.

But then something shifts, and the memories change. They get better. These, I want to hold on to and never let go.

Lucia, laughing as she tells me she’s going to steal my painting. Lucia gasping in pleasure as I spanked her. Lucia, cooking dinner and asking me to taste the sauce for salt. Fighting me for the TV remote. Holding my hand in front of her colleagues at the museum. Her fingers tangled in mine, her mouth crashing onto mine when I confessed I loved her.

Her voice, clear as a bell, when she said, “I love you too.”

I was lost, but Lucia found me.

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