Page 113 of Where Wild Hearts Dance
“I wasn’t sure,” I reply. “I didn’t think so, but the more time that passed, the more hurt I felt and the more I wondered if perhaps I did love you.”
“Did?” His tone lilts with expectation. “You loved me?”
I blink slowly, trying to keep a semblance of strength in my heart. I can’t tell him the truth, not when he’s looking at me like this, with so much vulnerability in his eyes.
“Tess…” He shuffles forward on the chair until the handcuffs prevent him from moving any closer. “Tess, what we had was so special. I fucked it up by not writing you, but I thought I would fuck it up more if I told you I hadn’t made any progress in getting revenge on these people.”
He’s rambling but I try my best to keep up.
“When I didn’t reply, you started to question your original feelings for me—I could sense it in your words. You even said it yourself, you felt more for me than you realized. I didn’t want to stop those feelings from evolving, Tess. I needed to hear you say those things. It reassured me I wasn’t going insane. I planned on coming back for you this whole time.”
“And now?” My voice is firm. “Now you know the truth about your father and there is no need for revenge, what now?”
He licks his lips and a flush spreads over his cheeks. He looks like a young boy again.
“I still want you, Tess. I never stopped wanting you. I love you.”
I swallow. I’m not like him. I can’t stay silent and leave him wondering what the hell I’m thinking. “I’ve moved on, Fed,” I say, softly. “My life has changed and I’m happy.”
The hope in his eyes falls. “With Benito Bernadi?” There’s still a tense bitterness in his words.
“Not just with him,” I say, not wanting to twist the knife my words have already driven into his abdomen. “I’m about to become a part of the Di Santo family,” I say, slowly.
His eyes widen.
“Did you not know what you were walking into?” I find it hard to believe he didn’t know this was a mafia wedding involving my eldest sister.
He shakes his head. “Andreas just told me to comehere and this is where I’d find you. It was my reward for telling him everything I knew about the Di Santo’s.”
I narrow my eyes, my thoughts stuck briefly on the name Andreas. We still don’t know who this man is and what he wants with the Di Santo’s. “And you didn’t question why I would be here, with the entire Di Santo mafia family?”
“N-no… I just thought perhaps your father was working with them…”
I stare at him, waiting for the penny to drop.
“What do you mean you’re about to become a part of the family?”
I sigh. “Trilby is marrying Cristiano tomorrow. The don.”
He sucks in a breath, unable to conceal the horror in his features. “The don who killed his own brother in cold blood?”
So, newsdoestravel coast to coast. Nevertheless, I don’t have the energy to explain why Savero’s murder was actually a good thing. “Yes.”
Fed pales. “Is that why you’re with Bernadi?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you—?” His arms are shaking behind his back.
“Engaged? No! Bernadi and I are not engaged. But, we are together.” I can’t believe I’m telling Federico when I haven’t even told the rest of my family.
Fed’s voice lowers to a whisper. “Is he forcing you to be with him?”
I can’t help a smile catch the edges of my lips. “No.He isn’t forcing me. Believe me, I tried to fight it, but I’m helplessly in love.”
Fed gasps. “You’re inlove?”
I haven’t even spoken those words in my own head, so God knows why I just blurted them out to Federico, but it’s true. I’m in love with Benito Bernadi. He made me fall hard and fast, and I’m going to kill him.
