Page 28 of Ruthless Vengeance
I run a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots as if that’ll do something to stop the pressure building behind my eyes.
“If this were the first time she lied, maybe I could get past it. But it’snotthe first time, is it?”
Andre tilts his head slightly. “No, I suppose it’s not.”
I scoff, shaking my head. “She kept mydaughterfrom me, Andre. A whole fuckingchild.And now this? What am I going to find out next? That she has a secret boyfriend stashed away somewhere? A whole other life I don’t know about?”
I expect Andre to agree with me, to tell me that this is entire situation is fucked and that I have no reason to ever trust Clara again.
But instead, he just sighs. “You might be overreacting.”
I almost spit out my whisky. “Excuse me?”
He holds up a hand. “I’m not excusing what Clara did by keeping Zoe a secret. But that’s the part that isn’t making sense to me.”
“Let me help you, then. She. Fucking.Lied.”
“I swear to god, Marco, if you say that one more time, I’m going to lose my shit.”
I bristle at my brother’s tone, but I keep quiet.
“If Tommaso wanted Clara to get knocked up to use a kid as bait, why would she have kept Zoe a secret for so long? Surely, she would have tracked you down the moment she found out she was pregnant?”
It’s a thought that has crossed my mind, but who knows what the plan was? “Maybe she kept it a secret to make it less obvious.”
The muscle in Andre’s jaw flexes as he regards me from across the table.
I frown harder. “What?”
“Why did you bother bringing me here to talk, Marco? It seems to me like you’ve made up your mind about her.”
“I wanted you to talk me down! I wanted you to tell me that I’ve got it all wrong.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do? I’m trying to tell you to give Clara the benefit of the doubt, but for someone who claims to want to be talked down, you really have a problem with listening. God. You’re so fucking stubborn sometimes that it’s like talking to a brick wall.”
“I’m sorry that I’m concerned about the welfare of our family.”
Andre doesn’t flinch. Instead, he lifts his glass to his lips and drains it in one gulp before setting it down on the table. “It’s like I said, I think you might be overreacting. Don’t get me wrong, you have every right to be pissed,everyright. But you’re actinglike she planned all of this down to the tiniest detail, just to see how much she could piss you off before you explode.”
I grit my teeth, my hands curling into fists beneath the table. “That’s not what I think.”
“No? Because it sure as hell sounds like it.”
I don’t answer, mostly because I don’t knowwhatI think anymore.
Andre exhales as he crosses his arms over his chest, his brows furrowed as he looks at me. “You love this woman, Marco. And from everything I’ve seen? She loves you too. Do you really think she’s been playing you from the start? That she’s some mastermind working against you?”
I shake my head, my voice coming out lower this time. “She claims she hasn’t spoken to her brother in years.” I let out a harsh laugh. “If that’s true, it’s a hell of a coincidence that he just shows up out of nowhere.”
Andre doesn’t deny it. He just watches me carefully before nodding. “Yeah, it is. But sometimes, shit justhappens.None of this means that Clara is in on it.”
I exhale, running a hand over my jaw. I haven’t shaved in days, and my five-o’clock shadow is starting to turn into a fully blown beard. “I don’t think I can trust her. Not yet.”
“Then don’t.”
I frown at him, but Andre just shrugs.
“If you’re not sure, then don’t trust her. But don’t punish her for something she might not have done either.”
