Page 36 of Savage Seduction

I put my hand on his. “Marco, it wasn’t your fault.”

He laughed bitterly. “Of course it was. I am responsible for protecting this house, this family. Imagine if— She could have been killed!” His voice broke.

“But she wasn’t. She’s okay. Or she will be, in time, I hope.”

I bit my lip. I wasn’t sure she would. The poor girl must have been terrified that she was going to be killed. Especially after what had happened to her dad. Such a sudden brutal death.

I knew a little of what she must be going through. My dad’s life had been torn away from him horribly too, showing me how fragile everything really was. I had never been the same.

Marco shook his head. Rubbed his temples. “I hope so. I don’t know. She won’t see a therapist and she won’t talk about it.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?” I asked.

He looked surprised at this. Then shook his head. “No,” he said shortly.

I felt a flash of hurt. Then embarrassment. Of course, he didn’t want me talking to his sister about their private family business. It’s not like I was really a part of this family.

To cover my embarrassment, I stood up and transferred the uneaten caprese salad off his mother’s plate to mine. I was famished. Had been these past few weeks no matter what I ate.

“No point wasting food,” I said. At his quizzical look, I added, “What? You think I’m uncouth?”

“There’s plenty left,” he said, pointing to the serving dishes.

“Please tell me your staff eat the leftovers and it doesn’t go in the bin?” I said to him.

He shrugged, “No idea.”

“Of course you’ve got no idea.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I sighed. “Nothing.” I stuffed a piece of sliced mozzarella in my mouth. I too had had no idea before times got hard.

He threw me a sympathetic look. “Yeah, I read what happened with your father. It must have been tough.”

I was suddenly mortified. Years of accusation and scorn rang in my ears. I was overcome with the urge to explain that my mother and I knew nothing about Dad’s con and that he had been a wonderful father. And that made me angry.

“Since you know so much about my family, why don’t you tell me all about yours?”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Oh please. There is so much to tell. What interesting lives you must all lead. I bet Dolly wasn’t even the first murder you ever—”

My voice broke off. The image of Dolly lying in a pool of her own blood flooded my mind. Her wide, staring eyes full of pure terror.

Nausea overcame me. “Bathroom?” I gasped.

He looked startled, but pointed. I ran there and threw up, and sorely wished I’d closed the door behind me when he followed me in.

After I finished chucking my guts up, I rinsed my mouth and told him to get out.

“No,” he said, and ran a small towel under cold water, then tenderly wiped my face. “Are you okay?”

I closed my eyes. The cool towel was so soothing. Or maybe it was him that was soothing, his gentleness so at odds with who he was.

I leaned my head against his chest and let him hold me. My heart ached. Why couldn’t we just be two other people without the burdens of our lives? Two normal people. And then I could tell him I was carrying his baby and he could pick me up and twirl me around and…

No. That was a silly dream.

---