Page 46 of Unbreakable Connection (Connections Duet)

“Sit down and eat, you promised my wife. I would never question you on any decision, especially regarding the woman you love. He took something precious from you and, by rights, should have been put down like the dog he is, but under the circumstances you were facing, I respect why you chose not to. However, with that being said, he was never our problem, to begin with, and that’s why I turned him over to Valentin and Oleg.”

“Bourne, it’s not like I couldn’t do it.”

“I know, and again, no one is questioning you, but a decision had to be reached, and now it’s done.”

“I remember not long ago when you were faced with the same choice, but it was Oleg advising you instead of me.”

“Two entirely different situations and one that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. The only regret about my choice is how it affected Sabina, but she knows there was no other way and has moved on. Ellen is different, and somewhere inside you, you know the difference, and that’s why you chose not to end him when you were in full rights to do so.”

“You’re right. It’s over, and Paolo will never be able to hurt Ellen or anyone else again.”

“As for the hacker, he’s young and barely of legal age. He’s some whiz kid genius who places anonymous ads for hire. He has no connection to anyone, and once Oleg gave him quite the fright, he is now on their payroll and will work exclusively for Valentin.”

“Wow, anything else I should know about?”

“Gio Costanza,” his expression was calm and collected, but there was a slight edge in his voice at the mention of Gio’s name.

“What about him?”

“Come on, Edric, did you honestly believe you could keep something as big as his unrequited love for my wife?” I watchedBourne pick at the imaginary lint from his impeccable suit trousers as he waited for an answer.

“What does it matter? It’s a fantasy in his head, and that’s all it will ever be. I didn’t see the need to tell you about it, and I stand by my decision.”

“In my world, everything matters, and when it comes to my wife, it’s even greater. You should have told me!” he shouted, losing his calm bravado.

“Bourne, based on our last conversation about Gio, in your state of mind, I couldn’t trust that you wouldn’t have flown all the way here and ended him with a bullet to his brain. You hate him for what happened with Sabina, and now, knowing how he felt back then and still does now, what stops you from doing that?”

“Sabina is always the voice of reason and has suffered enough to last ten lifetimes. I will never do anything that hurts her, and killing Gio would be just that. It’s killing me to yield, but I will not break my promise. Besides, Sabina is mine, and I have tied her to me in every way possible, so it would be futile at this point to end the life of some lovesick fool.”

“I’m sorry for not talking to you about it, and I thought I was doing the right thing for you, not for him.”

“I know that now, and I accept your apology.”

“How did you find out about Gio? As far as I know, I’m the only one he told.”

“You’re right, you were. However, what Gio didn’t know during the renovation process of the Santoro compound was that Oleg had a second monitoring system installed without his knowledge. This was a new induction to the Vasiliev Bratva, and Gio at the time did not earn the trust of Valentin completely, so this was his way of keeping the ‘new boss’ under surveillance while the trust was building.”

“So, the day I went to see Gio, you already knew about his feelings?”

“No, not me, but Valentin, yes. He developed quite a bond with Sabina and me. He felt I had a right to know, and when we had our face-to-face conference call, he informed me then. Soon after, you and I talked, and I was still reeling from what I had learned from Valentin and was angry. I needed time to work through my feelings and decide how I felt about it.”

“And? How do you feel now that you know?”

“It’s over, and so is our relationship with him. He’s Valentin’s problem, not ours.”

“So, he’s still in the land of the living?”

“As far as I know. Anyway, I would rather not discuss Gio any further.”

“I agree,” I said and finished off the delicious pasta Sabina had made for me. I pushed the plate aside and remembered Antonia and her connection to Paolo. “Bourne, did Patch ever find out about Antonia? Please tell me that she wasn’t working with him?”

“No, nothing like that. The day he visited her cottage was under the guise of picking up Ellen’s latest food basket. The footage you saw was Antonia welcoming him inside her home and giving him the hamper, which never made it back to Ellen. He told her that he had forgotten Ellen’s address at the clinic, so Antonia innocently gave it to him.”

“Oh, thank god, I never believed she was involved, but we had to be sure.”

“Have you thought about what happens after Ellen wakes up and recovers?”

“What do you mean?”

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