CHAPTER 32 #2
“I’m sorry!” he barked, losing all composure.
I reared back.
Never did I expect this bullheaded individual to give an apology.
“I’m sorry, all right?” he spat, face reddening. He shoved a frustrated hand into his hair. “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry, Gabriela. For everything.”
Apparently, Franco took my shocked silence as a green light to continue talking.
“I never wanted to hurt you, but I did. You’ll never know how sorry I truly am.
I regret the things I did and the callous words I spoke,” he heaved, and much to my disbelief, I saw the so-called regret in his eyes.
“Back then, I was troubled and highly insecure. My parents’ divorce impacted my mental health more than I’d like to admit, and having a girlfriend who was…
infinitely smarter and charming than me messed with my ego. ”
All I could do was stare at him, speechless.
“Instead of cherishing and loving you the way I should have, I treated you like garbage. You were right to call me out on it. What I did to you has haunted me for three years. I hate that I ruined us. And you’ll never know how many times I wished I could just pick up the phone, call you, and confess these things. ”
Tears stung my eyes unexpectedly, some of it stemming from anger, but most of it because I loathed the fact that I actually felt bad for him. “So why didn’t you?”
Franco’s eyes shut and he dragged out a long breath. “The day we had our fight, your dad came over to my place an hour later and told me to leave the city. He said this was the only mercy he granted me. That I was lucky he wasn’t doing more damage for having broken his daughter’s heart.”
All this time, I assumed that I did a decent job of muffling my sobbing cries after I returned home from our fight. I didn’t think my parents suspected that I was lying when I told them that Franco and I broke up amicably. They believed me so easily, their calm demeanours barely giving them away.
But hearing Franco’s confession, it was clear that Papà had heard me at the very least. Knowing that I wouldn’t tell them the truth, he must have gone over to the Morellis to confront my ex-boyfriend.
And like the loving father that he was, he took matters into his own hands and delivered justice, sending Franco far, far, far away from Montardor, where I would never have to set eyes on him and relieve that pain.
“Why are you back?” I said drolly, though I didn’t feel any ounce of amusement. “Why now?”
His posture sagged like a deflated balloon.
“I never got along with my dad, you know this, and living with him in New York was hell. But a few months ago, I found out my mom was sick. She’s terminal, Gabby.
She doesn’t have much time left. I got in contact with your dad and begged him to let me return for her sake. ”
Oh.
That hurt to hear. For all of Franco’s faults, Mrs. Morelli had treated me like the daughter she never had. She was an angel and I never understood how she gave birth to a devil of a son. “I’m sorry to hear about your mom, Franco.”
He kept staring at me with this expression I couldn’t decipher. “Your dad had conditions. Mainly that I was supposed to stay away and never talk to you. I tried at first, when I saw you in that class. I tried again, when I saw you at MacGregor. But seeing you tonight, I…I knew I had to apologize.”
On one hand, I wanted to forgive Franco, but I wouldn’t sincerely mean it. And on the other hand, I wanted to scoff at him, turn around, and never look back.
The past couldn’t be erased and every wound he mauled upon my being like the lash from a whip? I had to do the work—I had to be the one to heal myself.
His apology did nothing for me. It would never justify the way he treated me. Only give an explanation for his behaviour. While I understood the latter, I didn’t condone his actions.
“Perdonami, Gabriela.” Franco took a sizable step in my direction. “That’s all I want. Your forgiveness.”
“You can’t have it,” I stated firmly. “Thank you for the explanation, but there’s no redemption for you in my book, Franco. You’ll always be a villain to me.”
Franco’s eyes darkened, not liking that response. For him to have expected me to bend over backwards and accept his apology said volumes about his piss-poor character development over the last three years. He may be sorry, but he still hadn’t changed much. He was still the guy who hurt me.
“Maybe I can change your mind.” He forgot the concept of a personal bubble and entered mine.
I slid against the wall, further from him, but he managed to clasp my face and raise it to his, ironically using his strength to overpower me.
Just like old times. “God, you look so pretty tonight, Gabby. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. The truth is I never got over you—”
“Franco, let go of me!”
He kissed me.
On the mouth.
My frozen state only lasted two beats before I thawed and registered the range of audacity this idiot possessed.
A sharp cry escaped me and I shoved at his chest with pounding fists.
He wouldn’t budge, gripping my face harder.
So I raised my leg and kneed him where the sun didn’t shine.
“Fuck!” Franco wrenched out in pain, withdrawing enough to cup his crotch. Thunderous footsteps echoed against the marble floor, approaching us. “What are you—”
A strong fist thwacking against Franco’s jaw cut off the rest of his sentence, whipping his face to the side and causing his body to crash to the floor.
Hunter.
I gasped.
Then my boyfriend was all over Franco, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and throwing him against the wall. “You fucking piece of shit,” he snarled, sending his cocked fist sailing forth, a crunching sound resonating in the hallway. “How dare you touch her?”
Oh my God.
My head spun like a tilt-a-whirl ride from the sudden switch of Franco apologizing, to Franco kissing me, to Franco now getting beaten.
Hunter smacked my ex like he was a punching bag, effectively breaking his nose and doling out a few generous bruises that would blossom blue-purple soon. Franco whimpered, trying to defend himself, but he was no match for Hunter’s strength.
For once, he was overpowered.
A bitter part of me relished seeing how the tables turned. It wasn’t so nice having your will stolen from you and being unable to fight back, huh?
After the fourth punch, I sprang into motion and grabbed Hunter’s elbow. Enough damage was done. “Hunter,” I pleaded hoarsely. “Stop. Let him go. He’s not worth it.”
Hunter’s eyes flung to mine. A chaotic energy unlike anything I’d ever seen before swirled in his depths.
I remembered him telling me that he wasn’t a violent man, but I was his exception.
The thought of anyone hurting me made him want to teach the offender a lesson.
Right now, Franco was the recipient of all that rage.
And while I loved knowing Hunter would always rise to my defence, we were still at an event and anyone could walk by and chance upon this scene.
I couldn’t risk Hunter getting in any trouble.
“Please, my love.” I grazed his jaw, hoping to ease him out of the cloud of fury surrounding him. His chest bowed with his ragged breaths; gaze fixed on my lips. My insides twisted. I could only imagine how he felt seeing Franco’s mouth on mine. “Let’s just leave.”
Hunter’s gaze shuttered for a split second as he snapped out of his angry trance from my soft, coaxing words. He let Franco’s body drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“I’m only going to say this once.” When Hunter addressed Franco again, there was an eerie calm to his tone.
“You don’t come near her, you don’t talk to her, you don’t touch her, and you sure as fuck don’t kiss her.
Cross those boundaries again and I’ll make you regret ever having the privilege to breathe the same air as her. Understood?”
Franco wheezed, a hand covering his bleeding nose and mouth. “F-fine.”
My shoulders drooped with relief. I wasn’t worried about Franco reporting an assault because I would send Papà and every Remington man to hunt him down like an animal. He knew that with certainty. But I was worried about the cameras in this venue.
Hunter dismissed Franco and faced me. His hand trembled as his knuckles grazed over my cheek in his signature manner. “Are you hurt?” he said harshly. “Tell me.”
“I’m not.” I entwined his fingers with mine and drew him away from Franco. “I’m okay. Take me home, Hunter. Please?”
We’d been having such a good time and I despised that this one moment wrecked it all. But I was still adamant on salvaging our plans.
Hunter grabbed my face and his thumb swept over my lips, wiping away my lipstick with a tortured expression.
He couldn’t stand the thought that Franco had his lips on mine.
I couldn’t either.
The hunger glinting in his gaze let me know that before the end of the night, Hunter would ensure that his touch and kiss were the only thing I remembered.
He would eradicate every man from my past until he was the last one standing.