Chapter 36
THOR
Tired of brooding over Pietra’s words, I headed inside the mansion.
The more I thought, the more confused my mind became. I couldn’t have been wrong. There was no way I could have been mistaken about something or…
“Remember that you have a home?” The words escaped before I realized it, my tone rougher and more jealous than I wanted.
Ella stopped, lifting cold, hard eyes to me.
“And have you recovered your humanity yet?”
I ignored it. My attention was on her hair, or rather, the loss of it.
“You cut your hair?”
Why the hell had she cut her hair?
Her hair, which had once covered her back almost to her waist, now fell to her shoulders.
Antonella looked different, though no less beautiful.
There was no way for her to be ugly. Even bald and toothless, she would still be the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
But I couldn’t deny I felt upset that she had cut the hair I loved.
I preferred it long, so my hand could twist in it while…
I swallowed hard and focused on what truly mattered.
She was different, maybe because of the hardness embedded in her features, making her look more like a woman than the girl I was used to.
Antonella ignored me, moving ahead and leaving me talking to myself, as if I weren’t standing there waiting for an explanation I knew I had no right to but wanted anyway.
“Where were you these past three days, Antonella?”
My jealousy was stronger.
A thousand and one thoughts about where, what, and with whom she might have been during those days ran through my head, and none of them were good.
Her gaze mocked me, full of scorn.
“Worried, sweetheart?”
The contempt in her voice made my chest tighten and my jaw clench.
“Pietra and Martha were worried,” I snarled, pissed at her indifference, which reminded me of the old petulant, cold Antonella. “Your outings don’t interest me. You could at least have the courtesy to call them when you go pull your shit.”
Her arrogant air vanished, leaving her face bare.
“I never thought you could be sadistic.”
“I can say a whole lot of things I never thought you could be.”
“Of course you can. You always could.”
“It isn’t as if you’ve given me many good examples.”
Ella looked at me, with the shine of tears in her eyes instead of shouting and defending herself. And I had the screaming urge to swallow the words back and wrap her tight in my arms.
Neither of us moved.
The tension was like a steamroller between us.
“I hope that when the truth comes out—because it will, Heithor, no matter how long it takes for that to happen—it might be today, tomorrow, weeks, months… even years… when it happens, I truly hope you hate me as much as you show you do and don’t regret everything you’re making me go through, because I won’t forgive you, Heithor.
Carve that into your head. I won’t forgive you even if you bleed at my feet. ”
The hair at the back of my neck stood on end.
I didn’t react while I watched her move.
She took a few steps forward, stopped, and came back.
“Ah! I almost forgot.”
She opened her purse and took out what looked like a document and a key ring, then threw them in my face… The objects fell at my feet.
“Keep your damn car, Castellammare. I don’t need anything of yours. I want my car back exactly the way it was before you took it from here, and I want it yesterday.”
Like an idiot, I stood there, still, watching her walk away.
Antonella was definitely different.
She wasn’t the same woman from days ago, nor the one from when we were together. Something had changed, and I didn’t have a good feeling about it.
That day, around two in the afternoon, when I entered my room, I found a small gift-wrapped package on my bed and a card.
I opened the box and found small pieces of torn paper.
With my fingers laced behind my head, I stared, stunned, at the completed puzzle after I pieced it together.
A check for the amount I had deposited into her account.
It didn’t make sense. No…
From my pants pocket, I pulled out the car key and the document, placing them on the coffee table beside the torn check. I shot to my feet, bringing my hands to my head as my mind spun, doubt taking terrifying shape.
Pietra’s words echoed in my head.
For a moment, fear was all I felt, sending a sinister shiver down my spine, before I grabbed my car keys and left.