Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Tatiana
I remember everything—the whipping, the accident, the stolen necklace, and running from a man who betrayed me, a man I loved.
I remember the men who came after me, every cheap, dirty room in which I hid with my baby…
The day my beautiful son came into the world, Noah’s first word, his first smile, first step.
.. I remember Denver and Dante, our wedding, and the day I signed over my shares.
I remember what he did to Leander, and why I’m not supposed to contact my brother.
The attack on Dante’s convoy, Kent standing by while those masked men took me, the trunk in which they locked me…
it all comes rushing back. My mom, her death, and the funeral I couldn’t attend…
But of everything, the worst is the betrayal.
Dante betrayed me once when he used me to kill my parents.
The second time, he betrayed me when he married me to get control of my father’s company.
The third time was when I discovered he’d only been after the necklace.
And now, he’s done it again, allowing me to love a man I should hate with every fiber of my being.
I clutch my stomach. I think I’m going to be sick.
In the reflection of the mirror, Dante appears in the doorway, freshly showered and darkly handsome in a tux. His thick hair is brushed back, a rebellious strand falling over his brow. Powerful and muscular, he’s both breathtakingly beautiful and cruel.
I take in the ink on his hands and the ring that I put there but not out of free will.
I think about the ink on his skin that’s covered by his clothes, the body I’ve touched, revered, and loved, the man I’ve given myself to when this was only another game, another scheme to get what he’s always wanted.
Alarm widens his eyes.
I look at my reflection and see what he sees, a woman with a marble-white face and tears running black mascara lines over her cheeks. She looks unhinged, shaking and fisting the fabric of her dress over her stomach.
He crosses the floor with urgent steps. Stopping behind me, he grips my shoulders. “What’s wrong? Are you ill? Did I hurt you? Do you need a doctor?” He gives me a soft shake. “Talk to me, Tatiana.”
I twist out of his grasp and spin around to face him.
Shock but also resigned weariness fill his amber eyes, as if he always knew this moment was coming and expected it.
I, on the other hand, have no way of protecting my heart.
I left it wide open when I fell for my own lies, the tricks my own mind played on me, and that’s on no one but myself.
Stupid girl. How many times must I bang my head against the wall before I’ll learn?
“Tatiana,” he says with a growl, a warning, raising his hand.
I step out of his reach and show him the necklace. “I remember, Dante. I remember everything.”
Something dark settles in his eyes, something twisted. But his tone lacks emotion. “That’s what sparked it.”
I don’t have to ask what he means. It was a statement, not a question.
“It’s always been about the necklace.” Wetness runs over my cheeks even though I’m not cognizant of crying. “Has it ever been about me?”
He drops his hand and curls his fingers into a fist at his side. “Do you remember where it is?”
A wry smile twists my mouth. “You want it?”
The line of his jaw turns hard. “You know why I do.”
Stepping right up to him, I put us toe to toe. “This ends today, Dante.”
A muscle ticks in his temple. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said.” I tilt my head and hold his gaze. “I will give you what you want, what you’ve always wanted, and then I never want to see you again.”
His nostrils flare but he doesn’t utter a word.
I plow ahead, stating my demands, because this game is over. “You will set me free.”
He stares at my face with the darkness that lives inside him reflected so clearly in his eyes that I have to wonder why I haven’t noticed it every time I allowed him to take me to bed. To kiss me. To make love to me. No, that’s not making love. That’s just fucking.
“What about Noah?” he bites out. “Are you thinking about our son?”
“We’ll share custody of him.”
“Tatiana.”
My name is a command, a warning, a plea, I don’t know.
“No, Dante.” Lifting the skirt of the dress, I walk around him. “It’s over.”
And God help me, those words slay me worse than I ever thought they would.
My heart shatters like the dirty window of our past in my chest, the shards leaving cuts that will never heal. My stomach heaves, the snack I had at teatime threatening to come up, but I swallow down the bile with my tears, grab a coat, and walk to the door.
“Tatiana.” Dante comes after me. “We have guests waiting.”
I spin on him. “Fuck them. It’s tonight or never. Choose.”
I don’t wait to see what his choice will be because I know. It’s always been his choice, even when he pretended to love me.
But he never did, did he?
No. He didn’t lie. He never told me he loved me. He just used my feelings for him against me. Seducing me was a strategy, nothing but a part of his plan.
I storm down the stairs, nearly tripping over my own feet, but I don’t stop to remove my high heels.
Dante follows behind me, his breath hot on my nape. “Slow down, dammit.” He grabs my arm. “You’ll break your neck.”
I yank free. Not wanting to raise my voice and wake Noah, I say through clenched teeth, “Get your hands off of me.”
A mask drops in front of his face as he lowers his hand to his side. “Are you angry because I let you live a lie or because, despite it all, you still love me?”
And there it is, the cruel, naked, nasty truth.
I have to dig my nails into my palms to stop myself from slapping him.
We face each other in the middle of the staircase like strangers instead of lovers.
Yes, he allowed me to live in the past, but I can’t blame him for that.
That was my own mind’s doing. That trunk…
being locked inside it… A violent shiver racks my body.
It broke me. It broke something inside me.
I already started losing myself in the warehouse where my kidnappers had locked me up without food or water.
The explosion in the bank… that’s the final straw that made me snap.
He takes his phone from his pocket and types something.
I sneer. “Are you calling your guards to detain me?”
“I’m telling Sav we won’t make it to the party. I said you’re not feeling well.” He looks up from his phone. “You have to tell me what happened, Tatiana. Their names, their faces… I want to know everything.”
“So that you can ensure the people they work for don’t come after your precious necklace again?”
He watches me cooly, casually. “There are two ways this can play out. You can fix your face and go to the party. When we come home, you can tell me everything so I can kill those bastards. And then we fetch the necklace. Or you can run away just like you did before. It’s not going to solve anything. ”
I get into his face. “That’s where you’re wrong. There’s only one option. It’s now or never. Either we go get that necklace right this minute, or I take its location to my grave. You’ll have to torture me if you want to know where it is.”
He clenches his jaw. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’ve had enough. You need to let me go. So make your choice. What’s it going to be?”
He only looks at me while working his jaw.
“Thought so,” I say with triumph even as my broken heart shatters all over again.
Lifting my skirt, I turn my back on him and carry on down the stairs, walking toward heartache and freedom.