34. Chapter 33 Soren
I’m nervous as hell as I head over to Gin’s house. I hate that she’s not at mine. How could she be when she thinks I only wanted her because of my inheritance? Our marriage was a transaction in her eyes. With her gone, I’m lost, miserable. Even my brothers don’t want to be around me.
Even when I think about Gin not telling me about Eva, I can’t be mad at her. It’s not like she knew she was running off to get married. If she thought Eva was going to be in any danger, she would have told me. I couldn’t have been imagining our love.
I park my car, the one she scraped to hell, in her driveway. I grin, remembering the way she smiled while she ran her car down the side of mine. There’s a part of me that wishes I never fixed it. I like the reminder of her and her feistiness.
I knock on the door and a moment later, her mother appears.
“May I speak to Ginevra?” I ask politely.
She gives me a sad look and pats my arm. “She’s not here, Soren.”
My heart stills and I don’t understand the look she’s giving me. Dread clings to me and the temperature rises. Could I be too late? Have I already lost her forever?
I hesitate. “I also came here for you.” I open my suit jacket and bring out an envelope.
Pippa opens the door wider so I can step inside. Her hands continually rotate around each other. “This is bad news, isn’t it?”
I shake my head. “On the contrary.” I hand her the white paper and her trembling hands open the seal. “The medicine is working.” Her eyes roam left to right, reading the paper.
“I don’t understand what this is saying.”
“It’s saying that your life expectancy has increased from four months to a decade. The cancer is still living in you, but they were able to shrink it and its growth rate has decreased.”
“Does Ginevra know?” she asks, her eyes glassy from unshed tears.
“Not yet. I came here to tell you both this news personally.”
Pippa grabs hold of my hand. “Dear boy, I hope this wasn’t the real reason you came.”
I sigh. “No, but I figured she would have to talk to me if I showed up with this.”
“You two are good for each other.”
“I’m not sure if she feels that way.” The truth of that sentence is overwhelming. My heart speeds up again at just the thought of losing her. I’m not sure I could survive it.
“Go to her,” Pippa urges, standing up.
I leave the house, calling my security team to find out where Ginevra is.
Istand outside a large window watching my wife talk to her ex-boss and notice that he’s recording the conversation. My mouth dries instantly and heartbreak like I’ve never felt before clings to my soul. I always trusted Gin, but this scene in front of me?
She takes a sip of her drink and her lips tremble as she continues talking. I have no idea what she knows, but I do know she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. She could easily find everything to destroy me and my family. Is this what she’s doing? My mind goes to my brothers questioning her loyalty. Eva had her loyalty over me. Did Jude have her loyalty over me too?
The thoughts strike at my heart. I gave her my everything. I gave an oath to my family that she was loyal to me. I promised my life. That type of oath is binding. I swallow the lump that sticks to my throat. My throat ripples as I force it down. My stomach wants to reject it immediately and it rumbles with nausea.
Conrad continues to encourage her to keep speaking. I’ve never liked him, and now I wish I had made him disappear the first time I saw him with Gin. Once again, I didn’t listen to my gut because of her.
Gin picks up her mug and her hands shake as she brings it to her lips. Conrad places his hand on her thigh and leaves it there while she drinks. My fury ignites and I snap, barging into the coffeehouse. The door hits the wall behind it and I stomp my way toward them.
“Take your hands off my wife,” I demand.
The man has lightning reflexes and adjusts his position so he’s farther away from Ginevra. That may have saved his life, depending on how much Gin has told him.
“What’s this meeting about?” I ask through clenched teeth. My eyes dart from Conrad to my wife.
Conrad shuts his recording device off and stands. “Thanks, Gin.”
“Her name is Ginevra to you.” My hands clench and unclench.
I can have men take him out with a snap of my fingers and no one will ever hear from him again. Like a coward, he runs away and I level her with a look.
“What was that?” I ask, my voice steady and in control when I feel anything but.
“Maybe this isn’t the right place to have this discussion,” she replies, looking around the shop.
“And yet you just did an interview with a lawyer who we happen to know is trying to build a case against my family.” I cock my head to the side. My heart feels like it’s going to beat its way out of my chest and hit her in the face with the force it’s moving with.
Fuck it. She glares at me with her hands on her hips and I pick her up, tossing her over my shoulder.
She kicks and hits her tiny fists against my back. I hold her legs tighter as I walk us out of the coffee shop. I dare anyone to say something to me.
The cold air feels refreshing with my increased blood pressure. I take a deep breath, trying to separate my feelings for her.
“Don’t shut me out, Soren. I see you doing it right now. All I’m asking is for us to talk privately. Please.” I toss her back on her feet, my hands having to steady her from the sudden movement. Her cheeks are flushed, her breaths choppy, and her hair is everywhere. Fuck, if she has ever looked more gorgeous in my life, I can’t recall. Her mesmerizing eyes plead with me and I’m a fucking sucker.
“Fine.” I cross my arms across my broad chest, every nerve firing as I wait to hear the doom of her words.
As we walk toward my car, she says, “I found one of his journals. He wrote about everything. I’m actually impressed he wrote so well. It was like reading a story.”
“Oh, yeah?” I open the car door for her and she slips in. “Where do you want to talk?” I ask, buckling myself in.
“Here is fine.” She opens her large purse and brings out a brown leather book.
“You can have this. It’s Jude’s journal.” She hands me the book and I flip through a few pages filled with Jude’s handwriting. “I decided I’m going to be a witness for Conrad. I agreed to bring down the drug ring.”
“I didn’t take you as a snitch,” I respond harshly. I’m not sure I’d be able to kill her either.
She shakes her head. “I did it to protect you. Everything I said was all about Jude. There was nothing about you. Jude’s dead, it’s not like they can put him in jail now.”
I stare at her as she speaks a mile a minute. She does this every time she gets nervous, and I miss about half of what she’s saying.
“Slow down. Let me get this straight. You lied to him?” I clarify. Gin is the most honest person I know.
“I like to think of it as a gray area. I may have embellished or omitted a few things so that your name never came up.”
“They’ll have other witnesses. You’ll be cross examined. If they find out, you go to jail.”
“It’s worth it.” She shrugs.
“Ginevra, that’s not the type of risk I want you to take.”
She grabs my hands with hers. “This is me trying to show you that I’m all in. I love you, Soren.”
Immense relief surges through me when I hear her words. I pull her into me, her addictive sweet scent wrapping around us. “I’ve been going crazy without you. I thought you were done with me.”
She giggles. “I’ve missed us.” I can hear the smile in her voice and I hold her tighter, scared if I let go, she’ll slip through my fingers.
“I need to ask you something.” I say seriously. “Am I your family?” My heart pounds. God, she is my everything.
Her hand touches my face. “I should have told you about Eva. I didn’t realize it was a big deal. Right now, I am trying to show you that I am sorry. I always want you to trust me. It’s killing me that you thought otherwise a second ago. You are more than family to me. You own my heart and soul.”
I shake my head. “Ginevra. It’s me who needs to be saying sorry. I never should have doubted you. Here.”
I hand her an old piece of paper that’s seen better days.
“What is this?”
“Your father’s patent. We never could get it off the ground, but I have a feeling you will be able to.”
She looks at the paper, then at me. “Did your father kill mine over this?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No. They really did have a boating accident. My father won the patent from your dad in a bet.”
“Your family wasn’t paying for our mortgage as hush money to my mother?”
“No. We paid your mortgage because we take care of our own.”
She reads the patent over again. “What is it?”
“It’s a removable saw set socket. It can be made easily enough, but we need someone who can actually market it.”
She holds it to her chest. “You’re giving this to me?”
“You can do whatever you want with it. Everything you make from it is yours.”
“Thank you. I never told anyone this before, but I don’t have any memories of my father alive. This means so much to me. I want to make him proud.”
“I have one more thing to tell you.”
“Yeah?” Her voice dances along my chest and she looks up at me.
“The doctors have confirmed your mother’s cancer is in a controllable state. She’s going to be around for a few more years.”
“Thank you.” She kisses me, her hands threading through my hair as she pulls me in closer. She tastes like home.