CHAPTER TEN
Deangelo Rossi
Always Loved Her
I couldn't stop thinking about her.
Ginny. Ginevra. Bryony—whatever name she was going by now.
She was lying in that hospital bed, broken and unconscious, and all I could think about was how I'd failed her.
I should have gone after her when she ran. I should have told her how I felt, should have fought for her instead of letting her marry that piece of shit Henrik.
But I'd been a coward. I'd convinced myself that she didn't want me, that she'd made her choice, and I had to respect it.
And now she was paying the price for my cowardice.
"You okay?" Luca asked as we drove toward Millbrook to question the SUV owner.
"No," I said honestly. "I'm not okay. She's in a coma, Luca. She might not wake up. And if she does, she might not be the same."
"She's strong. She'll pull through."
"You don't know that."
"I know my sister. She's a fighter." He glanced at me. "And she's going to need you when she wakes up. So get your head in the game. We find who did this, we make them pay, and then you tell her how you feel."
I nodded, but my mind was still back at the hospital.
I'd been in love with Ginny since we were teenagers. She'd been this bright, beautiful presence in my life—always smiling, always kind, always seeing the good in people even when they didn't deserve it.
She'd been too good for the world Luca and I lived in. Too pure.
That's why I'd never told her how I felt. I didn't want to drag her into the darkness of my life.
But then Luca had told me he was arranging for us to marry, and I'd been so fucking happy I could barely breathe.
Finally, I'd thought. Finally, she'll be mine.
But she'd run before that could happen. She'd married Henrik, and I'd lost my chance.
Or so I'd thought.
Now, sitting in this car on the way to hunt down the person who'd tried to kill her, I realized I'd been given a second chance.
And I wasn't going to waste it.
We arrived at the address Sal had given us—a run-down apartment building in Millbrook. The SUV owner, a guy named Rick Donovan, lived on the third floor.
Luca knocked on the door. Hard.
"Rick Donovan! Open up!"
There was a scuffling sound inside, then the door opened a crack. A middle-aged man with thinning hair and nervous eyes peered out.
"Who are you?"
Luca pushed the door open, and we walked in. Rick stumbled back, his face going pale.
"What do you want? I already talked to the cops about the SUV—"
"We're not cops," I said flatly. "We're here to ask you some questions. And you're going to answer them."
"I don't know anything! My SUV was stolen, I reported it—"
Luca grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Who stole it?"
"I don't know! I swear!"
"Bullshit." Luca's voice was deadly calm. "Someone stole your SUV and used it to run a woman off the road. That woman is my sister. So you're going to tell me who took it, or I'm going to make you wish you had."
Rick's eyes were wide with terror. "I swear, I don't know! I left it in the parking lot at work, and when I came out, it was gone!"
I stepped forward. "Where do you work?"
"Millbrook Manufacturing. I'm a line supervisor."
"Who has access to the parking lot?"
"Everyone who works there. It's not gated or anything."
Luca released him, and Rick slumped against the wall, gasping.
"Give me a list of everyone who works there," Luca said. "And if I find out you're lying to me, I'll come back. And next time, I won't be so nice."
Rick nodded frantically and scrambled to his computer, printing out an employee list.
Luca took it and we left.
"Think he's telling the truth?" I asked as we got back in the car.
"Yeah. He's too scared to lie." Luca scanned the list. "But someone at that manufacturing plant stole his SUV. We need to figure out who."
"I'll have Sal run background checks on everyone on this list. See if anyone has connections to us or to Ginny."
"Do it."
I made the call, then leaned back in my seat, exhaustion hitting me.
"When this is over," I said quietly, "I'm going to tell her. I'm going to tell Ginny how I feel."
"Good," Luca said. "Because she deserves to know. And she deserves someone who'll actually give a shit about her."
I thought about Henrik, sitting in that hospital room, playing the devoted husband.
He didn't love her. Not really. If he did, he wouldn't have cheated on her. He wouldn't have ignored her fears.
But I loved her. I'd always loved her.
And when she woke up, I was going to make sure she knew it.