The Marriage Debt (De Vos Mafia #2)(75)

I blink a couple of times to gather my bearings. It’s the middle of the night, and the rain is still pitter-pattering against the window. But the bed beside me is empty. Cold. As though Luca has been gone for quite a while.

Where did he go?

I get out of bed, only to realize I’m still very much naked.

Clutching the blanket, I quickly grab some clothes from the closet that fit me. An oversized hoodie and a pair of sweatpants that Lita probably bought in my size at Luca’s request.

I open the door and peer out. Everything is still pitch black.

“Luca?” I call out.

There’s no response. Not a single sound.

I walk out and check the living room and the kitchen, as well as the bathroom, but there’s really no one here except me.

What is going on? Why did he leave so suddenly in the middle of the night?

When I turn my head, there’s that door again, luring me in.

His office.

The one place I haven’t fully explored yet.

I swallow and go back into my room to grab another pin. Even though I’m not supposed to, there’s no one here to reprimand me, so I shove the bobby pin into the lock and wriggle it around just like before.

It doesn’t take me long to open it.

I know Luca doesn’t want me to snoop, but I can’t stop myself from opening the door and stepping inside. If he’s gone, this is my only shot at finding out if he is being truthful to me … or if he’s still a liar through and through.

My body is a bundle of nerves as I sneak inside and quietly peek around to make sure the place is really abandoned. I even make a stop at the bunny’s room, giving it a few pets as it chews on its freshly cut carrot. Someone’s been in here recently, but it’s deserted now.

No time to waste.

I immediately march to his desk and open every drawer I can find. I brush past a bunch of papers, old records, photographs of people, business, clients, drugs, all of it is there. But on the bottom, a particular photograph captures my attention.

As I pull it out, my hand begins to shake violently.

The photo drops to the floor.

A shriek catches in my throat and comes out shrill and empty, like the song of a dying swan.

On the cold, hard floor below me lies a picture with the face of a man I thought was long gone.

But his bushy-bearded chin, long, grown-out hair, and strong facial features have matured beyond death’s grasp.

A man whose eyes are filled with tears of betrayal, whose penetrative gaze could tear out my soul with a single deadpan at the camera.

Liam.





Chapter 30





Luca



* * *



I’m driving as fast as I can, chasing the horizon, going far beyond the speed limit as I race down the streets to get there in time.

My phone buzzes continuously on the seat next to me.

It’s one of my guards, but I know he isn’t calling me without reason.

Jill.

I contemplate picking up, but what will happen if I do?

Whatever comes out of his mouth will make me unhinged.

I grumble out loud, grinding my teeth as I shift the gear into the highest possible and hit the gas.

No fucking time to find out.

It’s now or never.



Jill



* * *



Ten minutes ago



* * *



With tears rolling down my cheeks, I pick up the photo from the floor and stare at it.

My fingers graze across Liam’s face, my lips quivering at the thought of touching him. Of touching the man he’s become.

Three years.

Three years have passed since I last saw his face, and here he is, right in front of me.

All grown up.

Just like me.

Alive.

My heart feels like it hasn’t beaten since I first laid eyes on this picture.

I want to bend over and scream.

Instead, I slam the picture down on the desk and rummage through the drawer. I tear it out of the track and throw all the contents out onto the floor in a rampage. I don’t stop until the entire desk is empty and all the evidence flies around me like the dead leaves tumbling off the trees in autumn. And I am weeping, bending through the knees, crawling through the remnants of my own dead, broken heart.

Plenty of tears roll down onto the papers as I gather the pictures and splay them out onto the floor below me. At least a dozen if not more of Liam walking around in a place I don’t recognize, at sea, catching fish, in the mountains, digging holes, looking awfully scruffy and … at peace.

How?

But more importantly … why?

My brazen, hot tears stain the pictures, and I roar out loud in broiling rage as I get up from the floor and stampede through the penthouse.

All this time. All this fucking time, he was alive.

And Luca knew.

He fucking knew.

And he didn’t tell me.

In my rage, I throw around furniture, but nothing eases the pain in my heart or stops the uncontrollable sobs from tearing through my soul. Until I come across a mirror and stare at myself, lifting the oversized sweater to touch the markings on my skin.

His ownership over me.

Scars of betrayal.

I scratch at the word until I bleed, screaming out loud until I’ve smashed the fucking mirror too.