Page 35 of Masked Hearts

“She eventually came home to take care of her father, who was going in for a few surgeries, and our paths crossed again. She ran into a bit of financial trouble, and I offered her a job at Vitale Holdings—but it was as Ambrose’s assistant. In hindsight, I should’ve seen this all coming since Ambrose’s first assistant ‘quit’ after sleeping with Ambrose.”

My eyes fly open in surprise as the story takes a very interesting turn.

“To make a painfully long story short, Valerie was on the run from her ex-husband, and she ran straight into Ambrose’s arms since he was shipping me off around the world to deal with investor problems that he caused with his international playboy reputation. They got together, and I found out in an interesting way.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Valerie wasmarried?”

His jaw clenches repeatedly, and his grip tightens once again.

“Valerie was married to Mattheo.”

“Mattheo? MattheoAuclair? My uncle?” My brows furrow, and I sit upright. None of this is making any sense.

He simply nods his head, his glance shifting between the road and me repeatedly.

“So you’re telling me Valerie was married to my uncle for years, and I had no idea?”

“Apparently, not many people did other than your father,” he says.

Then the realisation hits. “Ambrose killed Mattheo?”

“Not quite…”

His eyes meet mine this time, and a shudder runs down my spine. “You?What? Why?” The words come rushing out as I try to form some semblance in my head.

Antonio swallows so loudly I can almost hear it next to the sound of the roaring engine. “He was emotionally and verbally abusing Valerie for years. She got caught up in some of his business and even got tossed out of a moving car, where she broke her jaw. Anyway, ironically, killing him wasn’t for Valerie in the end, but those reasons sure did help. He had a gun pointed at Ambrose, so I did what any younger brother would to protect their older brother.”

I stay silent, letting what he just told me process. That does sound about right for Mattheo. Even though I didn’t know he was married, I’d seen him around enough women to know that he had no idea how to treat them right. Very similar to my father, except at least my father would rather ignore a woman’s existence than degrade her.

“I feel like I should say I’m sorry for killing your uncle, but I’d be lying if I did. I’m not sorry,” he says.

“Don’t be. For what he did to Valerie alone, I’m almost glad you did it. Someone had to.”

“You’re not upset?” His head spins in my direction again.

“No. I grew up around this sort of thing, so as sad as it is to say, I’m desensitised to it all. Is it a bit uncomfortable to know my husband has killed someone? Yes. But knowing you did it to protect your family makes it slightly less uncomfortable in a way. That, and Mattheo and I never got along. He always had a very creepy air about him that I never liked, so I always steered clear whenever he was around.”

He nods again as his shoulders slump. Even though he says he’s not sorry, it’s clear he’s still been carrying around the guilt of killing another human being for a while.

“You don’t seem like the type,” I say, voicing my thoughts aloud.

“The type to commit a murder?” he asks through a chuckle.

“The type to lose his cool,” I correct, and suddenly his joking air turns serious again. “Or is that another side people never get to see?”

“I’m generally very calm, but everyone has their limit.”

“Finding out my sister was dating the guy I had a crush on for years would’ve been my limit, yet you’re almost loyal to a fault when it comes to them. Why?”

“Loyalty is what makes us family,” he says.

“Why did you agree to all of this then?” I counter.

“Like you said, I’m loyal to a fault, and your father threatened my family. I couldn’t let anything happen to them.”

Oh, how lucky you must be to have someone this loyal to you. To love you so much that they’d do anything to protect you. To be so selfless, putting their wants and needs on hold for others. To prioritise their family over themselves.

It’s the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever known since my mother passed away. A part of me can’t help but wonder how far he’d go for them.