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“You do not know me, Nyra. And you’ve proved that I do not know you. At all.”
Ending the marriage wasn’t the worst thing he had done to her, Nyra thought, eyes filling with hot, humiliating tears. She bit the inside of her lip so hard that she tasted blood. The pain was so sharp that her brain focused on that instead of the tears.
She held his gaze, even as she was falling apart inside.
It was he who looked down finally, before walking away.
The ruthless billionaire Adriano Cavalieri—whose kindness had touched her more than anything else, walked away from the table and left her to be pecked at by the hungry, gleeful vultures of his family.
Whispers and smug announcements and even relieved laughter abounded around her. All of it urging her to run far and run fast and hide. That was what she’d done once before, what she was good at. Finding little pockets of life and hiding in them, instead of living fully.
And Adriano had been such a pocket made of warm touches and hot kisses and wonderful escape.
No, she wouldn’t walk away without knowing why he was ending this.
Let Adriano Cavalieri face her breaking heart, and then she would leave with its pieces in hand but her dignity intact.
Chapter Two
BrunoMendaci,Adriano’s head of security and the closest thing her husband had to a friend,andthe only one among the vast, devilish Cavalieri clan that she could loosely claim as her friend too, was standing outside the immense double doors of Adriano’s study.
A shiver of apprehension ran down Nyra’s spine as she stared at the oak doors.
Staring at his tight shoulders, she had a sudden sense that Bruno wasn’t guarding the doors so much as he was trying to keep himself out. For an intensely private man, Adriano was close with Bruno, more so than with Federico. Curious as she’d been, she’d never asked him about their relationship.
Bruno turned as Nyra walked closer.
The villa’s silence felt extra strange after the dinner. All the various cousins had urgently dispersed, no doubt to spread the latest updates about Adriano ending his marriage, and maybe even sell it to a pap for some cheap payout.
Another breath shuddered out of her.
It wasn’t like him to air his personal issues in front of his family. Why, then? Why had he humiliated her in such a way?
“It might be better to not disturb him now,bella,” Bruno said, his words tinged with both warning and sympathy.
A part of Nyra wanted to heed his advice and hide away. Lick her wounds for the night. Would Adriano, a gentleman if she’d ever met one, have her thrown out if she didn’t follow his dictate? Would he order this friend of his to physically drag her out of his palatial villa, like a scene in some soap opera? What if he changed his mind come tomorrow morning? What if he was just angry now and would cool down tomorrow?
Disgust filled her at her own cowardice. “I appreciate your…advice, Bruno. But I’m not leaving without seeing him.”
“It might be better if you want to save this.”
“He declared to his family that this marriage is over and that I’m to leave. As if I was a…”
Shock painted over Bruno’s face.
“Honestly, it’s insulting to make me feel like I need permission to see my fucking husband. His or anyone else’s.”
“Then why did you…do all those things?”
Nyra blanched and hated that she couldn’t even meet this decent man’s gaze. “If he gives me a chance, I’ll try to explain.”
“I wish I…” Whatever he wished, Bruno shook his head and opened the door.
Nyra thought she’d heard him whispersorrybefore she slipped in through the gap. Why was he sorry, of all people?
The immense chandelier with its numerous light fixtures caught her attention first. The architecture of the study was stunning—the two-story space looked expansive enough that Nyra had thought it straight out of a fairy tale when she’d first stepped into it.
It was the only space she loved at the villa. Now she was once again hit by how the dark wood floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that formed a semicircle were reflective of the man Adriano was.