Page 38 of Bastard

“He touched you.”

“My arm. For like, three seconds until I shook him off.” My mind is racing. All this time, I believed he’d forgotten me. Only to find out, he’s always kept track of me.

“Why bother?”

“Diego has trouble enough focusing on his assignments. One less distraction this way.”

“Your men killed an innocent bartender.”

“That was ... unfortunate.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

He moves fast, not giving me time to react. I’m spun around with my back to the railing and he’s caged me in with an arm on either side of me.

“You had a chance to move on.”

“With you spying on me?”

“But you didn’t. Instead, you’ve acted recklessly.”

“The. Nerve.” I grab hold of his arm and try to shake him. He doesn’t budge. “You bastard.”

“That man in Rome,” he murmurs. “Did you like how he felt? How he got you off?”

“What’s not to like about a seedy New Year’s Eve fuck?”

“Liked it enough to contact me afterward about a divorce?”

I swallow hard at the anger in his tone. And then, a sense of horror washes over me. “My dance partner in Rome? Is he ... alive?”

He doesn’t immediately answer.

“He did nothing wrong.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” His fierce glare has me stepping backward, yet I don’t back down. “Are you living the lifeyouimagined?”

I push myself forward and slam my palms against his chest. “My choices were stolen away from me.” My throat hitches, causing me to whisper my next words. “I’ll never forgive you for that.”

There. I said it. I’ve allowed years of hurt to answer for me. Whatever. It’s not as if he was oblivious to the pain he caused.

“Luciana.” I hate my name coming off his lips, I really do. “Even now, I can’t afford weak links.” He leans in, bringing his face inches from my own. “Capisci?”

I raise my chin. “It’s a lonely life you must have then.”

Something flashes in his eyes, briefly, before he turns away. “Lover boy is alive.”

Having one less death on my conscience should offer relief but it doesn’t.

“Wait,” I call out. “Anyone could do this job. Why hire me?”

He turns, body stiff, manner cold, aloof, and very different from the man I was just speaking with.

“It’s time.”

And with that, he walks away.

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