Page 30 of Ruthless Lord

Charlie

I drink coffee in the kitchen as the sun rises.

Each swallow hurts. Everything’s sore. My head aches and my shoulders feel like they’re going to explode.

The doctor said I’ll be okay, but it was clear he didn’t want to leave me home alone.

I had to swear up and down Stefano would be coming back soon to get him to go when the visit was over.

Just another lie to heap on the pile.

I feel empty and numb. My face aches from getting punched. My neck is a total mess. I’ll need so much coverup to hide the bruises it’ll be like wearing a pound cake.

And all I can think about is the bleak betrayal in Stefano’s gaze.

He’s still not back. Hours after it all happened and the house is empty. The corpse is gone, but the bloodstain is still there, gore in the shape of a man. I wonder how we’ll get that out of the carpet. I’m betting Stefano has some tricks that might work.

I feel sick. Every part of me aches. Is this what it’s like to be him every day? Lord knows how he keeps going.

There’s a knock at the door. Fear lances into me and I’m afraid the man’s back to finish what he started. But it’ll be hard to kill me when he doesn’t have a face anymore. I get up and warily check the security feed on a little screen on the wall in the entry hall.

When I open the door, Emily throws herself at me, hugging me so tight it hurts my bruised ribs.

“Stefano called,” she says, holding me. “Oh my god, Charlie, he told me what happened. He said you needed someone. I got over here the second I saw his message.” She gasps when she pulls back and gets a look at my face.

Her hands fly to her mouth in horror. “Who did this to you? Was it him? I’ll fucking cut his dick off and make him choke on it, I swear to fucking Christ?—”

“Easy, easy, it wasn’t Stefano.” I pull her inside before the neighbors hear her cursing up a storm. I’m honestly impressed at her level of rage. I didn’t think she had it in her. “Aren’t you normally pretty quiet?”

“Not when someone hurts my friend, I’m fucking not. My god, what happened ? Stefano just said you were injured in a fight but it looks like someone tried to kill you.”

“Well, that’s because they did.” I fill her in on everything. She listens, horrified, and makes more coffee when I’m done.

“What’s he going to do? I mean, someone broke into your house. He could’ve walked right into your room while you two were asleep and?—”

I cut her off. “Please, I really don’t want to think about that right now.”

“Right, of course not.” She takes my hands in hers. “I’m so sorry this happened, Charlie. And I’m so grateful Stefano was there to save you.”

“Me too.” Tears spring into my eyes again. “But he’s gone.”

“Gone?” She looks around the house. “You mean he left for a little while? I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“No, I mean he hates me now.” I pull in a deep breath. “I’ve been lying to him, Emily.”

She tilts her head, her eyes softening. “Lying how?”

I finally break. I tell her about Grandfather’s deal, about the spying, about how I’ve struggled against the idea of actually going through with it, right up until I found Giorgio’s keycard alone on the desk unattended.

“I never should’ve taken it. I felt like shit afterward.

I was going to shred it in Stefano’s office and throw away the pieces, but that’s when I found him.

And I guess Stefano saw the card on the floor and he figured it out, and now he knows I took it.

He knows I’m a liar. He hates me, Emily. ”

I break down into tears again. It hurts so much to cry but I can’t stop it. I was this close to finding something good, and I fucked it up badly. I made a terrible decision, and now I’m going to pay for it the rest of my life.

My husband hates me, and I can’t even blame him for it.

“Oh, honey, I would’ve done the same thing,” she says gently. “No, really, I mean it. Your grandfather’s terrifying. If he told me to snoop, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But you had an even better reason. You agreed back before you really knew your husband. Did you ever tell your family anything?”

“Nothing. Not a word. I hated myself for even agreeing. But the keycard?—”

“Was a mistake.” She tightens her grip on my hands. “A dumb mistake, but a mistake. You’re only human. You were going to shred it and move on. You were going to do the right thing. You can’t beat yourself up over the past. There’s only moving forward.”

“Where can I even go from here?”

“You can go tell all this to your husband.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “He’ll hate me.”

“Maybe, and if he does, then he was never the man you were supposed to be with. I have a feeling he’ll understand though.”

“You didn’t see his face,” I whisper, the memory of that bleak horror, the cold deadness in his eyes, assaulting me all over again. I shiver and can’t get it from my head.

“I don’t need to. Go talk to him.” Emily gives me a firm look. “I mean it. Right now.” But then she hesitates. “Actually, let’s shower first and freshen you up a bit.”

I frown and sniff at myself. “I’m okay? I mean, I don’t smell?”

“Sure, but you look like someone tried to murder you last night.” She gets to her feet, all five-foot-two of righteous fury and pure certainty. “Come on, upstairs. You’ll clean up and I’ll pick your clothes. Then you’ll confront the husband. You’ll get past this.”

“Why are you helping?” I lean back, drinking coffee, dreading the idea of standing. “I mean, you don’t have to do all this.”

“You’re my friend. It’s what we do. Now come on. You want to make things right with him, don’t you?”

“Yes, but?—”

“Then the longer you wait, the worse it’ll get. Stand up and be strong. Believe me, after the shower, you’ll feel better.”

I stare at her, and I don’t think she’s right. I think nothing’s going to help. But she seems so sure and I have nothing else to lose, so I might as well try.

Giorgio meets me at the front gate. “I’m guessing the husband isn’t expecting you,” he says as he escorts me through security.

My shoes clack over the blacktop. I’m in a sundress, not exactly appropriate, but Emily swears I look beyond fuckable , her words.

“But I’m betting it’ll be a pleasant surprise. ”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

His eyebrows raise. “No? You two fight? Is that why he slept in his office last night?”

“Something like that.”

“Ah, don’t worry. New couples go through rough patches. He’ll see you looking like this and—” His eyes linger on my throat. He must be able to see the bruises barely hidden by makeup. “Well, he’ll forgive you, I’m sure.”

I want to cry again. Giorgio shouldn’t be kind to me. I stole his keycard and probably got him in trouble. And now he’s trying to make me feel better when I should be the one apologizing.

“Listen, about the keycard—” I pause with him inside the depot down the hall from Stefano’s closed office door. “You didn’t lose it.”

“I know that,” he says gently.

“You do?”

“Put two and two together. Who else had access to my stuff that day? Just me and you.”

“You’re not mad?”

“I figured you had your reasons. And now you’re here to make them right, aren’t you?”

“I’m going to try.” Tears hit me again. “Shit, I’m a mess.”

“Not at all. You’re a sight, that’s what you are.” He pats me lightly on the arm. “Go on, get yourself together and go face him. Stefano’s a hard man, but he’s fair and honest. Tell him the truth. He’ll respect you for it.”

“Thank you.” I dab at my face with a tissue. “And I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” He grins crookedly and salutes. “Luck to you, Mrs. Bianchi.” Then he stalks off and leaves me alone.

Nerves tingle down my spine. I face Stefano’s door and consider running away. Maybe I can give him more time to settle down.

But Emily’s right. If I let him stew, it’ll only get worse. He’ll conjure the most terrible explanations in his head. I need to face this straight on.

Maybe he really will respect it.

Or maybe he won’t, but at least I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror.

I knock lightly. When I hear his light grunt, which I assume is Stefano-speak for enter , I turn the knob and step inside.

He’s sitting at his desk. His eyes are red-rimmed and his clothes are rumpled. He looks exhausted. When he stares up at me, his expression doesn’t change. He remains hard and impassive like there are a thousand miles between us.

I close the door and face him.

“My grandfather said he’d grant me a divorce and let me become the family’s heir again if I spied on you.”

Stefano sits back, surprise softening his eyes. “Did he?”

“Before I even knew you. That was the deal. He wants to know everything about your family’s shipping network. I have a feeling he wants to take it over, or at least he wants to start his own competing routes.”

“Did he now…” Stefano tilts his head thoughtfully.

“I didn’t do it.” I take a deep breath, willing myself to stay calm.

Don’t start crying. I won’t manipulate him into pitying me, although I’m not sure some tears would move a man like him.

“I wanted to. But I hated myself. And I like you, Stefano. I started to like our life together, and I thought… maybe… I could find out what it’s like to be your wife. ”

He stares at me. His lips press together. God, he’s handsome. Even when he hates me, he’s still attractive. His eyes move down to my body, over my dress, along my curves.

“You look good.”

“Thank Emily for that.”

“I will.” He slowly shakes his head. “But you took the keycard.”

“I know. It was a mistake.” I step closer to the desk, desperately clutching at my dress, feeling like an idiot but laying it all bare for him.

“I stumbled into an opportunity when Giorgio was giving me that tour, and I took it. But the second I got home, I regretted everything. I was going into the office last night to use your shredder. I was going to get rid of the stupid card and never think about it again.”

His expression hardens. There’s an edge of confusion to him. “But someone used that card to break into the depot.”

“They did what?” I look around in surprise. “That can’t be right. I didn’t turn it over, I swear.”

He lets out a long sigh. Then he starts talking. He tells me about the GPS modules on the trucks, about the two different break-ins at the depot, how the second one used Giorgio’s credentials. A cold creep fills my stomach as he finishes.

“You see why I reacted the way I did last night.”

“It looks like I was the one behind it all.” I nearly choke on the words and quickly shake my head. “Stefano, I had nothing to do with any of that. I swear on my life. That man last night, I’ve never seen him before. He tried to kill me.”

“Yes, he did. Which is why I’m inclined to believe you. But still. You took the card, and someone used it to get in.”

“Are you sure? You said they had his credentials. Whoever’s been breaking in here is really good at tech stuff. Couldn’t they have made a fake?”

He considers that for a long moment. I can tell he doesn’t like the idea, but he grudgingly nods. “I think it’s possible.”

“What can I do to prove my innocence?” I move toward him. I want to touch him. I want to kiss him and tug at his hair and beg him to touch me back. Instead, I control myself, aching with how much I hate all the stupid mistakes I’ve made. “I need you to trust me again.”

“Did you tell your grandfather anything about my operation?”

I quickly shake my head. “No, not a word.” I take out my phone and unlock it. “Go ahead, look through my messages.”

“I don’t need to do that.”

“Then I’ll give it to your tech guy. What’s his name? Davide? I’ll go to his office right now?—”

“Charlie, wait.”

But I’m already walking away. Determination fills me. If this is what it takes to clear my name, I’ll do it.

It’s obvious why Stefano’s so upset. I took the keycard, and someone used those same credentials to break in here. But it’s just a shitty, unlucky coincidence. I can prove to him that I haven’t been in touch with my grandfather, and I don’t care if that means violating my privacy.

Davide can look at my search history. I don’t even care if he knows I’m looking up why mosquitos drink blood, how to make your knees smaller, what roses smell like to dogs, if kangaroos can jump higher than humans.

Actually, all that’s pretty embarrassing, but screw it.

I don’t care if they know I think I have big knees.

I march down the hall. Giorgio showed me the tech office and joked about it being Davide’s little computer cave .

“Charlie, stop.” Stefano tries to grab my arm, but I yank myself out of his grasp.

“No, you stop. You’re going to always wonder no matter what I say.

But I know I didn’t tell my family anything.

Yes, I agreed to spy, and yes, I snooped a little, but I hated myself for it.

Now I want you to be sure you’re not married to a liar.

Let me give my phone to Davide. Let me do this for you. ”

He shakes his head. I can tell he’s not happy about this. But when I turn away and knock on the tech room’s door, he doesn’t stop me.

Davide looks surprised when I march up to him and thrust my phone into his hands. He’s a few years younger than Stefano with sandy brown hair and a handsome face. “Uh, thanks?” He frowns at me. “What’s this?”

“I want you to go through my phone and prove to Stefano that I haven’t been in contact with my grandfather.”

He seems totally bewildered. “Why don’t you let him look through?”

“He won’t do it.”

“You think I will?”

“You don’t know or care about me the way he does. Please destroy my privacy and prove to my husband that I’m not a liar.”

He laughs lightly and leans back in his chair, looking at Stefano for approval. “This is a little weird. But definitely not the weirdest thing I’ve ever had to do here.”

“Give my wife whatever she wants.” Stefano turns away and leaves the room.

“Thanks, Davide.” I hurry after my husband, leaving the phone behind. I catch up with him in the hallway. “Stefano, hold on.”

He turns to me. Frustration is spelled across his face in furrowed brows and pinched lips. I get on my toes and lightly kiss his cheek, which surprises him and makes him relax the slightest bit.

“It’ll be okay,” I promise, turning away. “Come find me at home when it’s done.”