Page 37 of Tainted Obsession 1

“What’s wrong,farfallina?” he murmurs, eyes molten undeniable lust.

I shake my head. “I can’t do this. It’s just…” How can I put my roiling emotions into words? “It’s too much.”

I hate the churning in my gut. I have no reason to feel guilty, but I can’t quite shake the awful feeling.

George.The man I thought I would marry. We’d planned to spend the rest of our lives together. He’s always wanted to be a DEA agent, a force for good in this world. And I intendedto be his most ardent supporter, his devoted wife. I would’ve sacrificed anything for him.

Ihavesacrificed for him. I gave up my job at the university. I isolated myself in that tiny apartment.

And even before then, I gave up all career aspirations of my own to follow him to Mexico. I left my Fine Art degree collecting dust so that I could support his noble dreams.

But there’s nothing noble about George. He sold his loyalties to a cartel. He stood by and watched as a man pulled a gun on me. I’d be dead if Massimo hadn’t saved me.

“You should take it off,” Massimo growls, his dark brows drawn into harsh slashes over his glittering eyes.

“What?” I ask, following the direction of his glower.

I realize I’m fiddling with my engagement ring, spinning the small diamond around my finger as anxiety ravages me.

I clench my hand into a fist, instinctively refusing to take it off. I’ve worn my ring ever since George proposed two years ago, on the day we graduated from college. It’s been a constant sign of his pledge to love me forever, a love that no one else has ever offered me. Not even my parents.

A sense of utter loneliness crushes my heart.

Was any of it real?

“You don’t belong to him,” Massimo insists. “Take it off.”

“It’s not that simple,” I protest.

If I take off the ring, I’ll be accepting the awful reality of my current circumstances. I’ll have to fully acknowledge the depth of George’s betrayal.

How long has he been corrupt?

I remember how fervently he expressed his desire to be an agent back when we were freshmen at college. Surely, he hadn’t been lying to me then. Surely, every moment we’ve shared hasn’t been a lie.

My heart can’t bear the loss. Not only the loss of six wasted years with him, but also the loss of the future I’d envisioned for us in Albuquerque.

My whole world is crumbling around me. The ring is heavy on my finger, an anchor tethering me to sanity. If I take it off, I’ll be adrift, without direction or purpose. Supporting George’s dreams has been my passion; his happiness has been my only concern in life. If my fiancé is content and fulfilled, that’s enough to sustain me.

Before meeting him, I’d been alone.

I can’t endure that loneliness again. My family has never cared about me. But George does. He loves me.

Doesn’t he?

If I’d tried to save her, they would’ve killed me too.

Hot tears spill down my cheeks, the floodgates opening. Maybe George loved me once, but not anymore.

He would’ve left me for dead in that basement. He would’ve allowed me to be gunned down right in front of him without a word of protest.

My ring finger burns, as though the gold band is coated in acid. With a soft sob, I yank the small diamond off my finger and toss it away.

Massimo’s arms close around me. For a moment, I stiffen at the embrace of a man who isn’t my fiancé.

But I don’t owe George my loyalty.

And even if Massimo is refusing to let me leave, I can’t deny that there’s truth in his warnings about what will happen to me if I try to go to the authorities in Mexico City for help.