him.
He had forced it out of her.
He picked up her left hand and rolled the pad of his thumb over the rings he had made her wear.
He had sought revenge, but it wasn’t as sweet as he had thought. He hadn’t had all the facts on the table. How differently would he have acted if he had known?
His insides clenched with guilt. He had railroaded her into marriage, not stopping to think of the reasons why she had balked at it in the first place. He had not taken the time to understand her, to find the truth about why she was so prickly and defensive. He had not made enough of an effort to get to know her beyond the physical. He had allowed his lust for her to colour everything else.
He had listened to those barefaced lies from her father. Listened and believed them. How could he ever make it up to her? How could he show her there was a way through this if only she trusted and leaned on him?
Or was it already too late to turn things around?
Angelo brought in a tray with coffee and rolls the next morning and set it down beside her. She opened her eyes and sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. ‘I don’t expect you to wait on me,’ she said.
‘It’s no bother,’ he said. ‘I was up anyway.’
She took the cup of coffee he had poured for her. ‘Thanks,’ she said after a little pause.
‘You’re welcome.’
‘I meant about last night,’ she said, biting her lip.
Angelo sat on the edge of the bed near her thighs and took one of her hands in his. ‘Would you have eventually told me, do you think?’
She lifted one shoulder up and down. ‘Maybe—’ She twisted her mouth. ‘Probably not.’
‘I’ve been thinking about your parents,’ he said. ‘I’d like to meet with them to talk through this.’
She pulled her hand out of his. ‘No.’
‘Natalie, this can’t go on—’
‘No.’ Her slate blue eyes collided with his. ‘I don’t want you to try and fix things. You can’t fix this.’
‘Look, I understand this is a painful thing for all of you, but it’s not fair that you’ve been carrying this guilt for so long,’ he said. ‘Your parents need to face up to their part in it.’
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