Maisie moved until she was a few feet from him, desperate to touch him. ‘I don’t know, Romeo. Do you feel the same ache when you imagine us being together instead of apart? Or is it different, better?’ she whispered.
His head dropped forward, his forehead resting against the cool glass as a tremble moved through his body. ‘Per favore...please, gattina, why are you doing this?’ he groaned roughly. ‘Why are you here?’
Maisie swallowed. ‘I needed to see that you’re all right. That Lorenzo—’
‘Lorenzo is no longer an issue. The famiglia are abandoning his sinking ship. We have a witness who’ll testify to what happened to Zaccheo’s father after my father threw me out that night. Lorenzo is now facing a murder charge. Our combined testimony will put him away for good.’
She gasped. ‘Why did he attack Zaccheo’s father?’
‘Paolo Giordano had the task of disposing of me after my mother left me on my father’s doorstep. My father didn’t want me, so Paolo took me home. Unfortunately, his wife was less than enthusiastic about having another mouth to feed. Paolo had the audacity to offend my father by trying to return me to him after a month. My father set Lorenzo on him.’ He stopped, distant memories glazing his eyes before he shook them off. ‘I made a statement to the chief of police two days ago. He issued warrants for Lorenzo’s arrest. The case may collapse or it may not. Either way, Lorenzo is going to spend some time in prison before the case goes to trial. He’ll know better than to come after me or mine again.’
‘So, that was how you ended up on the streets? Because your mother didn’t want you?’
‘She was a high-class prostitute. Getting pregnant with me put a huge obstacle in her chosen career. When I became too much for her, she drove me to a house I’d never visited before, told me it was my father’s house and drove away.’
‘Did you see her again?’
He closed his eyes for a split second. ‘Not until I stayed with her for a week, here in Palermo, five years ago.’
‘The week we met?’
He nodded. ‘She called, finally. After years of silence, she called me. I’d kept tabs on her over the years and knew when she fell on particularly hard times. I found ways to send her money without her knowing it came from me. I didn’t want her contacting me because I was rich. I wanted her to do it because I was her son and she wanted to see me.’ He shook his head, bitterness and pain warring over his face. ‘The week before she died, she finally called. I was elated.’
‘What happened?’
‘She wanted the use of my credit card. She wasn’t interested in who I was or whether I could afford it. She had a fast-growing brain tumour and didn’t have long to live. She wanted to die in style. I checked her into the presidential suite at the Four Seasons. And I stayed with her, hoping that she’d show me, in some small way, that she’d regretted giving me away. She didn’t. I held her hand until she passed away and all she did was curse me for looking like my father.
‘So, you see, I don’t know if this living, breathing thing inside me is love, or if it’s a twisted need to cling to something that’s damaged because I’ve touched it.’
The words wrenched at her soul. ‘Please don’t say that.’
He turned to face her, and his eyes were deep dark pools of pain. ‘That day we met was the first time I accepted that hope was a useless emotion. That love didn’t exist. Not for people like me.’
‘Romeo...’
‘It’s okay, gattina. I know you don’t love me.’ His shoulders drooped in weary, agonised defeat. ‘I’ll make sure the divorce is fast and the settlement more than generous.’
Her breath shook. ‘I don’t want a divorce or your money, Romeo.’
A sound of a wounded animal seared from his throat. She took the final step and placed her left hand on his chest. ‘If I did, I would’ve taken off my wedding ring the moment we left Hawaii.’
His gaze fell on her ring and his eyes flared bright, and then dimmed almost immediately. As if a light had gone off inside.
‘We can’t stay married simply for the sake of Lucca. I won’t be responsible for bringing unhappiness to your life.’
‘Then bring happiness. Love me. Be with me.’
His eyes slowly rose, connected with hers. ‘But on the island, you said—’
‘I said I didn’t want to be married because I couldn’t bear the thought of loving you and not having you love me back.’