"And you decided not to be. Out of nowhere. After being made dead, and then alive again."
"Because I finally worked out that nobody cared about me except Bobby," she said simply. "Everybody else was happy with me as a corpse. Not him. So I came back for him. Because I need…" she drew in a shuddering breath of emotion. "I need someone to care if I'm dead or alive."
Angelo paused for a moment, as if considering some unknown. ”The problem with you is you always seem honest. You are an incredibly well-trained agent."
"That's because I am honest."
She had always been herself. That was what made her such an excellent spy. Nothing had been hidden, and yet absolutely everything had been unknown.
Angelo really was terrifying. When he looked at her with his full attention, she felt all the soft, scared things inside her crumple down into a tight ball in her belly and wait for him to go away. She had a lot of affection for Bobby because she and Bobby had a certain kindredness. But Angelo… she didn't think there was anybody like Angelo on the rest of the planet. There were plenty of violent egomaniacs, but Angelo was more than that. She could smell the difference as their chemistry started to fizz in the confines of the small room. She was free, but she felt as leather-bound as the books on the shelf behind him.
"You did a good job of acting as though you were afraid of me."
"I wasn't acting. You're terrifying. But I've never felt as safe anywhere as I did inside this house, with you and Bobby. And then I died. So I've decided to be reborn. Whatever the cost. I don't expect you to believe me. I wouldn't believe me. If you have any sense at all, you'll kill me or maybe ransom me back. But I'm asking you not to do that."
"Why not?"
"Because I belong here. Because I'll take the pain of being near you. You can beat me if you like. You can torture me. I just want to feel the way I feel when I am here."
God, that sounded absolutely pathetic on every single level, but after a lifetime of not really belonging anywhere, Gemma had finally found a place that felt like home, and she was prepared to fight for it.
Angelo dangled a paper knife from the tip of the blade, considering what she had said—considering that it was all lies, mostly. But also considering that Bobby's happiness seemed to very much hinge on her presence or lack thereof in their lives.
"You fooled me," Angelo said. "That makes you dangerous. And it makes you a risk. An unnecessary risk."
"Okay, but even though I fooled you, I made sure nobody ever got to Mark or Tilly or the baby. I protected them, and I don't even know them. I did it because they were important to you. I belong here. You know it. Bobby knows it. And most importantly, I know it."
"Your opinion being of the utmost importance in this?"
"To me, yes. Because I am me." She sighed and shifted in the chair opposite him. "I know why you don't like me."
"Because you lied to me, almost got me and my boy killed, undermined my empire, tried to have me arrested, put my loved ones at risk… stop me when I get to the reason you deem worthy.” Angelo's tone could not have dripped any more richly with absolute derision.
"I don't think it is any of those reasons. I think it's because Bobby likes me. He doesn't like anyone. But he likes me. And that means, for the first time, someone else has an influence over him. That's what you can't handle."
"You're wrong about that. Bobby loving you doesn't give you power over him. It gives me more power over him through you."
"Huh."
"Matilda Braybrooke once talked back to me. I fucked her face in the middle of the foyer."
Gemma blushed furiously at the whip-fast turning of the conversation. "Okay…"
"Imagine what I'm going to do to you." There was a real carnal threat implied in that sentence, a dark and terrible promise which nearly undid her.
He could see the panicked flush and the widening of her eyes. The innocence wasn't an act. It was real. Amid all the chaos, she had remained relatively untouched.
"If you want to ravage me, I can't stop you," she said bravely and correctly. "But I have to tell you; I'd be a lousy lay."
Angelo laughed, a deep and thoroughly amused sound. The girl was full of games.
"I don't ravage anybody. Ever. I seduce. Roughly. But you'll beg for it before you get it, same as all the others."
Gemma let a little smile appear on her lips. "I'm not the same as the others, though, am I?"
"No. You're not. You're the first person who has ever chosen to be here. That alone sets you apart."