Chapter 4

“Miss Arduini, I have orders to deliver you to the Scalabrini estate. Until we get there, you stay in this car.”

Then I remembered. The driver was one of Lucien’s men.

He hadn’t even given me a chance to get out and change my mind.

Lucien’s car was right behind us, but with two locked car doors between us, I couldn’t get to him.

My hands shook as I called him.

“Lucien,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Why did you give my mother’s bracelet to Odette? That’s mine.”

“Ines, it’s just a piece of jewelry.”

He sighed softly on the other end. “Odette just lost her family’s business. She wanted something to make her happy.”

“Let her have it for now. I’ll buy you something better later—”

“She wants it, so I have to give it to her?” I cut him off.

“My shoes, my mother’s heirloom, my husband. And the marriage agreement she doesn’t want is mine to fulfill?”

Lucien went silent.

“You know?”

After a moment, his voice softened. “Ines, that Don is ninety. He needs help just to stand up.”

“He won’t do anything to you. You only have to live there and accompany him to a few family gatherings.”

“Odette saved my life. I can’t stand by while her own father uses her to pay off his debts.”

Saved his life?

“I only married her so her father wouldn’t dare marry her off to someone else.”

Lucien went on. “Once the Vannozzi family’s debts are dealt with and the old Don dies, I’ll bring you back. We’ll be just like we used to be.”

“Ines, trust me this once.”

“I don’t want you to bring me back!” I finally shouted. “I just want my mother’s bracelet! Lucien, give back what she left me—”

Before I could finish, he hung up.

I sat motionless for a long time, phone in hand, listening to the busy signal.

Dalia started crying again, furious. “Who the hell does he think he is? He sends you away and expects you to be grateful that he’s willing to bring you back!”

“He’s going to—”

“Bang!”

A tremendous crash cut her off.

A truck ahead of us suddenly overturned, and several cars behind it slammed into one another.

Our wedding car was crushed between two vehicles. The door caved in completely.

Dalia and I were pinned in our seats, unable to move.

The drug in the wine left my arms and legs weak. Even unbuckling my seat belt took enormous effort.

The truck ahead caught fire. Heat and thick smoke crept closer to our windows.

Lucien jumped out of the car behind us and ran toward me.

But then Odette screamed behind him. “Lucien! My head’s bleeding!”

“Look at me! Am I going to die?”

He stopped short and began to turn back.

“Lucien!”

I called after him with all the strength I had left, my voice hoarse from the smoke. “If you walk away today, everything we’ve had for more than ten years ends right here!”

He hesitated, then turned his back on me anyway.

“Ines, Odette isn’t well. I have to get her to the hospital first. The driver will find a way to get you out.”

Ten years ago, he’d held my hand in the moonlight and said, “Ines, no matter what happens, I’ll always come for you first.”

Ten years later, he said, “I have to get her to the hospital first.”

More than ten years spent side by side hadn’t been enough to make him stay and open my car door.

Watching him carry Odette away, I suddenly thought:

Even marrying an old man would be better than giving myself to Lucien again.

...

Odette only had a mild concussion. She stayed in the hospital for observation.

Lucien stayed beside her bed all night.

The next morning, the old surgical scar on the side of his abdomen began to ache again.

Out of habit, he called, “Ines, help me up. My surgical scar’s hurting again.”

Only after he’d spoken did he remember Ines was gone.

His man told him the Scalabrini family’s people had rescued both girls from the burning wedding car.

Ines had been examined and had no serious injuries. She’d been taken to the estate, and the wedding had gone ahead as planned.

Lucien suddenly felt hollow.

He heard the Scalabrini family would be laying flowers at the family graves that day. Unable to stop worrying, he decided to follow at a distance and check on her.

He spotted Ines through a row of low pine trees in the cemetery.

She wasn’t crying or making a scene. She stood quietly with the Scalabrini family, handing a bottle of water to the old Don in his wheelchair.

Lucien felt awful.

Once the old man died, he told himself, he’d bring Ines back.

She’d never have to worry about pleasing anyone else again.

As he left the cemetery, he overheard two estate employees speaking quietly beside the stone steps.

“The Don and Donna were at it all night. I passed through the second-floor hall at shift change and could hear the bed frame banging against the wall, loud and clear. They didn’t stop until almost dawn.”

“Those newlyweds really don’t know when to quit.”

Lucien froze.

Until that late?

A ninety-year-old man in a wheelchair could still have sex with her?

Still dazed, Lucien saw a young man in a black suit walk past.

Lucien couldn’t help looking back. There was something familiar about the man’s face, as if he’d seen him somewhere before.

Then he noticed what was on the man’s wrist and stopped short.

“Wait!”