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I nodded. “Yes.”
He exhaled slowly, evenly. “I was twelve.”
“Twelve?” I repeated faintly.
“Yes, twelve,” he answered, a muscle twitching at the corner of his jaw.
“Who was it?”
The tic of his muscle became more obvious when he said, “My stepfather.”
I gaped. “What did he do?”
“Not every family is happy behind closed doors, he physically abused and terrorized my mother on a regular basis. When he aimed a rifle at her, it was the last straw. I shot him before he could shoot her.”
I couldn’t help but soften toward him. I might have been neglected when I was younger, but I hadn’t lived through the horror of domestic violence. Though I wasn’t sure if my parents had ever really loved me, they’d definitely loved each other.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. My stepfather chose to be evil and I eliminated him for it.”
“What about your biological father?”
“What about him?” His nostrils flared. “He left my mom when she was pregnant with me. That says all I need to know about him.”
I nodded. I felt the same way about my family. They chose money over me, despite the fact they knew how I’d be treated by the man who’d wanted me.
He reached for my hand. “Let’s take a shower. Then I’ll make us a hearty breakfast.”
My heart lurched. I’d need a nourishing breakfast if I was to face the Agostino family tonight. I only wondered why Valentino was so keen to throw me to the wolves.
Hadn’t he done enough without directly killing me?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chantilly
The day whizzed past, with Valentino making a huge breakfast that included sausages, poached eggs, fried potatoes and tomatoes. Afterward we binge-watched a mystery series and overindulged in salted popcorn and soda.
It was almost a relief to step out of the shower again later that afternoon and step into his walk-in-closet where some of my women’s clothes now encroached, including my gown in its garment cover.
I stayed wrapped in my bathrobe even as Valentino dressed in a dark gray suit with a white dress shirt and red tie. He was effortlessly stylish while I’d never really developed my own style, not when Sean had taken that control away from me.
He came up behind me and settled his hands on my hips. “Having second thoughts?”
“More like a panic attack,” I conceded.
He bent and kissed my throat. “I’ll be by your side the whole night.”
I nodded, then dragged in a deep breath before I pulled the fabric cover off the gown. I exhaled in a rush as I stared at the strapless, dark red fitted dress with its ruched bodice and its gauzy, flyaway layers of fabric spilling out from below the waist.
“What do you think?” Valentino asked.
“I love it,” I confessed with a smile. “Red is my color.”
“Marco has a good eye,” he acknowledged.
I looked back at him and arched a brow. “If I remember correctly, you were the one making most of the decisions on the colors and fabrics.”
