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Annalisa shook her head. “Is she ever really all right? Father called while you were gone and they argued over the phone. She hasn’t stopped crying since.”
Cat remained silent. Her mother always cried. That was nothing new. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“She was also upset when you left. She thought you were abandoning us for good.”
Blinking, Cat stared at her cup, her vision all of a sudden hazy. “I wish you wouldn’t say those sorts of things.”
“Why, because they’re true? We all know what’s going to happen if you marry Rafe. That’s why I’m going to put a stop to it.”
Cat blinked again, her vision blurry, her head spinning. She lifted it to look at her sister and it felt so heavy, she thought she might fall over. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you’re a stupid little bitch and I’m not going to let you marry Rafael Renaldi. Ever.” Annalisa smiled and sipped from her tea. “What do you think about that?”
She could hardly think at all, her head was so fuzzy. Her eyelids felt as if one-ton bricks sat on top of them, and she closed her eyes, felt the room spin, and she immediately tried to open them again.
But she could hardly focus.
“Feeling a little tired, sister? I wonder why.”
Oh no. Had Annalisa somehow put something in her tea? Was that why she felt so loopy? She parted her lips, tried to speak, but the words just wouldn’t come out.
“Come on, let’s take you to bed.” Annalisa was suddenly at her side, wrapping her arm around her and hauling her to her feet with a grunt. “For such a little thing, you certainly are solid.”
Cat leaned against Annalisa heavily, her feet dragging since she couldn’t seem to make them work. Fear raced over her skin and she whimpered, her mouth literally unable to form words.
“You’ll be out in no time. You’ll give me enough time to take care of everything. You won’t need to see Rafe ever again. It’s for the best, Catalina. Trust me.”
Ha, Cat thought. Annalisa was the last person she could trust.
And that was the last thought she had before she slipped into blank, dark, nothingness.
“Miss Campioni is here to see you,” the deputy announced, grabbing Rafe by the arm and leading him to the visitor area, a small, dingy, windowless room that had a battered table and a chair on either side of it. “Stay on your side of the table and you won’t have any trouble.”
“I can’t touch her?” God, he wanted to touch her. Cat was the only thing that was real in his life. The last few hours at the jail felt surreal. As if his life had turned into some sort of strange movie and he was watching it unfold.
He’d called Matteo and had him arrange for a lawyer. Thank God he was still in the country. He and his wife should’ve followed right behind Rafe and Cat when they left, but Paige had come down with something and they’d decided to wait until she felt better before they flew back home to New York.
Matteo had promised him he would come to the police station as soon as possible with the lawyer in tow and whatever else was needed to get him out of there. Rafe was confident he would be out of this hellhole in a matter of hours.
“No touching allowed,” the man said, his voice firm, his gaze hard. He shoved Rafe into the chair. “Wait here.”
Anger simmered in Rafe’s blood, but he kept it in check. Wouldn’t do to have him make an ass of himself and make his situation worse. He was in jail, for God’s sake. He’d love nothing more but to throw a punch at the asshole officer for treating him so poorly, but he couldn’t.
He knew his limits.
The door swung open and Rafe held his breath, anxious for Cat to walk in so he could at least inhale in her scent. See her beautiful face…
But it wasn’t Cat who entered the room. Annalisa strode in, a cunning smile curving her lips as she sat at the table across from him.
“What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Cat?” He glared at her, disgust filling him at seeing her. He hated her. Hated what she did to her sister, what she’d done to them both. He was in jail because of this woman, brought in on false charges that she made because of some crazy grudge she held against him.
“Nice to see you too, Rafael.” The smile never left her face as she flicked her gaze toward the officer who stood in far the corner of the room. Most likely he wouldn’t be able to hear them. “A shame we have to be chaperoned, hmm? But I’m glad he’s there. Not too sure how you’ll react with only me in the room. Better safe than sorry.”
He seethed. What the hell was she implying? That he’d attack her with violence because of what she’d done? Or was she meaning that he’d jump her in a sexual manner?
