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“You must be right. We belong together, you and I.” He choked the last few words out, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Tears sparkled in her eyes. “You don’t know how happy you’ve just made me.”
“Hurry and talk to the detectives. Tell them you want to drop the charges so we can be together.”
“I will. I swear I will.” She pushed her chair back and stood, smiling down at him with tear-filled eyes. “You’ve made me the happiest woman on Earth, I swear.”
He returned the smile, more a baring of teeth than anything else. God, the woman turned his stomach. “Hurry, darling. I need to get out of here so I can go talk to Cat and break it off with her.”
Her smile turned into a frown. “Oh, you might want to wait before you talk to her.”
“Why?” What had she done to Cat?
“She’s so sleepy. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Maybe she’ll be awake by the time we get out of here.”
“Did you…did you do something to her, Annalisa?”
“Oh, stop worrying. You act like I tried to kill her.” She waved her hand, her words like little daggers to his heart. Was she capable of such a thing? He hadn’t a clue. “I just gave her a little something to help her sleep. I had to. She was like a dog with a bone, determined to find justice for you once and for all.”
Just hearing those words confirmed his feelings. He was in love with Cat. He might’ve been all along, but it was hard to admit when he barely knew her. A few days with her showed him how perfect they were for each other. How much they belonged together.
Why was Annalisa so hell bent on keeping them apart? Was she that delusional to believe they really belonged together? Was she the one who was mentally unstable?
He’d bet yes.
Chapter Thirteen
Rafe left the jail less than an hour after Annalisa came to visit him. The process had been remarkably easy. She’d gone to the detectives she’d first contacted when he and Cat had been in New York and admitted she’d made a mistake. Her sister was fine and Rafe shouldn’t have been arrested.
They released him without question, which blew his mind. Just as easily they’d arrest and charge him, they’d let him go? Frightening.
More frightening? Annalisa’s behavior. She acted as if nothing were amiss. As if it wasn’t a big deal that she’d gone to such lengths to break up his relationship with her sister. She’d had him jailed. She’d somehow drugged Cat. Who knew how she was doing? Was she okay? God, he could only hope so.
Fear kept him motivated. The minute they walked out of the station, they ran into Matteo, who was just about to head inside.
“I need to talk to him,” Rafe told a wary Annalisa. “Alone.”
She shifted on her feet, her expression wary, her gaze narrowed. “Honestly? I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
Cautious one, wasn’t she? She had every right to be. He planned on enlisting Matteo’s help him out of this insane situation the minute he got his brother out of earshot.
“He’s my oldest brother, the one I’ve always gone to for advice. There are a few things we need to discuss. Privately. But don’t worry.” Dread flooding him, he drew her into his arms and gave her a quick hug, patting her back awkwardly. “Give me ten minutes.”
She nodded, snuggling her face against his chest before he practically pushed her away from him. God, she made his skin crawl. “Ten minutes, but that’s it, Rafael. Then we need to get home. You need to talk to Cat. And then you need to tell my mother what you intend to do.”
“What I intend to do?”
Annalisa beamed. “Why, marry me, of course.”
Dread consumed him, his stomach roiling at the thought of actually marrying this woman. He didn’t even know her. She was flat-out crazy.
And completely delusional.
Turning away from her, he faced Matteo, who watched him with slack-jawed fascination. “What the hell is going on here?” his big brother muttered.
“Let’s go.” Rafe grabbed Matteo’s arm and steered him away, knowing he couldn’t get out of her sight but at least she wouldn’t be able to overhear them. “She’ll probably time us exactly ten minutes and then I have to leave.”
“Why are you even talking to her? Isn’t she the one who put you in jail in the first place? With her trumped up kidnapping charges and false documents?” Matteo asked incredulously.
“False documents? Do you know something I don’t?” Hope lit within Rafe.
“I’ve looked into some matters and from what I can tell, yes. The documents were somehow falsified. She had to have received help to get those documents put through the court system. Who, I don’t know, but does it really matter? Thankfully we can get her on the phony papers alone,” Matteo explained.
