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“Are you going to make me stay here, Rafe?”
He turned to find Annalisa watching him, the sight of her tear-stained cheeks filling him with sympathy despite the anger he felt toward her. “You know it’s for the best,” he said carefully. “What you did to me and your sister, it wasn’t right, Annalisa. Someone could’ve been hurt.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted what I thought I deserved.” She pressed her lips together. “Tell me what I should do, Rafe. What do you think is right?”
Her voice was filled with so much sadness. “You need to get help. You can’t keep doing this. You love your sister. Why would you ever want to hurt her?”
“I don’t want to hurt her. Not really.” She started crying in earnest again, her face red and blotchy, her eyes swollen and bloodshot. “Please tell Cat I’m sorry. I hate what I’ve become. I don’t mean to be so awful. I just end up doing so many awful things to the people I care for.”
Without a word, he slipped out of the car and rounded it, opening Annalisa’s car door for her. She stood and went to him, throwing herself at him so he had no choice but to hug her. Clinging to him, she cried into his shirtfront, dampening the fabric with her tears, and he had to pry her off of him so she’d stand on her own once more.
“We’re going inside,” he told her, sending a quick look to Matteo. “You’re going to speak with your doctor.”
She nodded with a little hiccup. “He’ll want me to stay.”
“He knows what’s best for you,” Rafe said.
“They all think they know what’s best for me. I think you’re what’s best for me.”
“Annalisa…” he started, but stopped when she hung her head.
“I know. You don’t want me. I understand. You’ve never wanted me. Ever. You’d rather be with Cat.”
He had no answer. How could he deny the truth? And she didn’t want to hear it.
“Thank you, though. For pretending you cared, at least a little while.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “My little sister is a lucky woman.”
And with that, she turned and walked into the facility, never once looking back.
“…she was actually very agreeable. My mother was in near hysterics on the phone, crying and carrying on, but Annalisa took it all very well,” Cat explained, a little sigh escaping when his gaze met hers. “This has been the craziest week I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
“I agree.” He wrapped his muscular arms around her and pulled her in close, his cheek resting against her hair. They lay sprawled on the giant bed in the hotel room they obtained not thirty minutes ago. Both of them too tired to return to either of their homes, not that Cat wanted to go back to her mother’s house.
“At least Mama has someone to be with her for the next few days.” She was so thankful Rafe had arranged for a part-time nurse to stay with her mother while they went back to New York. “Thank you for helping her.”
“Anything for you. Your troubles, your burdens are mine.” He kissed the top of her head, squeezing her tight. “I never want you out of my sight again, Cat. When I didn’t know where you were and when Annalisa admitted she’d drugged you, I’ve never been filled with so much panic before.”
“I know.” She sniffed, blinking hard to stave off the tears. “I hated it when you were in jail. I was so scared.”
“I didn’t like being in jail either,” he said wryly. “Your sister went to extreme lengths in keeping us apart.”
“I know.” Tilting her head back, she gazed up at his handsome, beloved face. “I’m so sorry she did this to us, Rafe. I had no idea she was so…unwell.”
Thank God Annalisa had agreed she needed treatment and voluntarily signed herself into the facility. She’d protested at first, but her doctor had spoken with her for over an hour, convincing her she needed help.
Such a sad, terrible shock. It angered Cat that no one had told her just how ill her sister was—and had been for years. Her parents treated Annalisa’s mental condition like a dirty little secret, so of course she’d have issues dealing with it. What did they expect?
