Merciless Union by Faith Summers

14

Lucca

There is no way to explain the truth to her without hurting her more than I have.

I can see it in her eyes.

From the moment I confirmed I was supposed to kill her, it severed the connection between us. It severed whatever magic we created in the past when we were kids.

The boy I was back then would never, ever, think to harm her, and I’m ashamed to stand here and admit I’d set out to hurt her in the worse way possible.

As we stare at each other, I remember initially thinking it was best she didn’t remember me. I thought it was better she thought of me as the monster, but fate screwed me in every way when it decided that I should be the only thing she remembered.

Now we’re here.

When I started this plan and made my promises to Damien, I didn’t want anything for myself. Getting revenge for Timothy was very much a goal of mine, but everything that has happened since was about Damien.

As I stare back at this woman who I could never forget, I realize now I do want something. Now I have something to lose that I want.

Her.

I want her, and I don’t mean taking her and claiming her for myself. I’ve already done that.

What I want can’t be taken or claimed. It has to be given to me, and this is the way. Telling her the truth is the way, and when it breaks her, that’s when the real work will begin to win her back.

From the look in her eyes, I’m not sure I have a chance in hell, but it won’t stop me from trying.

A tear drifts down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away and schools her emotions.

“You were going to kill me?” she asks in a shaky voice, breaking the silence. “You, Lucca?”

“Let me explain everything properly.”

“What’s the point?”

“You need to hear the truth. The whole truth.”

“Okay, well, as we’re talking about the truth, how about the next question you answer is this: did you bring me back here because of Cervantes?”

There are two answers to that question. I’m going to give her the one that won’t redeem me in any way. I’m not seeking her understanding for my actions, so there’s no point giving her anything to excuse my wrongs against her.

“Yes,” I reply, and a faraway look comes into her eyes.

She glances over to the window, and when she returns her gaze to me, her face hardens the way it did a few weeks back when we were enemies.

“Was last night about the business?”

“You know it wasn’t. You know when my actions are about the business and when they aren’t, so don’t ask those questions.”

“You don’t think I should ask you if I was something to fuck to pass the time, especially when that was what was told to me by your foster father?”

“That’s not what you asked me.”

“I’m asking you now. Is that what I was?”

“No.”

“I’d ask why you want the business so badly, but it’s a foolish question when it’s a multibillion-dollar company.”

“It’s not for me, Aria. The business benefit in marrying you was not meant for me.”

“Who then?” she spits, staring back at me in disbelief.

I wouldn’t believe me either. I entered into this promise, and the payment I wanted was being able to repay Damien for what he did for me.

“The business is for Damien,” I answer.

Her brows rise, and fury fills her face. “I don’t want him to have it. I don’t care what you say. My mother went through so much to give the business to me, and you want to give it to that man who loathes me for no reason.”

I bite the inside of my lip. “That’s not a negotiation. I’m not telling you the truth because I’m asking your permission. I’m telling you because I want you to know what’s happening.”

“Why would you do this? What’s in it for you then?”

“It was supposed to be nothing but revenge, and my debt paid to Damien for raising me after my family was killed.”

“Revenge for what? You only recently found out my father was responsible for your family’s deaths.”

Outside of the unit I put together to destroy Raphael, she’ll be the first person to hear about Timothy.

“Your father killed Damien’s son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandchild, who was only three. Damien’s son was my best friend, who I’d known all my life. Unlike my family’s massacre, there was evidence that your father was there. He left it behind.”

Her lips part and she looks pale. “My God. More terrible secrets about my father.”

“That’s how it began. The big secret no one knows is tied to that woman you told me about—Gina Delatorre. Your mother wasn’t the only person to die because of the secret. Damien’s son and his family died for that reason too. The same as my family. Three years ago, I wanted to kill your father straightaway, but Damien wanted to destroy him. He wanted to take everything from him. He wanted to sever his links to the Bratva and take everything precious to him. That’s where you came in.”

“So, you were going to kill me because you thought I was precious to him? Newsflash, I’m not.”

“You are. You were back then, and you are now. Back then, he had plans to marry you off to some government bastard for a business marriage, and now he needs you for the company.” I draw in a breath to continue the story. “When I saw you three years ago, I couldn’t kill you. I ended up saving you instead, and I knew I had to try to find everything under the sun to change Damien’s mind with regard to killing you. It was luck that I discovered your mother’s transfer of ownership of Cervantes. He wanted that more than anything. He knew he’d have to wait until you turned twenty-five, and I knew I’d have to marry you. That’s the whole truth.”

There is nothing more. Her ignorance of it was the only leverage I had.

She hangs her head down, and her shoulders sag.

Then she brings her hand to her head and shakes it with dismay and disappointment. All I see in her eyes is that when she looks back at me.

“I was always going to be a pawn. A thing to be used by everybody, including you.”

I’m not going to dispute that because it’s true. “I’m going to give the business to Damien, Aria. I assure you I will make sure your family won’t suffer from the transfer, and neither will you. I can’t break my promise to Damien, but it also wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give you an exit route.”

She lifts her head again, and when our eyes connect, she gazes at me like she’s trying to see inside my mind.

“Exit route?”

I thought about this all night, and this was the answer. If I offer her what she desires most and give her a choice—knowing she won’t choose me— it will be the only thing that can reset us and reset my presence in her life.

Everything so far has been forced on her, everything except the attraction and the raw, primal need to be with each other. That part’s real, and that’s what I’m going to use to work with.

“You can choose to stay with me after your birthday, and the company transfer is complete, or I can give you your freedom when I know you’re safe. If you stay with me, we stay married, and we figure things out. If you leave, we never see each other again. It’s as simple as that.” I already know she’s going to choose the latter. I’m prepared for that. I’m just not going to sit back and allow her to leave me. I had to break her to make her want me. Now I have to break her down even more to make her love me. “I’ll give you until tomorrow at eight to decide which of those options you want. Either way, I’ll be making sure you’re safe.”

I stand, and she watches me walk away.

I’ve shocked her and myself too.

No matter what happens or what she decides, she’s mine, and I always get what I want.

No matter how long it takes me.