Claimed for the Italian's Revenge
Page 49
‘It was my fault,’ Marco said. ‘I could have ruined Vasile years ago—then he couldn’t have touched you. But that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to hound him and make him suffer. I pressurized him intentionally, hoping he would be forced to take desperate measures that would give me something good to use against him. That was what drove him to embezzlement and finally to blackmail.’
Claudia stared at Marco, a bewildering array of thoughts and emotions bombarding her.
‘I’d tear out my heart and give it to you,’ Marco said, suddenly catching hold of her hands and holding them close to his chest. ‘I’d do it in a heartbeat if it would help to make you feel even the slightest bit better.’
‘I don’t want that,’ Claudia said. ‘Ho
w would your suffering help me?’
‘I’m sorry for everything I did,’ he said again. ‘I know that will be hard for you to believe, after everything I’ve done to hurt you.’
‘I want to believe you,’ Claudia whispered, looking up at him. The emotional distress he was feeling was evident in his tortured expression, and she pulled her fingers out of his grasp to reach up and cup his face with her palm. His skin was warm and his stubble rough against her palm.
For a moment he closed his eyes and leant his cheek into her caress. Then, almost as if he couldn’t allow himself even that small amount of comfort, he tipped his head away and looked at her.
‘I wanted to do something—give you something—to prove I mean what I say,’ Marco said. ‘At first I couldn’t think of anything. There is nothing that could ever be enough. I can never make up for what I did.’
‘You don’t have to do anything,’ Claudia said. ‘I believe you’re sorry.’
And it was true. Somehow, deep inside, she knew he was sincere.
But she didn’t want his apology. She didn’t want his suffering.
She wanted him to love her—like she loved him.
‘Come inside with me,’ Marco said, taking her by the hand and leading her up the beach to the villa.
When they reached the doorway Claudia stopped in her tracks and stared into the huge living room in surprise. She had gone down to the sea through the bedroom door that morning and hadn’t seen what Marco had done in the living room. No wonder she had heard him moving about half the night.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Claudia said, letting her gaze run over the gorgeous Christmas decorations that adorned the entire room. There was even a Christmas tree standing tall and proud by one of the elegant windows, sparkling with multicoloured lights.
‘No, not that,’ Marco said, leading her into the room and pulling her down on to the sofa beside him. ‘Well, yes, I did decorate for you. But this is what I want you to see.’
He opened his laptop computer and clicked open a news channel website.
Claudia watched, confused at first, but she quickly realised what she was seeing.
‘This is a news clip of Primo Vasile and Francesca Hazelton being arrested at Turin airport and taken into police custody,’ Marco said, as if he needed to be sure she understood.
‘But…’ Claudia turned to him uncertainly.
‘The police received compelling evidence against them,’ Marco said. ‘And the news crew were also tipped off about it. I doubt it has made international news channels, but I wanted you to be able to see proof of what has happened.’
‘But I thought you wanted to be there, to let him know it was you who brought him down,’ Claudia said, leaning forward to click on the video clip again. She couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.
Marco let her watch it through once more, then closed the laptop.
‘Yes, I wanted to be there to humiliate him, as he humiliated my father. To let him know I was the one responsible for his destruction.’
He broke off and took a shuddering breath, appalled to think that for his whole adult life he had been driven by the need to seek vicious revenge on Vasile. But although Claudia had suffered too, she had no desire for retaliation. She didn’t wish to see them suffer in return. There wasn’t a vindictive bone in her body.
That thought had haunted him all night. And it had shamed him.
He turned to her urgently, catching her eye to really emphasise what he was about to say.
‘I thought that being there in person to bring down Vasile was the thing that mattered to me most. But I found out I was wrong.’
‘How? What changed your mind?’ Claudia asked