He couldn’t fault her for trying to find a different reality to the one he’d smashed her world with. Hell, he’d done that for a long time after his father had been indicted. ‘I followed the money.’
She frowned. ‘What?’
‘I traced the ransom my brother paid through dummy corporations and offshore accounts. It took a few years but I finally found where it ended up.’
‘In my father’s account?’
‘Yes. And since then I’ve made it my business to find out how every single cent was spent.’
Her shoulders slumped and tears welled again. He could tell the ground had well and truly shifted beneath her feet.
After several seconds, she raised her head.
‘Okay. I’ll do whatever you want. For however long you want.’
It was his turn to feel the ground shift under his feet. Shock slammed through him as he realised just how much he wanted to take her. To hang onto her.
But not for the sake of revenge. For an altogether different reason; because he wanted her. Not for her father but for her.
He shook his head. ‘Inez…’
‘I can never buy back those two weeks that were taken from you or the horror you’ve had to live with. But I can try and find a way to make up for what was done to you.’
‘How? By giving me your body whenever and wherever I ask for it?’
She paled a little. But the brave, spirited woman he’d come to see underneath all that false gloss raised her chin. ‘If that’s what you want.’
His mouth twisted. ‘I don’t want a damned sacrificial lamb. And I sure as hell don’t want you throwing yourself on your sword for that bastard’s sake!’
‘Then what do you want? You have his company. His campaign is falling apart. He will be left with nothing by the time you’re done with him. How much more suffering do you need before you let go of this anger? When will you feel pacified?’
Theo started to answer, then realised he had no answer. The satisfaction he’d thought he’d feel was hollowly absent, as was the deep-seated sense of triumph he’d always thought he would feel when this moment came.
Looking into her face, he saw the pain and confusion reflected there and his puzzlement increased. The ground was still tilting beneath his feet but he’d been on this path for too long to let go.
Hadn’t he?
He forced his gaze to meet hers.
‘I will let you know when I’m adequately appeased.’
* * *
Over the next week, she watched as he slowly dismantled her father’s campaign piece by piece. Allegations of impropriety surfaced, triggering an investigation. Although nothing was found to indict Benedicto, his credibility suffered a death blow and any meaningful points he’d managed to retain in the polls dropped to nothing.
On the Monday morning after returning from their sailing trip, the calls to her cell phone started. Both her father and Pietro bombarded her with messages and texts, demanding to know what was going on.
She hadn’t needed Theo to warn her not to take their calls. After his revelation, each time she saw her father’s name pop up on her screen, her stomach churned with pain and disgust.
Although she’d long suspected that her father’s business dealings weren’t as pure as the driven snow, she’d never in her wildest dreams entertained the idea that he would condone the brutality that Theo had described. Each time she saw his scars—and she’d seen them every night since their return, when he’d moved her into his suite—a merciless vice had squeezed her heart.
And that vice had tightened every time he’d cried out in the middle of the night after another nightmare.
She’d been surprised that first night after their return when he’d pulled her close after a fiery lovemaking and instructed her to go to sleep.
When he kept her with him the following night, she’d boldly asked him why.
‘I don’t want to be alone,’ he’d stated baldly. And each time he’d come awake he’d reached for her, wrapping his trembling body around her and holding on tight until his nightmare receded and his breathing returned to normal.
More and more, her foolish heart had begun to believe that her presence was making the nightmares, if not any less horrific, then at least tolerable.