Page 15 of Unrestricted
I don't know what to do with that information. "You didn't."
"No. I told her it was because I wanted my bride to be pure but that's bullshit. Katya wasn't a virgin and I didn't think twice about marrying her."
I rub the back of my neck.
"So what do you want me to do with Eliza? She's sitting in my house, Gabriele."
"I know. Perhaps you should have left her where she was."
I pin him with a glare. "I spent three years chasing this woman down, Gabriele. Are you telling me to send her away?"
He shakes his head. "No. She's still a problem. I can't have her running around knowing the things she does about us."
"Okay so what do you want me to do?"
"She needs to be contained."
"Contained?" I say flatly. Why does it sound as if I just landed myself a prisoner for life?
"Contained or dead are the only options that work. I don't want her dead."
"Okay, I understand."
Relief flashes across his face before he covers it. "So you'll deal with her?"
"Yes, cousin, I'll deal with her." How is something I'll need to figure out. Every time I think I have a handle on her, I'm thrown off balance. The memory of last night surfaces, the way she walked toward me, hoping she could seduce me into letting her go. I think about the warmth of her pussy as I explored her with my fingers. I banish the image. This is not the time. I'm not sure it ever will be.
"Perhaps she won't be your problem for long," Gabriele says.
That gives me pause. "Why's that?"
"I'm going to tell Katya about her. She might take matters into her own hands."
"You'll tell Katya?"
"I don't want secrets between us."
I feel a pang of envy at that. What would it be like to have a woman you wanted to conceal nothing from? Sharing every part of myself with someone seems terrifying but suddenly I wish I could. I file that away somewhere I won't examine it.
I get to my feet. Gabriele stands with me and we embrace once more. As he releases me, he looks me in the eye.
"I need to know why, Adriano."
"You want closure?"
"Closure?" Gabriele shakes his head. "You're a psychiatrist now?"
"Hell no. And if I was, yours is the last head I'd want to get into."
He laughs loudly, a sound I don't hear from him too often, then sobers. "I need to know why she did it, if she deserves the chance to live."
I nod and walk away, leaving my cousin on the terrace. What will happen if Gabriele doesn't like what Eliza has to say? Will he change his mind about killing her if she admits she gave him up for financial gain?
It isn't until I round the corner and move out of his sight that I let out a breath. Finding out her motivations could change everything or nothing. A part of me doesn't want to find out which. But I owe it to Gabriele to ask. Just not today.
FIVE
Eliza
