The Italian's Final Redemption - Jackie Ashenden Page 0,54

that harm by preventing harm to others. By stopping those responsible. Yet what have I done? I broke the law and my actions would have caused people pain.’ That guilt was so heavy, weighing her down. ‘I need to pay for that. I don’t want to go to jail, but not wanting to doesn’t put me above the law. And besides... I don’t want to manipulate you into helping me escape. That would be forcing you to compromise your principles and I can’t ask that of you.’

He had set her an example and all she could do was follow it. She couldn’t claim a freedom that she didn’t deserve, and she couldn’t ask him to ignore everything he believed in just for her sake.

Slowly, Vincenzo reached for the laptop and took it from her. But even then he didn’t look at it. He put it down on the stone bench and reached for her, drawing her close. He was so tall she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her glasses were still on the arm of the bench, but she didn’t need them to see those burning, dark eyes, and the expression on his face, like stone.

What he was thinking, she had no idea.

She didn’t know whether she still wanted him to change his mind, or whether she’d be happier in a jail cell. Either way it seemed she’d have to endure pain, so perhaps it was better that she didn’t know what he was thinking. Perhaps it was better to just be in the moment with him, where there was only his warmth and strength. The way he looked at her and the way he touched her. Where there was no past and no future.

Only them. Together.

He lifted his hands and cupped her face between them, staring at her as if she was a book in a language he didn’t know but had always wanted to learn.

‘Civetta,’ he said softly, ‘why should my principles matter to you?’

Honesty was precious, he’d told her, and so honesty she’d give him, even though perhaps telling him this wasn’t wise. Even though she was still sorting through the implications of it for herself.

‘It’s not your principles.’ Her voice was scraped and raw. ‘It’s you, Vincenzo. You matter to me.’

She wasn’t sure when it had happened, when he’d suddenly become important to her, but he had. And perhaps she’d only come to the realisation in the last ten minutes or maybe she’d known subconsciously for days. Whatever, the when didn’t matter. She only knew that she felt it now, like a fire burning hot and strong inside her. A fire that in the space of the last half-hour, as they’d shared their secrets, had only strengthened.

You cannot feel anything for him, remember?

Oh, she remembered. But this was merely a feeling of...kinship. Nothing more than that.

Shock flickered in his gaze and something else, an instinctive heat that made her breath catch. His palms were warm against her skin, resting there lightly, holding her gently. Yet there was nothing gentle or light about the way he looked at her. Angry, almost. As if he hadn’t liked her answer one bit.

‘Don’t.’ An underlying thread of ferocity wound through his cool voice. An order that he wanted her to obey. ‘You can’t let me matter, Lucy. You can’t feel anything for me, understand? I negotiated immunity from my crimes so I could dedicate myself to bringing people to justice, and that’s my sentence. And it’s for life. I cannot be distracted from it, not by you. Not by anyone.’

It was a warning, but she didn’t need it. She knew what was at stake already. Not that there was any kind of future for them even if she’d wanted there to be. He wouldn’t compromise his principles and she would never ask him to.

Yet they could have this moment and perhaps a night. Perhaps even the next couple of days, too. Surely that wouldn’t be too much to ask?

Her mother had wanted her to be happy, and she’d never been happier in her life than when was in his arms.

‘I know,’ she said. ‘Believe me, I know. But I think we could have the next couple of days, couldn’t we?’

An expression she couldn’t name rippled over his face. ‘Oh, civetta, I don’t—’

‘Please, Vincenzo.’ She stared up into the inky darkness of his eyes. ‘I’ve never been happy before, but you’ve given me a taste of it. And I wouldn’t mind a little more to