realization. “Olivia, please don't tell me he has hurt you as well.”
I stared into her eyes for a long time and gasped a sarcastic smile. If I described the fear and horrors I had sustained at the hands of my own husband, this conversation would stretch for hours on end, so I chose to ignore it and ask another burning question instead. “He told me...he told me you were dead. I was there when he gave the order,” I said in confusion, my mind returning to that awful night in the hotel.
Trisha expelled a shuddering breath. “He was really angry when he found out what I did. I begged him for my life, but he said he couldn't forgive me and I had to die. May was crying and Bill was trying to stop them, but they knocked him unconscious. One man was with him on the phone, waiting for his orders and I already had a gun pointed at my head. They were going to shoot me, but then...he told them to stop, and they did...just like that.”
I swallowed and shook my head. “Just like that? He told them to stop and your life was spared?”
She nodded. “Later, he came back and he was furious. Then, he saw May was having a panic attack and he stopped yelling and began comforting her instead. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. This guy who threatened to murder us all, rocking a little girl in his arms and telling her not to cry while his men surrounded us with guns.”
I closed my eyes and let the tears fall. There was no point in trying to stop them. “What happened next?” I whispered through a lump in my throat.
“He took care of us. He bought us this house, set up an account for us and made us both sober up. His only condition was that we take care of May and give her a nice home. I don't know why, but he seemed quite attached to her ever since the day he’d spared my life. It's almost like he sees her as his little sister.”
“Did he grow attached to you as well?” I asked, unable to imagine such a scenario.
Trisha shook her head. “No. Your husband has made it clear he hates me and that it was only because of you that he let me live. I've apologized a million times, but he’s still very cold and official toward me. Sometimes, I wonder if he'll just come here one day and shoot me in the head,” she mumbled, like she really considered that to be a possibility.
“Don't worry. He won't.” I had no idea why I felt the need to set her mind at ease, but that was exactly what I did. “You're lucky he likes May enough not to want to hurt her in any way.”
“He likes you as well, Olivia,” Trisha claimed. “He loves you.”
“How would you know?” I demanded in a sarcastic tone.
“I always knew. Why else would he protect us against that cartel? Why else would he spend all that money to give us a new beginning? Why would he marry you to make sure no one could hurt you?” she inquired softly. “And why would he look at you with so much affection? Before today, I couldn't imagine how deep his feelings went. That man is besotted with you, Olivia. You’re his entire world. Bill never looked at me like that.”
My heartbeat picked up a crazy rhythm, but I wouldn't let Trisha notice her words had any effect on me. “Speaking of Bill...where is he?” I changed the subject.
Trisha paled. “Alessandro didn't tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?” I asked in total confusion, sensing something bad had happened.
“Bill had a heart attack shortly after we moved here,” she revealed. “He passed away. I'm so sorry for your loss.”
I swallowed hard, taking in the news. The image of my father was blurry and distant. Like so many people in my life, he had failed me as well. He wasn't strong enough to deal with his pain in order to care for me, as he should have when my mother passed away. I remembered the good times when I was a little girl and he treated me like his princess. Those were the happiest moments of my life and that was how I chose to remember him. The man who'd read me bedtime stories before I went to sleep was the one I could mourn. I brushed away