his brows knit together in total confusion. Then he moved away from me, sliding to his side of the bed. I sat up and hugged my knees. Every inhale I drew caught in the back of my throat and strained as I exhaled. I could feel his gaze prickling my skin, watching me struggle to regain my composure.
“Are you going to tell me what I’m doing wrong, Olivia?” he asked, demanding my attention. “Have I offended you somehow?”
I glanced at him and shook my head.
“Then why do you keep freezing me out?” he inquired in slight frustration.
“I'm not freezing you out,” I said in an emotionless tone.
“Olivia...”
“It's just the way I am,” I snapped. “It's the way it has always been between us.”
“Is it also the way it's always been with your bodyguard?” he taunted.
I raised my chin from my knees. “What does Broderick have to do with anything?”
“That's something you should tell me, don't you think?” he mimicked my words from the restaurant. “You claim he’s not important, but whenever he comes around, you're fixing to shine. You smile at him all the time, but you haven't smiled at me even once.”
“You're being ridiculous,” I spat out.
He sneered. “Am I? You're acting like a cold fish in my presence. You’re avoiding discussions about our marriage. You don't want to sleep with me because you clearly have an issue with intimacy. So tell me, cara…What the hell did I do to deserve this?”
I swallowed as he stared at me expectantly. “Nothing,” I bit out coldly.
“Not good enough, Olivia,” he raised his voice. “There is obviously something. I might have failed to give you the attention you deserve in the past, but that doesn't account for this kind of treatment.”
“Alessandro, please...” I stood my ground.
He let out a harsh breath and shook his head. “Cara, you have to tell me,” he persisted. “We cannot go on like this.”
No, we couldn't. This was a train wreck in the making and I was so tired of living in constant fear for my safety. But telling him would break me. “I can't.” The admission spilled out of me before I could stop myself.
“Why not?” He frowned, as though he truly didn't understand.
I wanted to offer a million different reasons, but the truth came out on its own, despite my resolve to keep it to myself. “I'm scared,” I choked out in a small, breathless voice.
“What are you afraid of?” he asked, but then realization started building in his eyes. “It's me, isn't it?”
I nodded, fighting the approaching panic and swallowing the words that were stuck on the tip of my tongue. Yes, it's you. And it's me. And it's the overwhelming fear that I can't go on living like this. Something has to give...
“Why?” he demanded, gazing at me as I lasted in silence. “Please, just be honest with me. I promise I won't get angry.”
He couldn't make that promise. He obviously didn't know how violent he could get with me.
“Yes, you will,” I retorted in a defiant whisper.
“You seem to be very certain of it.”
“I am,” I said firmly.
His eyes narrowed on mine. “And there’s no way to convince you to talk to me about it?”
“No,” I said quietly.
“Because you fear you won't be able to protect yourself if I get upset?”
I held his gaze. “Yes.”
He exhaled harshly and remained silent for a while as though considering something. Then, he opened the drawer on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. My eyes widened when he pulled out a gun.
“Here.” He handed me the weapon as if it was a piece of paper. “If I make you feel threatened at any moment, you’re more than welcome to pull the trigger and shoot me.”
I gasped, hating how this scene looked all too familiar. “Alessandro, I'm not going to—”
“Yes, you are, Olivia,” he interjected. “We're not leaving this room until you tell me what I did to make you fall out of love with me, and fear me so badly that you don't even dare to talk to me about it.”
He gazed at me expectantly, and I realized I didn't have a choice. I wrapped my trembling fingers around the cold gun handle. The scary memory once again flashed before my eyes and I winced. What if this was another one of his tests? Could he be doing this on purpose? “Alessandro, this is crazy.” The words emerged in a strangled whisper.
“Cara, right now I’m putting my life in your hands. That has