"Do you expect me to believe that?" I sneer.
"No. Yes." She glances away then back at me. "I mean, initially, of course, I agreed to marry you to protect my family, not just from him but also from you, but somewhere along the way, I developed feelings for you."
"Yet, you continued to give him information?"
"No, I didn't," she pleads. "I didn't tell him anything of consequence. I just strung him along."
"The way you strung me along by pretending to care for me?"
"No," she shakes her head, "I was—am—emotionally involved with you, Christian. I have feelings for you. I… " she closes her eyes, "I love you."
"Fuck that," I snap. "You lied to me all this time. You knowingly put the lives of my entire family at risk."
"I am so sorry." She bites down on her lower lip, and damn it, despite the fact that my twin—no, not my twin, but a man who looks like my twin—is possibly dying right now... Despite the fact that she has put my life in danger, that thanks to her, the safety of my entire clan has been compromised… Despite all of that, I can’t stop my body from reacting to the inherent sexuality in that gesture.
"Fuck," I growl, "fucking fuck," just as the siren of the ambulance sounds in the distance. "This can’t go on."
"What?" She glances up at me. "What do you mean?"
"You, me, this marriage—it’s over."
48
Aurora
It’s over, it’s over. His words echo in my ears. I rub my hands down my wedding gown, then glance down to find the dress stained with blood and dirt. It’s a mess, just like my life. I watch as the paramedics strap the stranger to the stretcher and load him into the ambulance.
One of the men turns to me. "Are you going to ride with us?"
"I—"
"I am." Theresa rushes forward. "Please, can I go with him? Please, Aurora?"
I nod, and she scrambles up and into the ambulance. The door shuts behind them, and the ambulance pulls away.
"Michael, take me to the hospital," Nonna orders. "I want to be there when he wakes up."
"Of course," Michael responds.
"I am coming with the both of you," Karma adds.
The three of them head off for his car just as Massimo, Seb, and Adrian return. "We couldn’t find the shooter," Massimo growls.
"Asshole took off in his car." Seb drags his fingers through his hair.
"Couldn’t even get a look at his face," Adrian blows out a breath. "Cazzo, who the hell would break in, knowing the entire Sovrano family was here, and try to shoot at us? Unless..."
"Unless he was trying to shoot at Christian's triplet?" Michael murmurs.
"Not one of my men," JJ walks over to us, "if that’s what you are thinking."
"And you know I wouldn’t do that," Nikolai adds as he draws abreast. "Though, whoever did it got through your security."
Antonio approaches from the other end of the clearing; he’s dragging a man by the collar. "I found him trying to escape, boss." He scowls at his pale-faced prisoner. "He confessed to opening the gates to the grounds and admitting the man who shot at us."
I close the distance to the man and glare down at him. "Is that right; did you betray us?"
"I … I’m sorry," he sputters. "I … I was stupid; he said he was a friend and wanted to play a friendly wedding prank."