Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
"If...if Ysabel told you something—-"
"She did not have to tell me anything, since your best friend Romana had already offered ample evidence about your affair with her boyfriend."
Ynez paled. Fuck. So that was why the other woman had been so cold to her lately, and there were also times she had caught Romana looking at her with a catty little smile. That bitch!
Her mind raced as she tried to come up with the best possible excuse, but then she saw the steely expression on Massimo's gorgeous face, and she knew him well enough to know there was only way out of this.
"I'm sorry." Ynez's fingers curled into fists as she forced the words out. "I don't know how much she's told you, but...I've been having an affair behind your back since you stopped wanting to have sex with me."
Ynez's confession was unexpected, and Massimo's jaw clenched as his anger faded, and guilt over wasting years of his ex-girlfriend's life once again assaulted his conscience.
"Perdonami." Forgive me. "You were right from the start. I was mistaken about my feelings, and I ended up wasting your life."
Ynez lowered her head, but only because she was unable to keep herself from smiling. Stupid, stupid Mas. Why were so many people so predictably stupid? Truth didn't always set people free. Truth could be just as easily weaponized and turn into a cage...when spoken by the right at the right time and place.
She tried reaching for his hand again, and in his guilt, he allowed her fingers to come into contact with his. "I will never regret those years we had, Mas," she whispered. "Please don't ask that of me."
Massimo had already withdrawn his hand from Ynez's even before she had finished speaking. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ynez's touch might have only lasted for seconds, but it should not have lasted in the first place.
He jerked to his feet, saying stiffly, "I truly am sorry this is how it ended between us. From now on—-it is best that you only think of me as your brother."
"But what if I can't? I still love you, Mas."
The pain in her eyes whipped his chest. His honor demanded reparation. But his hands were fucking tied, not only by the duty he owed to his famiglia...but also by the simple reality that his feelings - or the lack of it - had not changed.
"Perdonami."
It was the only thing he could say before turning his back and walking away from the girl he had convinced himself he was in love with for five years.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
His mind began to taunt him with side-by-side comparisons of his memories of Ynez...and the time he had recently spent with Ysabel. There were moments, just fucking moments that it had seemed to him Ysabel was more like the girl he had met in the funhouse five years ago. But of course that could not be true, and it would do him no good to wish for what was impossible.
When he came back to his apartment, all he wanted was to find some fucking thing to do - maybe hit the treadmill or do weights, anything that would have both his mind and body so exhausted he would be asleep as soon as he hit the bed.
That was the plan...but when he entered the bedroom, and he saw Ysabel waiting for him—-
Well, fuck.
Now he knew exactly how to tire himself out.
Twelve
A quick call to ask one little favor from La Strega enabled Ysabel to enter her fidanzato's apartment and wait for him to come home. Julio's revelation had troubled her greatly; it had made her realize just how far and how well thought out Ynez's plans were when it came to deceiving Massimo. And her sister could've so easily succeeded, if not for divine intervention in the form of Cattleya and La Strega playing fairy godmother (and her assistant).
Just one last time, she promised herself.
Ysabel had come here to tell the truth one last time, and if necessary, she would ask for La Strega to vouch for her—-even if her whole heart was against this. Maybe she was being too much of a foolish and hopeless romantic, but was it really not possible for Massimo to believe she was telling the truth?
Ysabel paced the length of Massimo's bedroom as she tried to rehearse what she would say. I'm sorry. I know I may be the last person you want to see right now, but could we talk? Please?
She sat on the floor, and painful memories engulfed her mind as she leaned back against the side of his bed. She remembered the look on his face when she told him about Julio, remembered how he had shouted, and how the entire diner had fallen silent. She remembered, and she started feeling hopeless—-
Questo non è da te, Ysa! This is not like you!