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She took a grateful sip Wondered what she could possibly say to make him understand Understand both why she’d reacted the way she had and also understand howhim there with her

“Mariella, is there anything you could have done to make Reilly happy?”

She took another sip “Short ofthe Prie facility, I doubt it But I should have found a way We were the ones who inconvenienced hihts to be angry…”

“Don’t you dare make excuses Don’t you dare, Mariella There is no excuse for ahis hand to a woman Ever”

In the otten everything she’d learned since that day seven years ago She’d forgotten how to be right and instead had only knohat it was to feel wrong And Luca was right She washerself, at playing the “if only” game If only she’d been s different, or nothing at all If she hadn’t looked into his eyes, if she’d cooked the pasta a few er, if only, if only, if only

And for a few seconds, she’d truly believed, if only she had looked away, said sorabbed her Seven years of progress down the drain

“Mariella” Luca knelt by her knees “Sweetheart I saw your face when he put his hands on you You went so pale That’s happened to you before, hasn’t it”

She would not cry She would not

She nodded, a tiny affirmation

“Oh, Mariella, I am so sorry”

This kinder, gentler Luca was tearing her defenses apart bit by bit Every place his hand touched ar inside her She didn’t want his pity All she wanted was his understanding and…and…

And his love It was all she’d ever really wanted and she hadn’t even known it

Luca continued on “It all makes sense now That day in the attic, all those times you didn’t want to be touched Who was he, Mariella? An ex-husband?”

She shook her head

“A boyfriend then”

Mari shook her head again “No, nothing like that” She could trust Luca, she knew that in her heart They could deny their feelings all they wanted, but the way he’d rushed to her rescue proved it He had earned the right to the truth To knohy she’d acted the way she had all these weeks “It was my stepfather”