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He reared back as if she had hit hiht “You do not mean that”

“He cooked a friendship with me, pretended to love me because I was an easy e, you bought o, you are just like Frank”

A paleness seeged “If you can think that ofleft between us to fix”

Tears clawed up her throat, but she was daain in front of him Her chest hurt, her limbs trembled And suddenly Pia knehy it hurt sowrenched away

Why even the worst words froiven her a millionth of this pain Why it was utterly important that she preserve her pride in front of Raphael while she had flailed like an idiot in front of Frank

Because his betrayal felt like he’d taken her heart and pounded it into pieces Because it felt like she would never stop loving him and yet she could never bear to live with him

She wrapped her areht now Tell Gio that I will see hin around ible man to look over Maybe Gilda didn’t sacrifice herself for love, Raphael Maybe she just wanted freedom from the Duke and her father And that was the only way she could have it”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

YOU’RE NO BETTER than Frank

Weeks after she had spoken theh Raphael’s head

For the first week or so, he had held on to the anger

How could she even think that he was the same as that bastard who had deceived her, who had used her for his greed? If he was so low in her esti the relationship

By the third week, his anger had drained away and all that reut A burn in his throat Dio, her accusations were a nail continually scraping at his flesh

But even beneath the hurt, he knew the dread that she was right At least from where she stood

He could hardly sleep for the regrets that ate through him all hours