The Marriage Merger (34 page)

Julietta loved him. The truth was in her eyes every time she looked at him. His ice queen was really a woman full of passion and goodness, opening her arms to a man who had once lived in garbage and walked in darkness. All he had to do was take her hand and take a chance.

Maybe he could. Maybe, just once, this time it would work.

“I forgot to tell you, some mail came for you today. It’s on the kitchen counter,” Julietta said.

“Probably a bunch of bills. Let me check, be right back.”

He walked into the kitchen and scanned through the envelopes. Then froze. The return address was stamped FISHKILL

CorreCTIoNAL FACILITy.

His fingers numbed and dread slithered through his veins. The past rose up from Dante’s Hell and entered earth.

“I have to check something out real quick on the com-puter,” he called out. “Be right back.”

He headed toward his office, shut the door, and ripped open the envelope. He unfolded it and read the words from his hated foster father.

Dear Sawyer,
Did you think that by changing your name and run-ning to Italy you’d avoid me forever? I know everything about you since you locked me up in this
hellhole. You always did think you were better than
anybody else. I took you in, gave you shelter, food,
and you threw it back in my face. You should be in
jail for killing Danny. You were such a pussy, you
couldn’t stay for your little brother. He trusted you
to care for him, but you left. Left him knowing what
would happen. You’re at fault, too. Does that bother
you at night, or have you forgotten him and moved
on with your perfect little life?

I’m coming up for parole. You may have put me
in this place, but you’re going to help get me out. I
need you to recommend my release, which will help
me in court.

I can hear you laughing now and asking why
you’d do that. And I’ll tell you why. If you don’t, I’ll
find a way from prison to destroy your reputation.

We have a lot of time to think and plan in here. I’ll
destroy everything you’ve built. I’ll leak the story to
the press. Tell your sweet little family the shit you
pulled, the way you killed your brother because you
didn’t take care of him. Or have you just replaced
him with that kid in your house and moved on?

I’ll use my last dying breath to drag your past
into the open. I’ve got nothing to lose. Do you?

Send the written letter in care of the parole board
address below.

Sawyer shoved the letter back in the envelope and threw it in the desk drawer. He despised his automatic fear, a boy’s fear, and reminded himself he was a grown man.

That it was over. He’d never give the asshole a way out of prison, a way to hurt other kids.

The best memory of his life was the one of his foster father going to jail. once Sawyer lost Danny, he went straight to the social workers and exposed what had been going on for years. Within months, the piece of shit was behind bars for a long, long time. It was the only justice that allowed him to sleep at night.

Now he was back.

The other memory shoved its way into his brain and carved him in raw, bloody pieces he knew would never heal.

An innocent boy on the streets was ripe for anything to happen. Danny had been looking for Sawyer, trying to find him, believing he was old enough to make it on his own.

Instead, he’d fallen into one of the local gang traps and was caught stealing their food. There was a price to pay on the streets, and his brother paid the ultimate price.

Sawyer’s fault.

He stared sightlessly at the floor. His heart beat and air filled his lungs. Blood pumped through his veins. But inside, he was empty, a soulless being with a past that would never go away and that would continually remind him he was nothing.

His fingers lifted and he traced the scar on his cheek. A reminder of what he’d almost forgotten. He was better alone.

Julietta and Wolfe would be dragged into a mess, and poor Wolfe didn’t need that type of exposure. Not when he was just beginning to heal. He thought over the options for a long time before returning to the living room.

Wolfe sat on the chair with the remote in hand. “ready, man?”

His tone was wooden. “Sorry, guys, I gotta hit the bed.

you two finish it up. My head’s starting to hurt, and I need some sleep.”

Julietta studied his face, probing for answers. He forced a smile and left them.

When she finally came into bed and slipped in beside him, Sawyer pretended to be asleep. He lay still for hours, throughout the night, and wondered what he was going to do.

…

Julietta sat in her office and stared at her sister. “Something’s wrong. really wrong.”

Carina put down her coffee cup and looked at her with concern. “What’s the matter?”

The itchy restlessness drove Julietta to stand up and begin pacing. The nugget of worry had now blossomed to a full-fledged attack. A few nights had passed since their movie marathon, and her husband was no longer the same.

A faceless, nameless ghost haunted every moment, evident in the preoccupied look in his eyes, the distance carved out on his features when he spoke. He cited work and refused to eat dinner at home. He sidestepped her request to speak with him alone, ready with a list of excuses, and kept himself locked in his office or endlessly talking on the phone.

He canceled an outing with her family and kept away from her mother’s house. When he wasn’t working, Julietta caught him staring at the wall, as if another place was on his mind. She’d tried to be patient and understanding. Tried speaking with him. even tried sex, but by the time he came to bed, it was the middle of the night, and she’d fallen into an exhausted sleep.

“I think he got spooked. I told him I loved him the night we went out. During sex.”

Carina swiveled her head around. “Hey, you weren’t supposed to have sex that night. We agreed, remember?”

“Did you jump Max when you got home?”

Her sister sighed. “yeah. you know I did. Alexa admit-ted her failure right away. And Maggie was pretty quiet and tame the next day, so I think Michael apologized properly.

They definitely did it, too.”

“See? Drunk women get horny. So, anyway, I told him how I felt after I seduced him, and even though he didn’t answer, he changed. He was more open before, happier.

We were starting to gel as a family.” Back and forth she walked, her heels tapping. “But suddenly, during our
Rocky
marathon break, he came back in the room and acted funny. He’s withdrawn completely. I’m worried about him, Carina.”

“I love those
Rocky
movies.”

“Focus.”

“Sorry. Have you tried to talk to him about it?”

“Several times. He completely shut down. Wolfe is worried, too. They used to work out together every day, but he’s missed all their sessions.”

“Did you try sex?”

“yeah, he’s been avoiding me.”

“This is serious.” Carina nibbled on her lip. “Maybe Max can talk to him? They’re close. Maybe it’s a guy thing.”

Julietta adjusted the photos of her nieces and nephews so they were lined up perfectly straight. Why couldn’t the cleaning person put them back in their proper place when she was done? She held back an impatient sigh and refo-cused. “When do you guys leave?”

“Two more days. I’ll talk to Max tonight. Try to get Sawyer to come to the house. Mama wants to have a big farewell dinner, and we want both of you there.”

Julietta stopped. The doubts assailed her; the sheer raw-ness of her emotions screamed something was wrong but she didn’t know how to fix it. “What if it’s me? What if he doesn’t love me the way I need?”

Her sister got up and pulled her in for a tight hug.

“He does. Give him some time. I don’t think he ever had anyone believe in him the way you do. And I think it’s the opposite. I truly believe he doesn’t think he’s worthy of you.”

Juliettta hugged her back. “Thanks. I have a meeting in a minute. Meet you at Mama’s tonight?”

“yes.” Carina got her coat. “Trust your gut, and do what you think is right.”

After her sister left, Julietta pulled herself together and headed toward the conference room. She needed to be calm. Cool. Allow him to work it out on his own and be patient. She clicked off her earpiece, grabbed her files, and took her place at the table. The department heads trickled in, laughing and joking. She fell into her role without hesitation, automatically bringing business back to being the main focus, challenging her directors on various questions, pushing for more efficiency, better production, bigger sales, always more.

Her fingers gripped her pen, eyes unfocused on the screen. The PowerPoint slides flashed with fury in an endless rhythm.

She needed to talk to her husband.

The little voice inside whispered, growing louder as the meeting droned on. Julietta stood in front of her team and knew in that moment nothing else mattered except pre-serving the precious gift she had found in a simple business merger.

Love.

The pen rolled from her fingers. She pulled off her headset and threw it on the table. Her employees stared at her, startled at her sudden jerky motions. “I have to go.”

Her assistant, elena, raised her voice. “We’ll wait if you need to take a call. Marcus can pass out the new marketing statistics.”

She shook her head hard. “No. I need to leave. I have to go talk to someone. Meeting dismissed.”

She fled the building without a glance back.

…

The door slid open soundlessly and she entered the office.

He stood with his back toward her. Dressed in a custom designed black suit, the cut of his pants and tight jacket showed off the hard lines of his body. His hair was loose, and blond waves hit the tops of his shoulders. His stillness reminded her of someone separate from civilization, as if he drew in the world’s energy and locked it up inside himself. Her heart lurched in pain and a wanting that would never go away.

“you need to talk to me. Tell me. I deserve that.”

He turned. Those piercing tiger eyes met her gaze and shredded past the surface to her soul. Slowly, he inclined his head. “of course. you’re right. I apologize for avoiding you.

I just don’t think this is working out.”

She swallowed past the fear and remained still. “Care to explain?”

He spoke as if he wasn’t in the room with her. A wall surrounded him, reminding her of a pod who spoke human and acted human but owned no soul. “I told you from the beginning I wasn’t good at this. I think spending so much time together, and being married, blurred the lines. I don’t think you’re in love with me, Julietta. If we take a step back and concentrate on why we did this in the first place, we can go back to the way things were. I can’t risk Purity because of emotions that aren’t even real.”

Her temper snapped. She closed the distance, moved past the wall, and made bodily contact. He jerked as she grabbed his biceps and dug her fingernails into his jacket.

“Don’t you dare patronize me about my own emotions,”

she hissed. “Do you think I throw words like that around? I love you. It’s not going away, and it’s not neat and tidy. Now, cut the bullshit and tell me what happened. Did something from the past come up?” She paused. “or someone?”

The surprised gleam in his eye confirmed her suspicions.

“exactly what I thought. If it was that bastard who put those marks on you, I’ll kill him myself. What happened? Did he or she dredge up the past? remind you of all the reasons you don’t deserve to be happy?”

She struck a nerve. rage and grief battled for domi-nance, and he grabbed her arms, shaking her slightly. “Why are you doing this? I’m not good for you, never was. Don’t ruin this between us. Let’s step back, get our footing, and try to focus on why we did this in the first place. To settle a debt. To make your mama happy. To solidify La Dolce Famiglia.”

“Fuck that,” she growled. He was in front of her but hovered on the edge of nothingness. Julietta was afraid if she let him slip over, she’d never get him back. “I don’t care about work or La Dolce Famiglia or anything I once believed in. right now, all I want is you. Now tell me the truth.”

“My foster father contacted me. From prison.”

The words were ripped out of his mouth in a snarl. He let go of her and stepped back, as if he couldn’t stand the thought of touching her. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. “Tell me,” she said softly. “I deserve to know, don’t you think?”

“The bastard’s up for parole, and he wants me to write a recommendation on his behalf. If I don’t, he said he’d leak out to the press what happened, who I once was.”

The air pulsed with electricity as if a tornado hovered, ready to strike. In the quiet of the center of the storm, she took a deep breath. “And who were you?”

“I lost my parents when I was nine. Went into the sys-tem. Got picked up by him and his alcoholic wife. They liked to take the older ones since no one wanted them. Always had a few kids going in and out, but I became his favorite.

He liked to beat the pride out of me, as he used to say. I learned early not to tell, or the others got hurt. It’s funny when you hear stories like that: The first reaction from people is always the same. Just tell the social worker. But a lot of them aren’t like in the movies, where they want to help.

Many of them just need to get their placements done and turn a blind eye to a bruise now and then.

“Anyway, there was a little boy named Danny. Looked up to me. As I grew older, Dickhead liked to use the younger ones as bait. you know, if I didn’t do what he asked, he’d beat the shit out of them instead of me. I could take being beaten, but they couldn’t. I counted the days till I was eighteen and legally free. By that time, I’d promised Danny I’d take him away. But I needed to get myself fixed up with a job and a place first. I told him to wait for me.”

An agony of grief poured through her, but she kept her tone even. “Is that when you found Jerry?”