Thomas Marvin's words echoed in my mind as I looked at Tony across the living room of his grandmother's house.
He's been planning this engagement for weeks. You were leverage, Miss Blaire. A way to make Victoria agree to better terms. Men like my son don't fall in love. They make strategic moves.
"Katherine, please. Let me explain-" Tony's voice was desperate, his green eyes pleading.
"Don't," I said, surprised that my voice was perfectly controlled. "Just don't… what do you have to explain?" My laugh came out broken. "That everything between us was a lie? That you used me to manipulate Victoria Sterling into a better business deal?"
"It's not what you think-"
"Well, then, what is it like, Tony?" I leaned in, the anger burning off the numbness now. "Because your father made one thing crystal clear: the engagement was always the plan, I was just the conveniently placed diversion."
"My father doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Really? Because there are photographers outside Marvin Industries right now, and you're about to announce your engagement to Victoria." I watched his face, waiting for the denial, but there was none. "Oh God,". It's true."
"Katherine, I can't-" He ran his hands through his hair, looking more desperate than I had ever seen him before. "Things are going on that you can't realize, that I can't explain to you."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both." His jaw clenched hard. "But you have to trust me. This isn't what it looks like."
"Then what is it?" I took a step closer, trying to read his face for some glimmer of the man who held me last night, the one who told me that he loved me. "Tell me what it is, Tony, explain it to me."
He opened his mouth. Closed it. The silence hung between us in the shape of a chasm.
"You can't even answer," I whispered. "Because there is no answer that makes this okay."
"I'm trying to protect you-"
"By lying to me? Humiliating me?" My voice got sharper, raised in anger. "I've given you everything. My career, my reputation, my well-being. I've given up everything I've spent six years building to be with you, and you-" The choking grief got stuck in my throat. "You've chosen Victoria Sterling."
"That's not-" His hands reached for me, but I took a step backward.
"Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me."
"Katherine-"
My palm connected with his face before I even realized I had moved. The sound echoed throughout the silent house, and Tony's head jerked to the side. When he looked back at me, his face was red, and his expression was devastated.
But he did not defend himself. Did not argue. That, somehow, was even more painful than anything else.
"I loved you," I said, the tears falling in earnest down my face. "God help me, I actually loved you, and you made me believe you loved me, too."
"I do love you-"
"Stop!" I picked up my bag, which I had dropped moments before by the door. "Stop lying to me. I won't- I won't hear you say that…just stop! I refuse to listen to you utter those words once more, let alone once again, with you about to put a ring on another finger.
"Where will you go?"
"Anywhere but here."
I pulled the door open with force. "And Tony? Don't follow me, for the love of God! Don't call me, or send your goons to track me! We are done... done!"
I made it onto the sidewalk before my legs betrayed me to the point of collapse. I slid down the side of the nearest brick wall, tears streaming down my face to the point that I had difficulty catching my own breath. Others passed by, some stopping to gawk, others merely disregarding the wildly emotional woman falling apart on public streets.
My phone buzzed and I answered the call from Susan.
"Where are you?" Her voice was sharp with worry. "I just saw the news, Tony and Victoria Sterling, Kat, what the hell?"
"Can you get me?" My voice broke. "Please! I can't. I need..."
"Send me your location. I'm already in the car."
Twenty minutes elapsed before the arrival of Susan, who pulled up in her battered Honda car. She looked me in the face before dragging me into a crushing hug.
"He's a bastard," she said into my hair. "A complete and total bastard."
"I was so stupid,"
"You were in love. That's not stupid," She looked at me, then backed off to study my face. "But pining for him would be. Come on. Let's get you home."
My apartment was my home, or at least, that was the plan, among other things, before I'd had the chance to even see the inside of the door in weeks because, of course, I had nothing but time to fall in love with a man who was
We drove in silence, with me crying, until we got to her apartment, which was inevitable, because according to her, I had to be with her; being alone was unacceptable.
"Go shower," she said. "And then we'd have some wine. Then we're going to trash-talk him until you feel better or you pass out, whichever comes first."
I took the shower like a robot, washing the last vestiges of Tony's touch from my body. When I came downstairs, I saw that Susan had brought wine, chocolate, and my laptop.
"You need to check your email," she said slowly. "Something came in about an hour ago."
I opened my inbox. The headline caused my stomach to sink: Formal Offer – Senior Vice President Position - Torcano Financial Group.
"Torcano?" I clicked on it. "That's the financial side of the Torrino family."
"Keep reading."
The package was generous indeed. Double my old salary. Fifty thousand dollars for the signing bonus. All benefits, a company car, and a corner office. All the things I had lost, plus more.
"It's a trap," I said flatly.
"Probably." Susan refilled my wine glass. "But it's also an opportunity. You need a job, Kat. You need income. And let's be honest - you need something to focus on instead of Tony Marvin."
She was right. Loitering around with my broken heart would neither pay Elliot's tuition fees nor my rent.
"I'll think about it."
"That's my girl."
Susan settled in on my side. "Now, let's see what the gossip sites are saying about the engagement."
We shouldn't have looked. But I just had to click on the first link.
MARVIN HEIR ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO STERLING HEIRESS: A POWER COUPLE IS BORN
The picture was of Tony and Victoria, standing on the steps of Marvin Industries. She was wearing a dress the color of cream, which likely cost my entire month's wage. Tony had on a tailored suit, but it was his face that was unreadable. The one that broke me was the hand, the same way he had touched me last night, settled on her waist.
"That son of a bitch," Susan gasped.
I looked at the photograph until the faces blurred before my eyes. Victoria was smiling for the cameras, while Tony was looking at her as if she were the only other person in the world.
Just like he had looked at me twelve hours before.
"I'm going to accept the Torcano offer," I stated, my voice low.
"Kat..."
"I have to move on. I have to show the world that I'm not some pathetic woman who falls apart because some guy lied to her." I snapped the laptop shut. "I'll work for the Torrinos if they want me to work for them. They can pay me, and maybe just maybe, it will piss off Tony Marvin enough for him to wish he never messed with me."
"You're playing with fire girl," Susan said, studying me for a long moment.
"Good." I drained my wine glass. "I'm done with being careful. I'm done being the good girl who plays by the rules only to have her heart shattered all over again. Let them play their games, but I'm going to play to win."
I wrote my acceptance letter to the Torcano Financial Group on the spot. Polite, professional, accepting all the terms and conditions.
My finger hovered over the send button. This was it. The moment I chose to fully enter the world that had brought about the ruin of my life. The world of mafia money, of dangerous men, of moral ambiguity, the world that I had avoided throughout my career.
I clicked send.
My phone rang right away from an anonymous number.
"Miss Blaire, this is Luca Torrino, Angelo's son."
My blood turned icy cold. "How did you get this number?"
"I have resources." His voice was smooth and cultured, even younger than I had anticipated. "I believe we should meet. I have information about your boyfriend's engagement that might interest you."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Even better, then you won't be emotionally compromised when I tell you the truth about why Tony Marvin is marrying Victoria Sterling." He paused. "It's not what you think, Miss Blaire," he said. "And I think you'll want to know before you start working for my organization."
"Why would you tell me anything?"
"Because my father tried to kill you, and I believe in correcting my family's mistakes." His tone changed, almost softened. "Also because I think you deserve to know that Tony Marvin may not be the villain in all of this - although God knows, there is one."
My heart was pounding. "What do you mean?"
"Meet me tomorrow. Noon. Carmine's Restaurant in the Village. Come alone, come with friends, bring security - I don't care. But come prepared to hear some uncomfortable truths."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you'll spend the rest of your life believing a lie. Your choice, Miss Blaire."
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, my mind racing. This could be another trap, another manipulation, another way the Torrino family could play me against Tony. But what if it wasn't? What if there was more to Tony's engagement than betrayal?
"What was that about?" asked Susan.
"I'm not sure," I said, looking at the open photograph of Tony and Victoria on my laptop screen. "But I'm going to find out."