Page 86 of Captured Innocence
“And she doesn’t belong to anyone else?”
“She belongs to me. Although it took me years to understand what that meant, the sacrifices that I’d be forced to make.”
Nodding, Sven looked away for a few seconds. “I knew a man once who fell in love with a woman who also brought him into the light. They were very much in love, but she was considered the wrong person for him and his father forbid him to marry. He was given a damning choice. He could have the woman but lose everything else. Power. Money. A kingdom. He made a choice, but it was one that made him very lonely. In doing so, he broke the heart of the woman prepared to give him everything. And so both moved on, the two scarred for life.”
I bristled, the story far too close to home. “What happened?”
“As always is the case, true love can never be destroyed no matter how hard someone attempts to do so. Their love helped them find each other again but as you might imagine, the destruction it caused ended a friendship and placed two families on the brink of tragedy, something that could still destroy the next generation.” He’d never blinked once as he told me the story.
One of my father and of the only person he’d ever truly loved.
“I ask you again. Do you love her?” There was such reverence in his question.
“With all my heart.”
He nodded. “Then do not allow your greed or desire for power to interfere. You won’t be given another chance.”
“Yes, sir. Of that I’m well aware.”
“Take care of yourself, Mattia. Perhaps when we speak next, there will be cause for celebration.”
As soon as the call ended, I sensed a presence behind me. I stood, slowly turning around. In the shadowed light of the continuing snowstorm streaming in through the windows of the office, I was able to see past the anger and heartache, the hatred of my father and the condemnation of my mother into the eyes of the only woman I could ever love.
And in return, I was gifted something more precious than her virginity or a second chance. I was given the greatest gift of all.
The power of her love.
As Sophia walked closer, she glanced at the computer screen then back to my eyes, the look of knowing comforting. She understood now that her mother had been the love of my father’s life. We had been connected, more so than we’d understood. But the past was the past and it was time to let it go.
We would make our own memories.
Sophia took her time walking closer. In her hands were two drinks, but it was the mischievous smile on her face that drew me in.
I sat on the edge of my desk, giving her a hard and delicious onceover. She’d found an old tee shirt of mine, which on her could be used as a dress. Standing in her bare feet, almost no makeup on, she appeared so much younger than her almost twenty-six years. In comparison, I felt like an old man in my thirties, aches and pains in my muscles just a part of the norm.
When she was close, she stopped, a wry smile crossing her face. Then she handed me one of the glasses, barely avoiding my hand reaching out and grabbing her. Her laugh brought one into my chest, the sound amplified. She had a way of cutting through the darkness like a knife through butter.
Great.
Now I was analyzing how effective she was at tossing aside my armor. Next, she’d know all my dirty little secrets. When she sat down in front of the laptop, I glanced over my shoulder.
She took a sip of her drink, holding her mouth near the rim as she swallowed. Then she placed her glass down very carefully on the surface before placing her fingers on the keyboard.
When she started typing, I shifted around to the side, more than curious as to what she was doing. “I’m curious, my princess. What are you up to?”
While she lifted her gaze briefly, her fingers continued to fly. Christ. She wasn’t even paying that close of attention to what she was doing. After a few seconds, she had me more than just curious. I took a sip of my drink then moved behind her, narrowing my eyes as she moved from screen to screen.
“I don’t understand.” But I did. She was ceremoniously pulling up every single financial account locked in the names of the two families and the combined enterprise. Then she added several additional windows, pulling up corporate records that I’d locked down personally before leaving. Finally, she pulled up everything Lucia had in her records.
My lovely bride to be had managed to hack every single account owned by the DeLuca–Lazarro corporation and then some.
When she sat back, I glanced at my watch.
Less than ten minutes had passed. She leaned against the chair, taking a deep breath. I half expected her to ask for a cigarette given her success. Instead, she shifted the chair back and forth, allowing me a few seconds to absorb the information.
“I have a confession to make,” she said quietly.
“I think I have another round of discipline to provide,” I teased. “You’re a hacker.”