Page 56 of Captive Heart: Armani
Now I can’t stop thinking back on all the interactions I’ve had with Candi over the last few months and casting them in a whole new light. It’s starting to dawn on me that when it comes to my wife, I may have been overly defensive, overly paranoid. I automatically framed her as an adversary instead of giving her a chance to prove herself as an ally. Do I honestly still believe she’s working against me and my family?
No. I don’t.
Which means…maybe she’s been a better partner this whole time than I ever gave her credit for. Maybe she was being truthful in those moments when she revealed her feelings for me. And maybe her small gestures of kindness and acts of devotion were real, too.
In the moment, I’d thought it was all an act. Nothing more than manipulation, just another part of the game.
But now I feel like I was wrong.
My biggest mistake of all? Accusing her of getting pregnant to trap me. Damn my bitter, curmudgeonly soul, my knee-jerk reactions, my default to thinking the worst of people. She’s carrying my child, and the only support I’ve shown her has been in service of getting something else out of her. I’ve spent our entire relationship convinced that she was the master manipulator, but it’s been me all along. To my own detriment. And to hers.
I need to see her.
Taking out my phone, I’m about to call her when I remember that she doesn’t have her phone. Because I took it from her. Of course I did.Fuck.
Maybe she’s back home by now. If not, I’ll go back to the Abbott property and ask security if she’s left the B&B yet, or if she’s still holed up in there with Juliana.
But when I step inside our bedroom, I find Candi curled up on the sofa in the sitting area, sobbing into a wad of tissues. I’m at her side in seconds, kneeling in front of her.
“What happened?” I ask softly, though it’s obvious who the likely offender is.
“She…hates…me.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, even if she said she does.”
I rub my thumb in soothing circles over her bare ankle, waiting for her to say more.
“But I betrayed her!” she finally chokes out. “I don’t blame her for hating me now. I’d feel the same.”
“You did what you thought was best,” I tell her. “I think you did what was best, too.”
“I feel like my heart is breaking,” she says, her voice jagged with emotion.
“She’ll come around,” I say without believing it myself. I saw the fire in Juliana. I’d bet that woman can hold a grudge for a lifetime.
“Maybe,” Candi says sorrowfully, but I don’t think she believes it either. Turning her teary gaze on me, she asks, “What happens if it turns out she really is your sister?”
“I’ll figure it out when we know more.”
“How long ‘til you get the results?”
“Couple days. Maybe tomorrow if we’re lucky. I have a connection who works in a lab.”
She nods.
Rising slowly, I hold out my hands to her. She hesitates for a moment and then takes my hands, letting me pull her up off the couch. When I wrap my arms around her she tenses briefly, then relaxes into my touch, head resting on my shoulder.
“Thank you for bringing her to me,” I murmur into her hair.
“I shouldn’t have done it. I betrayed her. I’m not a good friend. I’m a horrible person.”
“No.” I pull back. “You’re not horrible. You did a really difficult thing, and you did it forher. Juliana wasn’t safe where she was. Between Bruno and the Russians, she was in imminent danger. You got her someplace where they can’t hurt her.”
Candi nods slowly. “I…I guess I did.”
“Nobody here is going to lay a finger on your friend,” I go on. “She’s got more security assigned to her than the President. So yes, she might be pissed at you right now, but she’s safe. That’s the most important thing. She’ll come around once she realizes what you did for her.”
“Promise you’ll protect her. That’s all I ask.”
