Page 133 of Urgent Vows
The pain in my chest starts to dissolve at his words.
"She took my money."
"It was in these books?" he asked, waving his hand toward the books all over the floor around me.
"Yes."
"You were hiding it. From your father?"
"From everyone, but she found it. I should have put it in the secret room, but I wanted to use the books he gave me to taunt me with my ignorance."
"You aren't ignorant."
"I'm not. I can read Latin, did you know?"
"No, but I'm not at all surprised. You are brilliant, wife. What was the money for, Catalina?"
"So, I could run away. I was going to leave after Carlotta got married, but she ran instead. And she took my money!"
"Do you still need the money? Do you want to run away from me?" His voice is carefully neutral. None of the anger I would have expected in it at that question.
I stare up at him. Of course, I don't want to run away from him. His family are so good to me. And I love him. That's got nothing to do with it. "I need it."
He nods and stands, lifting me to my feet. "Come with me."
I follow him out of the room and down the hall to his study. He stops by a painting of a man who looks a little like my husband but is wearing clothes from a different century. It must be his great-grandfather.
It's strange that we look a little like his ancestors. I'm not even related. It makes it feel like we were meant to be.
"Feel this spot here?" He takes my hand and guides my finger to a small bump hidden by the ornateness of the frame.
"Yes."
"Press it twice in quick succession."
I do what he says and the painting swings outward revealing a safe.
"It's old school, right?" he asks with a smile. "My grandfather had it installed. He wanted someplace to store my grandmother's jewels that she could get to."
Once again I'm struck by how much Severu trusts me. Even more than his grandfather or father trusted their wives. I've been in the vault.
"The combination is seven-right, thirty-two-left, eleven-right. Try it."
I just stand there.
"It's okay,mi dolce gatto. Open it, so you know you can." He repeats the combination.
I dial it in, going left first, then right, then left and the lock on the safe clicks.
"Now turn the handle," he instructs me.
I turn a metal wheel with spokes several rotations and the door to the safe opens. Inside, I see stacks of cash, paperwork, a gun, and on the top shelf several boxes that probably contain jewelry.
"There is about $50,000 cash in there. If you ever need it, take it. You are not trapped here. You will never be trapped again."
The full import of what he's offering hits me, and I answer the question he asked in my office. "I don't want to run away from you, but when I saw the money that I'd spent years saving was gone, I panicked."
"Does knowing you have access to this money take away that panic?" He asks me with no judgement.
