Hidden Heart by Camelia Miron Skiba Page A

Romania and England.
    She floated atop the world
when she flew to London to surprise her husband only to find him
surrounded by drugs and prostitutes. His list of crimes didn’t end
there. Engaged to be married to a woman from the noble society of
London, not only did Andrew live a double life with Octavia, but he
also had stolen his identical twin brother’s identity, the real
Andrew Blackheath. When she found out, she threatened to reveal
James, her phony husband, to his family and fiancé. James had hired
someone to kill her, but Andrew rescued her at the last
minute.
    He tended to her broken
heart for six long months. He hoped in time, she’d learn to love
him the way he loved her. Was this fate or her parents’ history
repeated once again? For a while, Octavia bought anything and
everything; jewelry she never wore and clothes she never took out
of the shopping bags in a desperate attempt to fill the emptiness
of her heart. When tragedy threatened to destroy Andrew’s life, she
realized that he was the man she’d loved all along, that he was the right man
for her.
    Chiara was the middle
sister, tall and fit, with blue eyes and dark curly hair. Smart,
beautiful and kind, Chiara emanated a magnetism that people
couldn’t resist. She never really liked school, but dreamed of
becoming a famous gymnast, like her idol Nadia Comaneci, even
fantasizing of scoring perfect tens in the Olympics. She left her
parents’ house in the days of Communism at the early age of twelve
as part of an acrobatic troupe that performed in an itinerant
circus across Germany.
    She became the star of the
circus as the youngest, most fearless acrobat. Her photos made the
front page in every single newspaper and magazine wherever the
circus performed. Her journey had been nothing but fascinating; a
dazzling life in the public eye, but behind closed doors she lived
a complete nightmare, suffering physical, verbal and emotional
abuse. When the troupe’s foreman was found dead, Chiara had been
accused of murder, as the last person to be seen coming out of his
trailer.
    She was sent to prison, but
before the final sentence months later, a mysterious call to the
police changed the course of the trial. Chiara was released, but
the circus refused to take her back. She joined another circus
where she learned how to train tigers and bears until an attack by
one of the bears left her barely alive. Her career over, she
decided to remain in Germany. She went back to finish high school
on-line then continued her education, eventually becoming a
gymnastics coach.
    She had never told anyone
about the years of abuse during her life in the circus; now
thirty-two years old, she had still never been able to forget that
chapter of her life; she often felt she had more demons to fight
than hours in a day.
     
    After dinner they agreed to
meet the next morning to go through their mama’s stuff in case they
wanted to keep something that belonged to her. Chiara and Octavia
returned to their mama’s house, Tessa chose to go to her
apartment.
    “ You okay?” Daniel asked,
holding her in his arms.
    She used to feel so good
and safe there. Used to, but not tonight. It felt
strange.
    “ Why didn’t you come?”
Tessa pushed him away and eased out of her jacket with slow
motions.
    “ Well, I thought you were
better off without me. Besides, I had lots to do at work and stayed
late.”
    “ Daniel, my mama’s funeral
was today. I thought we agreed this morning you’d come.”
    They sat on the sofa. She
avoided looking at him, her heart full with disappointment. The
burden of losing her mama weighed heavy on her soul; she didn’t
know how to deal with it. She just wished he’d understand more and
be more supportive. She fought the urge to cry again; her eyes
burned horribly.
    “ Let’s not argue over this.
You are upset and tired. I prepared you a bubble bath,” Daniel said
and handed her a glass of wine.
    Like a robot, Tessa walked
to the bathroom, lit a couple