Chapter 4 - The Betrayal Unveiled
The library was silent save for the crackle of the hearth. Valentina stood near the window, her back turned to the door, sipping a glass of wine. When Alessio walked in, she turned around, her face a mask of sorrow and frustration.
“Alessio, this is absurd,” she began, her tone laced with annoyance. “Your guards are treating us like prisoners! My father is furious. You cannot keep seventy of the city’s most influential people locked in your house all night!”
“I can do whatever I wish in my house, Valentina,” Alessio said, walking slowly toward her. He didn't look angry; he looked hollow, which was infinitely more dangerous. “Especially when someone inside this house tried to murder me.”
Valentina scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. “Because of a child’s silly story? You are becoming paranoid in your old age, Alessio.”
Alessio pulled a sleek black smartphone from his pocket and tossed it onto the glass coffee table between them. The screen was illuminated, displaying the decrypted text message from Geneva.
Valentina’s breath caught. For a fraction of a second, the aristocratic composure slipped, exposing raw, naked panic.
“Where did you get that?” she whispered.
“My boys are very thorough,” Alessio said smoothly. “Do you know what hurts the most, Valentina? It’s not that you wanted me dead. I am a crime lord; men try to kill me every Tuesday. What hurts is that I actually believed you loved me.”
Valentina straightened her shoulders, the mask of the dutiful fiancée dropping entirely, replaced by a cold, venomous glare. “Love? You think a woman like me could love a beast like you? You live in a fortress surrounded by blood and money, Alessio. You bought my family’s loyalty with contracts and favors!”
“And Moretti offered you a better deal?” Alessio asked, his voice deadly quiet.
“Moretti offered me freedom!” she spat. “Once you were dead, the alliance between our families would have given me full control of the shipping ports! I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life playing the obedient wife to a killer!”
Alessio stared at her for a long moment. There was no rage in his eyes, only a profound, freezing clarity.
“You were right about one thing,” Alessio said quietly. “You won't have to spend the rest of your life playing my wife.”
He turned toward the door. “Marco.”
Marco stepped out of the shadows, accompanied by two heavy-set guards.
“Take her to the lower estate,” Alessio commanded without looking back. “Keep her locked in the cellar until I deal with Moretti. She doesn't speak to anyone. If she opens her mouth, gag her.”
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“Alessio! You can't do this to me! My father will destroy you!” Valentina screamed as the guards seized her arms, dragging her backward out of the library. Her heels scraped uselessly against the polished parquet floor until the heavy doors slammed shut, swallowing her cries.
Alessio stood alone in the quiet room, looking into the fire. The threat inside his house was contained, but the war outside was just beginning.
