Chapter 3 The Price of a Secret

"What did you do to my brother?"

Isabella stood in the middle of Alessandro's penthouse, her phone clenched in one hand and their signed marriage contract lying between them. The message on the screen seemed to pulse with every beat of her heart.

Alessandro didn't look away. "I didn't hurt Matteo."

"That isn't what I asked."

"I found him at the docks six weeks ago, stealing records from Salvatore's warehouse. My men got him out before the guards arrived."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Matteo begged me not to. He said someone close to you would use you to get to him."

Isabella's stomach tightened. "Who?"

"He wouldn't say. He was terrified. I arranged a safe place for him, but before I could move him again, the location was compromised."

"So you lost him."

"I'm trying to find him."

"You expect me to thank you for keeping me ignorant?"

"No. I expect you to help me bring him home."

She picked up the contract and tore it in half.

His eyes followed the paper as it fell.

"Thirty days?" she said. "Forget it. I won't marry a man who decides which truths I'm allowed to know."

"Then we'll find Matteo without a marriage."

"Good."

"But you'll still need my help."

"I'll use your name if I have to. I'll use your money if I can get it. But I will never confuse your help with trust again."

She turned toward the guest room.

"Isabella."

She stopped, but didn't look back.

"If Salvatore contacts you, tell me."

"Why? So you can decide what I'm allowed to do?"

"So I can keep him from using you."

She walked away without answering.

---

By eight the next morning, Isabella had made a plan.

In a fitted black dress, Isabella took the elevator to Alessandro's office. His security chief, Marco, waited outside.

"Your boss is inside," Marco said. "He hasn't slept."

"Neither have I."

"He's not going to like what you're planning."

"Then he should have married someone who listens."

She pushed past him.

Alessandro stood over a table covered in photographs and warehouse maps. He glanced up, his gaze pausing on her dress.

"Where are you going?"

"To meet Victor Salvatore."

"No."

"You don't own my calendar."

"He threatened your brother and tried to put you in his car yesterday."

"Which is why I'm going to make him talk."

Alessandro came around the table. "You're not walking into his territory alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have your name."

"That's not protection."

"It's a warning. Everyone knows Salvatore wants to prove he can take something from you. Let him think he's winning. He'll brag."

"And you think you can manipulate him?"

"I think men like Victor underestimate women who don't shout."

A muscle jumped in Alessandro's jaw. "You're not going."

"Then stop me."

They stared at each other. Instead of calling his guards, he picked up his phone.

"Marco, prepare two cars. No one approaches Isabella unless I authorize it. Keep a discreet distance."

Isabella folded her arms. "I said I didn't need a babysitter."

"We've both made our positions clear."

She hated that he was right-and remembered how she preferred to fight: quietly, with a plan.

"Fine," she said. "But I speak first."

---

Victor chose a harbor restaurant with mirrored walls and private booths. He pulled out a chair as she entered.

"You came without Moretti. I'm touched."

"He's outside."

Victor's smile thinned. "Then this is a business meeting."

"It always was. You offered information about Matteo. I'm here to collect."

"First, tell me why you want to marry Alessandro."

"I don't."

"Yet you signed a contract."

"I signed nothing that belongs to you."

Victor laughed softly. "There she is. The girl who once believed love could make a monster human."

Isabella's fingers tightened around her glass. "You know about us."

"I know more than you think. Alessandro had a weakness once. You. Then you disappeared, and he became the man everyone fears."

"Enough about him. Where is my brother?"

Victor slid a photograph across the table. It showed a warehouse interior and a young man sitting on a chair, his face turned away. Isabella recognized Matteo's jacket.

"Proof he's alive," Victor said. "The rest comes at a price."

"What do you want?"

"Your marriage to Alessandro canceled. A public statement that the Moretti family has been hiding evidence of corruption. And access to the records Matteo stole."

"You don't want me. You want what my brother found."

"Now you're learning."

Victor's smile disappeared.

She had guessed correctly. "Where are the records?" he asked.

"I don't know. But if Matteo hid them, he did it for a reason. And if you hurt him, I'll make sure every secret you've buried becomes public."

"You think Moretti will let you do that?"

"I don't need his permission."

Victor glanced at the black car across the street. Alessandro was watching.

"You've become very brave," Victor said. "Careful. Brave women make expensive mistakes."

"Then tell me where Matteo is."

Victor stood. "Ask your future husband what he traded to keep your brother alive."

He walked away, leaving the photograph on the table.

Isabella turned it over. On the back, someone had written numbers and one word: BELLADONNA.

She slipped it into her bag.

---

Alessandro was waiting beside the car when she came out.

"What did he say?"

"That you're hiding something."

"That's not news."

"He showed me a photograph of Matteo. He wants the records my brother stole, and he wants me to publicly accuse your family of corruption."

"Did you agree?"

"Of course not."

Alessandro studied her. "Did he touch you?"

She let out a disbelieving laugh. "Is that really what you care about?"

"I care about everything that puts you in danger."

"You don't get to be jealous and protective after keeping me in the dark."

"I'm not jealous."

"Then you won't mind if I have dinner with Victor tonight."

His expression turned to ice. "You're not seeing him again."

"There it is."

"Isabella, he's trying to turn you into a weapon."

"And you're trying to keep me where you can control me."

"I'm trying to keep you alive!"

Two guards glanced over. Alessandro lowered his voice, but his eyes stayed fierce.

She softened for half a second. Then she remembered the hospital and the unanswered calls.

"Stop making your fear sound like love," she said.

He looked as if she'd struck him.

She got into the car.

---

Back at the penthouse, Marco reported that someone had opened Matteo's storage unit with a forged access card. Security footage showed a woman in a white coat leaving with a metal case.

Isabella recognized her instantly.

"Bianca Rinaldi."

Alessandro took the image from Marco. "She was supposed to be out of the country."

"Your former fiancée?" Isabella asked.

"She was never my fiancée."

"She kissed you."

"She was paid to make it look real."

"And now she's stealing from my brother. Convenient."

Alessandro's phone rang. He answered, listened, and went pale.

"What happened?" Isabella demanded.

He ended the call. "The storage unit was wired with a tracker. Whoever opened it has led Salvatore's men to one of my safe houses."

"Is Matteo there?"

"We don't know."

"Then we go."

"I'll take a team."

"No. If Salvatore sees an army, he'll disappear."

Alessandro stared at her, then nodded once. "We move quietly."

Before they could leave, Isabella's phone rang. She answered and heard a strained breath.

"Bella?"

Her knees nearly gave way.

"Matteo? Where are you?"

"Listen to me. Don't trust-"

A crash sounded through the phone. Matteo gasped.

"Matteo!"

His voice returned, faint and urgent. "The records aren't about Moretti. They're about the person who ordered the hit on Dad."

The line went dead.

Isabella stared at the screen. Her father's death had been called a robbery for years; Matteo had found evidence of murder.

Alessandro reached for her, but stopped before touching her.

"Tell me what he said."

She looked at him, fear and fury fighting in her chest.

"He said the records reveal who killed our father."

Alessandro's face changed.

"You knew," she whispered. "You knew my father was murdered."

Before he could answer, Marco rushed back into the room with a gun in his hand.

"Boss, we have a problem. The safe house has been breached."

A photograph arrived on Isabella's phone.

Matteo was kneeling on a concrete floor, a man's hand gripping his shoulder. Behind him stood Bianca Rinaldi, holding the metal case.

The message beneath it read:

Bring Isabella alone, or her brother dies tonight.

Alessandro reached for the phone. Isabella pulled it away.

"No," she said. "This time, I decide what happens."

But as she stared at the photograph, she saw something that made her blood run cold.

Matteo was wearing Alessandro's signet ring.

Why did her missing brother have the Mafia King's most private possession-and what had Alessandro really promised to keep him alive?