Chapter 3 - Blood on the Marble
By four in the morning, Emma was fast asleep in the massive bed, wrapped in a plush duvet. I sat by the window, watching the rain strike the glass, too wired on adrenaline to sleep.
Alessandro had left two hours prior to conduct interrogation downstairs. The silence in the mansion was deafening, broken only by the muffled sounds of footsteps moving along the outer corridors.
When the heavy suite door swung open again, Alessandro walked in looking battle-worn. His shirt collar was unbuttoned, his hair slightly damp from the rain outside, and a faint smear of dark blood lined his left cuff.
He stopped when he saw me sitting up. “You should be resting.”
“I can't,” I admitted softly. “Every time I close my eyes, I hear the slap... and I see all those men with guns.”
Alessandro walked over to the sideboard, poured himself a finger of dark amber whiskey, and downed it in one smooth swallow. He set the glass down and turned to face me.
“Vivian sang,” he said plainly. “She gave us the names of three lieutenants inside the Turin family who funded the Corvo operation. Matteo was one of them.”
“What did you do to her?” I asked, terrified of the answer.
“She has been banished from Milan,” Alessandro replied, his voice devoid of emotion. “Her family’s assets have been seized by the Moretti syndicate. If she ever sets foot in Northern Italy again, my enforcers will handle her. She is no longer my problem.”
He walked over to the window, standing beside my chair. Up close, he smelled of rain, cedarwood, and the faint metallic tang of gunpowder.
“Your apartment in the city is no longer safe, Clara,” he said softly, looking down at me. “The Corvo know you brought the bug in. They know you saw Vivian’s courier deliver the package to your building. You and Emma are primary targets now.”
Panic flared in my chest. “Then where do we go? I don't have money to flee the country. I barely have enough saved for next month’s rent!”
Alessandro reached out, his large hand gently cupping my chin, forcing me to look up into his intense dark eyes. His thumb brushed over my uninjured cheek, sending a electric spark straight to my chest.
“You stay here,” Alessandro declared. “Under my roof. Under my name.”
“Alessandro, I’m just a maid,” I argued, my voice breathy. “Your people... the other families... they will talk.”
“Let them talk,” he growled softly. “Let them see that the man who rules Milan protects what belongs to him.”
“Do I belong to you, Alessandro?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.
Alessandro’s eyes darkened, his hand sliding up to weave into the soft hair at the nape of my neck. He pulled me slightly closer, his breath warm against my lips.
May you like
“From the moment you stood up to Vivian in that corridor,” he whispered, his voice dark and possessive, “you and your daughter became my responsibility. And I do not lose what is mine.”
Before I could process his words, a muffled explosion rocked the foundation of the villa.
