7. Chapter 7
7
An ominous mood hung over them while Alessandro helped Elyse into the backseat. With Nils at the wheel of the black Bentley, they headed back to Palermo. The music box was resting ever so insidiously in her lap. As their vehicle sped along, an underlying ripple of dread threatened to flood her composure.
Green eyes kept darting toward the music box. She assumed her grandfather had wired the box with some kind of microphone, but what if there was video surveillance in it as well?
Alessandro glanced at her and then the music box in a piercing manner. “Did you enjoy spending time with your grandfather today?”
“I… didn’t hate it,” she replied with a cough.
Brown and blue-gray eyes gleamed shrewdly. "I am curious, wife. How did you two communicate without me?"
Mierda . She needed to think fast. Elyse fibbed with reluctance, "It was a bit awkward. I typed out what I wanted to say on my phone and translated it into Italian for him."
There was no choice but to lie at the moment. Benedetto and his men might be listening and watching through the music box.
Alessandro continued to grill her, "What did he discuss with you after I stepped outside?"
Her temples thrummed with stress. Elyse closed her eyes for a moment to clear her head. She needed to warn Alessandro, but nothing could be said while the box was listening. Hand gestures and facial expressions couldn’t be used to warn her husband, either. Not until it was confirmed whether or not Benedetto had installed a camera.
"We talked about my mother," murmured Elyse.
This seemed like the safest reply. It was a topic that wouldn't alarm her grandfather or her husband, at least, until she could set the goddamn box down in their room and get Alessandro far away enough to fill him in on the truth.
His suspicious demeanor fell away. It was replaced by concern. Alessandro's gaze darted toward her with worry. "Are you... alright?"
"No," she answered honestly, "it was a lot to take in. I feel somewhat... shaken."
Alessandro reached for her across the backseat of the vehicle. As his palm enveloped hers, Elyse squeezed his hand appreciatively.
"Death should never feel like the only way out," he muttered grimly. "Your mother deserved better. I mean it."
"Thank you, Alessio." Elyse scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. His warmth felt solid and secure against her cheek. Alessandro's arms came around her. Despite the terrors that threatened them, his warmth, his strength, his scent, everything about him felt like home.
Green eyes fluttered open. Mountains and valleys flew by the car window. Elyse could see a dense cluster of buildings in the distance. Palermo's city center was in sight. They were about halfway to the palazzo by now. Elyse did some quick math. She only needed to stall Alessandro for about twenty more minutes.
Elyse began nuzzling his neck. Her lips brushed against his skin. Alessandro's reaction to her touch was instant. His body temperature seemed to rise, and his muscles tensed with anticipation. Her husband groaned under his breath, "What are you doing, wife?"
"Seeking comfort," she whispered.
This time, she wasn’t lying to him. Elyse was seeking comfort, but, above all, she sought to kill two birds with one stone. This would prevent him from asking more questions, and, if Benedetto and his men possessed any sense of propriety, her little performance would compel them to look away for a while.
Alessandro shuffled over to press the button that brought down the privacy shield between them and Nils. Once their compartment was sealed from sight and proofed from sound, Alessandro hoisted Elyse over until she was straddling his lap. Breathless and anxious, she looked down at him. His fingertips danced across her cheek, and he used his palm to guide her face to him. Her husband kissed her sweetly. She kissed him back. All innocence. Only mouth. No tongue.
Elyse took care to keep everything as mild and restrained as possible. She only wanted to make her grandfather uncomfortable enough to look away—in case the old fox could see them through the music box—but she didn't want to do anything that might degrade her or embarrass Alessandro.
When her husband's kisses deepened and his hands began to wander toward her breasts, she grabbed his wrists and held them steady.
"No," said Elyse.
Alessandro looked perplexed. " No ?"
"Can we just kiss for now? And maybe cuddle a little?"
His features softened as he gazed at her. Alessandro agreed without another word, “Of course.”
They continued to lock lips as the car rolled on. Her husband's cock soon grew to be hard as a rock beneath her ass, but Elyse pretended not to notice it, and Alessandro held himself in check. He was now kissing her as though they were starry-eyed teenagers. The touch of his lips upon hers felt light and teasing. Elyse sensed no urgency in his movements. His hands stayed firmly locked around her waist, only skirting around occasionally to caress her back and shoulders. There was something intensely sweet and highly arousing about kissing her husband without the intent to fuck him.
By the time their vehicle pulled up to the palazzo, both Elyse and Alessandro were beyond turned on. Their breaths fell out in quick and desperate puffs, practically panting.
As Alessandro helped her out of the car, Elyse clamped down on her hormones and willed her mind to stay sharp. Clutching Gianna's music box tightly in her hands, she marched through the front door without waiting for her husband. Elyse rushed straight to their bedroom. Once she reached her destination, Elyse set the box on her dresser. A weight lifted from her chest. She released a shaky sigh.
A second later, Alessandro caught up to her. His tall, muscular frame emerged in the doorway of their bedroom. He was frowning. "Why are you in such a hurry, wife?"
She glanced over at him. Elyse willed herself to relax. To be at ease. A come-hither smile appeared on her lips. "I want to finish what we started."
His eyebrows shot up with interest. "Right now?"
Elyse crooked her forefinger toward Alessandro, beckoning him to her. He moved toward her right away, and she took his hand in hers. Laughingly, Elyse led Alessandro into their bathroom and away from the music box.
She closed the door behind them and turned on the shower. Elyse hoped the sound of the water would convince Benedetto that the two of them were busy fucking. She also hoped that it would drown out the conversation she was about to initiate with Alessandro.
With a smirk, her husband started to disrobe. Alessandro took off his shirt. Before he could remove his pants, in urgent, whispering tones, Elyse stopped him, "Wait, Alessio. This isn't why I brought you in here."
Alessandro tilted his head to the side as he pulled off his shirt. Brown and blue-gray eyes grew sharp. "Then why am I here?"
"The gift my grandfather gave me," she explained, "isn't a gift at all."
"What do you mean?"
"I think the box might be bugged in some way. He’s trying to test my loyalty."
Anger and distress furrowed his features. "Figlio di puttana." Son of a bitch.
"I intend to keep it on my dresser," Elyse pushed onwards, "since we can’t afford to piss him off. I'll need to put on a good show to keep him as our ally. You must play along."
Understanding dawned across her husband's face. "He wants to blackmail you. To fuck me over."
"Yes."
A glimmer of doubt crept back into his eyes. Alessandro asked, "How do I know this is not a ploy to throw me off your game?"
For an intelligent man, her husband could be quite dense at times. Elyse cast him a dirty look. "If I wanted to throw you off your game, I would've thrown you on the bed and fucked the secrets out of you, right in front of that goddamn box, before you even realized what was happening!"
He shrugged noncommittally.
"Would we be having this discussion if I was turning on you?"
A vexed look graced his face. He grunted, "I suppose you have a point."
"No shit."
Alessandro remained quiet. He seemed to be lost in thought. A few awkward beats dragged between them as his brain clicked away. Finally, her husband cleared his throat. Awkwardly. "The car ride home..."
"What about it?"
Admiration shone from his eyes. "You were trying to shut me up while deterring your grandfather."
"Of course," Elyse sniffed haughtily. "I’m always looking out for us."
Alessandro smiled at her. "Clever wife. "
Elyse grimaced. "We'll need to be very clever going forward. I'm not sure what's in the music box. There could be a microphone. Or a camera."
“ Or both ,” he added. Alessandro's mouth stretched flat with remorse. "I apologize for doubting you. I admit, I am on edge at the moment. My mind is a mess."
"I know the feeling," Elyse said, sighing. "This is the last thing I want to worry about on top of everything else."
Alessandro raked his fingers through his hair. Frustration seemed to be emanating outwards from his very being. "Shit just keeps getting worse."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Elyse's mind stayed laser-focused. She’d found a way to warn her husband. Alessandro was aware of the music box. Elyse could tick off this most pressing item on her agenda. Her work was not yet done, though.
She shot him a pointed look. "I confessed my secret. Now it's time for you to come clean with yours. Trust is a two-way street.”
"I do not know what you are talking about?"
"Valentina, of course."
Annoyance twisted his handsome face. "Fucking hell. Not this again."
"There seems to be more to your relationship than meets the eye," she pressed forth, "and I deserve to know the full story. My grandfather advised me to dig deeper."
Alessandro scowled. "He is only trying to disrupt the peace in our marriage."
“If you truly have nothing to hide, we can drop it. I trust you. But if I find out later that you lied to me? You’re a dead man walking .”
Her threat seemed to land when he relented at last, “Fine. You win . I will talk. But I have known Valentina for many years. I do not even know where to begin."
"Back in Zurich, I found a red bra and some blonde hair in your villa," Elyse tossed back with unmasked annoyance, "why don't you start there?"
As husband and wife faced off in the bathroom, streams of water continued to pour noisily from the showerhead beside them. Her pointed question didn't seem to catch him by surprise. Elyse could tell by the keen expression on his face that Alessandro appeared to know exactly whose red bra and blonde hair she’d been talking about, and his awareness of everything left her feeling more than a little irritated.
Elyse sighed. "Will you please say something already? I know there have been plenty of other women in your life. There's no need to pretend otherwise for my sake."
Alessandro eyed her curiously. "You are not even going to be a little bit... jealous?"
"I'll get over it."
Disappointment weighed on his face. Alessandro's mouth flattened into a thin, straight grimace. "Let me make one thing clear, wife. There may have been others before we met, but, I swear, once I set my sights on you, I have not even looked at another woman, let alone touched one. I have been yours since the night you saved me in Queens."
“I already know how you feel about me,” she hummed coolly, "what I want to know is how you feel about Valentina.”
"But why? I would be ready to break someone's neck if I had to listen to you talk about other men," he growled.
“Even if I no longer care about them?"
"Like a fucking twig."
"Point taken," Elyse muttered. "Now quit stalling and get on with it."
Alessandro grunted, "It seems you have been holding onto this grudge for quite some time."
"Just tell me what happened in Zurich."
At last, he relented, scowling unhappily, "As you wish."
Elyse wanted to stomp her foot in indignation and pump her fist triumphantly at the same time. Fucking finally . At times, drawing the truth from her husband felt more difficult than removing a bullet from his stomach.
Hesitation brimmed in his eyes. “You… were still in Crans-Montana at the time. I went to Zurich to take care of some unfinished business. That night, I was already in the villa when Valentina arrived with her friend. Unfortunately, you see, she has the keys to our properties in Europe. She did not know that I was at home. The two of them were already half-naked when I went to confront her in the living room. I told her to fuck off. Then, she told me to fuck off.”
“She wasn’t there to fuck you?”
“Of course not,” he answered with no hesitation.
“What about the red bra?”
“Pretty sure it belonged to Valentina. I saw her wearing a red one when I found them in the living room. She probably forgot about it after fucking her friend in the shower.”
“Did you stick around while they f—”
“ No ,” Alessandro cut in, “while they were going at it, I left the villa for an hour or two to, ah , dispose of something.”
"What were you trying to get rid of?"
"Trash."
Skepticism flashed in green eyes. “It took you two hours to take out some trash?”
“It was a very bulky piece of… trash,” Alessandro explained with a mysterious smile. “Anyway, Valentina and her friend had disappeared into the shower by the time I came back.”
She searched his face for lies. “Has you ever fucked Valentina?”
“Hell, no ,” he spat out, looking visibly disgusted. “She is not my type, and I am definitely not her type.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a cock and balls,” Alessandro answered with a shrug. “She likes tits and pussy.”
“Are you telling me that Valentina’s friend was a woman?”
He nodded with a knowing look.
Elyse relaxed a little even though she still had more questions. “Then why does Valentina always flirt with you? She called you Sandro. Her behavior seems downright territorial."
Alessandro replied with a slight smirk, "She only called me Sandro to fuck with you. Valentina is very territorial. Because I represent power in our cosca . She wants power. But that does not mean she cares for me. I am a means to an end. Nothing more."
Understanding dawned on Elyse as her mouth rounded out into an O . “If that’s the case, I don’t see why you felt the need to hide any of this shit. Why didn’t you come clean sooner?”
“Our relationship felt so uncertain back then. You already seemed scared of me when I told you about Mikey. I was afraid you might hate me if I told you that,” Alessandro gave a quick pause before adding, “Valentina caught me with Stefano that night.”
She gasped at this unexpected twist. “What the hell were you doing with Stefano Russo?”
Calmly, Alessandro told her, “I invited him.”
“You flew that asshole all the way to Zurich?” Elyse’s brow folded with alarm. Come to think of it, the Pendejo had been very quiet lately. In fact, he hadn’t bothered her at all since she left New York. Even after she arrived in Switzerland, he’d only texted a few times before going silent. Immediately, a sense of foreboding sank in. Her mind took a turn toward morbid possibilities.
Mierda .
“Naturally,” he grunted as though it explained everything. “It was not like I had time to go hunt him down in New York.”
“What did you want with him?”
“Take a guess.”
Elyse froze for a moment as her suspicions became a reality. “Stefano is no longer alive, is he?”
Alessandro grinned viciously. “I am simple man. I live by one rule. Anyone who hurts you— dies .”
“Let me get this straight,” she gulped. “Valentina and her friend were fucking in the shower while you were trying to kill Stefano?”
“Do not worry,” Alessandro assured her as though it made everything better, “he was already dead by the time she barged into the villa. Like I said, I left to take out some trash.”
So Stefano had walked in the door on two feet and left in a body bag. With an incredulous expression, Elyse muttered, “I assume she was more interested in fucking her friend than helping you dispose of his body.”
Serenely, he confirmed, “She is truly useless when there is a mess to clean up.”
Frowning, her mind backtracked for a moment. If Valentina liked women over men, forcing her to marry Gaspare seemed wrong on an unforgivable level. "Wait, if Valentina refused to marry you for power, what makes you think she’ll walk down the aisle with Gaspare?”
“Valentina only refused to marry me because I rejected her first. That bitch would do anything for power.”
“Even if she has to marry a man?”
“ Even that ,” he confirmed with a grimace. “In her eyes, marriage is a business contract. It will not stop her from living the life she wants.”
“How do you know?”
“I… decided to take your advice."
"You did?"
"After speaking to Valentina, I decided to give the bitch a chance to prove her worth." His cheeks flushed with a hint of shame. "I should not have acted like an ass after my father died, but your words stayed with me even while I tried to dismiss them. Especially after we learned the truth about Aberto. I do not know what kind of capo I will be, but, no matter what, I cannot let you feel ashamed to be my wife. This is why I must never become my father .”
Elyse's face softened. She reached for his hand. "Alessio..."
He gazed at her with uncertainty. "Do you still want me? Knowing that I am so… lost?"
Alessandro stared at her expectantly, but she didn’t answer right away. Instead, Elyse reached for him. Her hand found the inscription inked across his bare chest. She pressed her palm gently against the words. Aut inveniam viam aut faciam. Elyse recognized the Latin from her college days. I shall either find a way or make one. Its meaning struck a chord.
“This one,” she murmured in soft tones. “When did you get it?”
A rueful corner of his mouth lifted. “The first time my brothers tried to kill me.”
“Yet, they are gone,” Elyse emphasized resolutely, “and you remain.”
“What are you trying to say, wife?”
Like her, he didn’t know the meaning of surrender. Against all odds, they would find a way to survive.
“Know that you’re a force to be reckoned with,” Elyse finally answered, “and no man is more deserving of my love than you.”
His larger hand closed over hers. “When we are together, you make me feel like anything is possible.”
Then, Alessandro dropped his head to kiss her. She kissed him back. A poignant sweetness flowed between husband and wife. The discord from her grandfather's house all but vanished. When they pulled apart, Alessandro's mood seemed to have recovered significantly.
He spoke with more confidence even while bearing bad news, "You should know that Monte has reported back about Aberto's involvement with the Santos brothers. It seems our fears are valid. The De Leóns can no longer be seen as friends."
"At least we know where they stand now.”
Her husband's change of heart was both a shocking and splendid sight to behold. "I asked Malina to do more digging on Valentina as well."
Elyse leaned in. "And?"
"Malina learned Valentina was fucking around with none other than Célia Toussaint that night in my villa. "
"Célia… Toussaint?"
The name felt vaguely familiar on Elyse's tongue. Had she read that name before in a news article?
"Célia is the granddaughter of a prominent French politician and banker."
Of course. Elyse remembered skimming a few articles at random about the Toussaint family not long ago. Olivier Toussaint had recently stepped into the role of CEO at Crédit Ardisson, one of the largest banks in France by total assets, and his ex-wife, Francine Balland had served as the previous Minister of the Economy and Finance under the last French president.
"The two of them have been involved for quite some time now. They were using the Zurich villa as their rendezvous point for the past year."
A whole fucking year? Those two sounded like they were in an actual relationship. Elyse demanded, "Are you sure that Célia won’t try to stop Valentina from marrying Gaspare?"
Alessandro confirmed, "Valentina assures me that Célia is on board. As far as her engagement to Gaspare is concerned, I am confident that my stepsister and I finally see eye to eye on something.”