Chapter Nine
Getting the evidence Aria needed for Dante had been a mixture of pure luck and a little bit of ease. The first hurdle had been the dinner invitation. She couldn’t ask Isabella for her to extend one toward her or even suggest to their parents that she wanted to go home for dinner. In the year she’d been married, she hadn’t even been invited to her parents’ home. She wasn’t sure if that was the same for her husband.
The invitation had been handed to her at a different social event. All she needed to do was to convince Dante they should attend. That also hadn’t come easy, but Dante relented. They were going to show a united front. In order to distract her parents, she called Isabella and asked her sister to be a buffer between herself and her parents.
Again, success, as her sister was left home with the kids while her husband was away. Aria didn’t know any of the other details. With her sister and the kids coming home, now all she needed to do was figure out which of the staff her father was having sex with.
This was also down to luck. Her father always locked his bedroom and the “flavor of the month” had to have access to the spare key. One of the maids had a key chain around her neck. Now, all she had to do was find a little time.
She excused herself to use the bathroom. When she saw the young woman alone, it was simple. Staging some kind of accident that also resulted in her grabbing the necklace and distracting her as she fell and yanked at the same time.
During the confusion, Aria apologized and said she was going to use the bathroom. As she made her escape, she ran upstairs, going straight to her father’s bedroom. From there, she found his files, and within were the documents she needed, as well as a USB drive with whatever footage was contained.
Then she needed to get back downstairs. As she did, she saw the maid coming out of the dining room.
“Excuse me,” Aria said, rushing toward her. “I just saw this on the floor where we had our little accident.” She held the key out to her and opted to play dumb. “I’m guessing it’s important.”
The maid had gone bright red and took the key from her in an act of desperation. “Thank you,” she said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She gave a little smile. “I’m sorry I fell on you.”
Then getting out of her parents’ house had been easy.
Before Aria had gone back to the maid, though, she couldn’t help but be curious about what her father had on Dante. She had opened the file, and there inside she had seen Dante with another woman. Photographs, large, blaringly obvious who it was, and the sex that was happening.
Pulling out of her thoughts, Aria stepped into her old bedroom at Dante’s country home and leaned back against the doorframe. Her heart pounded inside her chest, and she felt so alone. So empty, so … jealous.
This day was supposed to be a happy occasion. She was setting Dante free to live his life. She’d be free and they would no longer be in this loveless marriage.
The only problem was, over the past couple of months while she’d been waiting for the right moment, their marriage had been perfect. Aria closed her eyes, clenching them together, hoping to stop the tears from falling. In the back of her mind, she saw that intimate picture of Dante with Constance Pesci.
Technically, Constance was an aunt to her as she was partly related to her father Phillip. Aria had never met her.
The rules regarding bastard children were cruel. Phillip had his place, but her grandfather, nor any of his family, ever recognized her as such. Dante had slept with her. Did he love her? Was that who he was going to marry?
“I don’t love him,” Aria said, whispering the words so only she could hear, but she knew it was a lie.
She had fallen in love with Dante Gall o— the husband she didn’t want and had hoped to set free. The only problem was, she no longer wished to be free.
This was so cruel.
Rushing toward her en-suite bathroom, she quickly turned the shower on as the sobs threatened to take over. Aria had never been in love before. She had never known what it felt like to be loved.
Dante didn’t love her. He was dealing with the hand he’d been dealt. She was his wife, a duty, nothing more.
Curling up against the far wall, she wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to contain the sobs.
How had it come to this? Life was so much easier when she hated him. Why couldn’t she go back to hating him and wanting out of their marriage? Pain sliced through her chest, and she dropped her head onto her knees and sobbed.
****
Dante entered his father’s home office and saw the man sitting behind the desk. He approached the desk and dropped the file onto the flat surface.
“I hope there is a good reason for your rudeness.”
“Open it,” Dante said.
He knew his father would appreciate the lack of small talk. He heard the sigh, and then the chuckle. “One of our men finally accomplished this?” Dante Sr. asked.
“No,” Dante said. “Aria was able to obtain it.”
“What? Did Phillip simply give it to her?”
Dante stared out the garden window overlooking the gardens. His mother loved a good landscape, and his father always made sure she got what she wanted.
“No, he didn’t. Aria played the long game, and she used our newfound … closeness to get what she wanted,” Dante said.
“I will call the lawyer and get the marriage terminated,” Dante Sr. said. “You are aware Phillip is not going to be happy.”
Dante took several seconds to enjoy the scenery before turning back to his father. He rounded the desk and took a seat. “I don’t want a divorce,” Dante said.
His father looked at him before sitting back. “If you don’t want a divorce, then what do you want?”
“I need you to make arrangements for me to talk to Pesci myself,” Dante said. He’d spent all night analyzing the images, watching the footage, and he already had another problem he wanted to deal with.
Before coming to his father, he had gone to Constance Pesci. He knew visiting her would cause a great deal of gossip, but Phillip Lewis wasn’t quite as clever as he thought he was. When he’d been initially blackmailing him, Dante didn’t have the chance to properly look at the footage or the images taken from the same footage. In each item, Dante had been able to find the means that showed Phillip had organized everything.
Constance had also admitted to it. She had been in love with her husband. They’d been betrothed when they were children, and as such, they’d also grown up together. Love had developed, and Phillip was aware she was no longer a virgin. She’d already given herself to her husband.
Phillip threatened her fiancé’s life, and she had no choice but to be in the right place at the right time. Dante had gotten into a routine, and with Constance’s help, he’d drank a lot.
He would never have risked his life having sex with the boss’s daughter. Phillip was sure to be there, to film it. Constance had broken into tears, because six months into her marriage, her husband had ended up dead. She was convinced Phillip was to blame, because he came to her, as he wanted to trap another capo’s son. She refused, only this time she threatened to go to her father.
It was only fear of what her father might think that had stopped her before. She’d been trapped. Terrified of Phillip. And Dante had played with the wrong capo’s son.
“I see,” his father said, once he explained everything. “You do realize this could … cause you trouble.”
“No, it won’t. I have a feeling Pesci would want any opportunity to deal with his son, and now I’ve got the means. Constance is going to verify everything, and Phillip will be dealt with,” Dante said.
“And your divorce?” his father asked.
Dante glanced down at his hands. On his wedding finger was the band Aria had slipped over his finger. When she did it on their wedding day, he’d felt such contempt toward her. True hatred. It was unlike anything he’d ever felt before in his life. Only now, staring at the ring, he knew he would never let Aria go. She was the love of his life.
“I’m not divorcing Aria,” Dante said.
“Waiting to see if she is pregnant. If she has son, with what Phillip has done—”
“I love her,” Dante said.
Silence fell between them and he knew he had surprised his father.
“Dante—”
“I know what you’re going to say, Dad, but it doesn’t matter. I went into this marriage hating her because I thought she was exactly like her father. She’s not. She is nothing like Phillip and she did what she promised she’d do.” He pointed at the documents. “She has given me my freedom.”
“Does she love you?” his father asked.
“I have no idea. When all of this is over and done with, I’m going back to her. I’m not going to allow anyone to hurt her. She is my wife.”