Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ALESSANDRO
The fluorescent lights overhead hum a relentless, irritating tune that vibrates straight through my skull. I’ve been sitting in this metal chair for hours, my hands still cuffed tightly behind my back, staring at the two federal agents across the table.
This is a psychological siege. A hostile, suffocating barrage of the same questions wrapped in different words, delivered with sneers and aggressive posturing.
"We have the manifests, Mr. Gallo," the lead agent, Miller, says, leaning so far across the table his hot breath hits my face.
"We have the port signatures. We know exactly what was inside those containers before they hit the dock. You’re looking at twenty to life in a federal penitentiary.
Your empire is gone before the ink on your marriage certificate is even dry. "
I don't blink. I don't give them a single twitch of my jaw. I just lean back, keeping my expression an unreadable mask of cold amusement. "I'm a legitimate businessman, Agent Miller. If someone compromised my shipping lanes, I suggest you look into the port authority, not me."
The second agent scoffs, slamming a thick folder onto the steel table to create a loud, jarring crack. "Save it for the judge. We know exactly where the digital ledger is. We’re tossing your mansion right now. Your little bride is probably crying in the foyer while my men rip the walls apart."
A dark, icy knot forms in the pit of my stomach, though I don’t let a single hint of it surface.
Luca. The bastard really went all out. He didn't just want to cost me millions; he wanted to bury me alive under a mountain of federal charges.
But as the agents continue to bark their threats, a different kind of tension takes hold of me. I am hinging my freedom, my future, and the entire Gallo legacy on a woman whose loyalty I am completely uncertain of.
Sienna.
I think back to the fury in her eyes at the altar, the way she bit my lip until we tasted blood, her blatant defiance when she wore that provocative dress. She didn’t want this wedding. She didn’t want me. She viewed this entire arrangement as a golden cage.
Now, the feds have just handed her the keys to the lock. What if she uses this opportunity to free herself? All she has to do is hand over that blue laptop, walk away clean, and leave me to rot in a maximum-security cell for the rest of my life. It would be the perfect revenge.
And yet, despite every ruthless survival instinct screaming in my ear to trust no one, a strange, unyielding conviction takes root in my chest.
I trust her.
I don't know if it’s because of the fierce worry I saw in her eyes, or the way she held my gaze when I gripped her face at the altar, but I know she isn't a coward.
She wouldn't let the feds win. If she manages to hide that laptop successfully, if she keeps her composure under pressure, these agents will have absolutely zero physical proof to tie me to the shipment. The paper trail will crumble in court.
Miller leans in closer, his eyes drilling into mine. "She's going to crack, Gallo. A girl like that isn't built for a federal interrogation. She’ll give up the laptop to save her own skin."
I let a slow, lethal smile spread across my face, staring right back at him.
"Even if I knew what laptop you were talking about, you don't know my wife," I rumble, my voice dead calm. "But by all means, keep trying."
The words are barely out of my mouth when the heavy steel door to the interrogation room clicks open. A uniform officer appears in the threshold, his face grim as he catches Miller’s eye. He doesn't say a word out loud, merely jerking his chin to motion the interrogating agents outside.
Miller throws me one last, furious glare before gathering his papers. The two agents stride out, and the thick door thuds shut behind them, leaving me completely alone in the stark room.
The silence immediately presses into my head like a physical weight. Left with nothing but the hum of the fluorescent lights, the icy certainty I had seconds ago begins to fracture. I start to wonder if I’m making the absolute worst decision of my life.
I am spiraling, my mind racing through every worst-case scenario.
Did Sienna look at the feds and see a lifeline?
Is she signing a cooperation agreement right now?
My jaw clenches as I actively fight the doubts; I don’t want to think the worst of her, but in our world, blind trust usually gets you a bullet or a life sentence.
Nearly twenty agonizing minutes pass before the door opens again.
Miller reappears in the frame, a deep, bitter frown pulling at his mouth. He looks like he just swallowed broken glass.
He steps up to the table, glaring down at me with pure venom. "You’re free to go, Gallo. For now."
Two guards step up behind him and quickly remove the cuffs from around my wrists. As the heavy steel falls away, leaving red ridges on my skin, I flex my fingers and bite back a triumphant smile.
Did Sienna actually pull this off?
I don't waste another second in that cage. I stride out of the interrogation unit and push through the glass double doors. Valerio is waiting for me on the other side, flanked by my head defense lawyer.
The lawyer gives me a brief, professional nod. "The feds had a warrant, but their raid turned up completely empty. Without the physical drive or the ledger, their entire probable cause for the arrest collapsed. Everything is under control, Alessandro."
I barely hear him. I turn my eyes directly to my underboss. "Where is Sienna?"
Valerio’s usual stoic expression softens just a fraction, a glint of genuine respect in his eyes.
"She did well, boss. Amazingly well. She took care of the asset, held her ground when they brought her in for questioning, and didn't give them a single inch. She’s in the reception area right now, waiting for you. "
I nod, a fierce, proprietary heat spreading through my chest. I turn on my heel and stalk toward the precinct's front reception room, my eyes locking onto her immediately.
Sienna is sitting on a plastic chair, looking like absolute royalty surrounded by the drab police walls.
The moment she sees me walking toward her, free and unharmed, she doesn't smile. Instead, she narrows her dark eyes at me with pure irritation—like she didn’t just completely back me up, like she didn’t just pass up the perfect chance to escape me forever.
I don't care about her glare. I cross the room in three strides, grab her waist, and haul her up against my chest, pressing a hard, deep kiss onto her lips right there in the middle of the station. She stiffens for a fraction of a second, but she doesn’t push me away.
As I pull back, a senior man from my crew walks up, clapping a heavy hand onto my shoulder with a massive, beaming grin.
"Ah, Alessandro! Congratulations, my boy! Double congratulations!" the old man booms, looking between us with watery, emotional eyes. "In times of trouble, a blessing always comes. To think, a new generation of the family is already on the way!"
I freeze, my hand still resting on Sienna's hip. I blink, my mind blanking out for a split second. A new generation? What the fuck is he talking about?
Before I can even process the old man's words, one of the police receptionists looks over her desk, offering a warm smile. "We have a clinic down the street if your wife needs to sit down, sir. The first trimester can be so draining, especially with this kind of stress."
I glance down at Sienna. She is looking everywhere but at me, her cheeks flushing a bright, guilty pink as she suddenly finds the pattern on the floor fascinating.
The dark realization hits me. I don't know what kind of game she played with the feds, but everyone in this building—and apparently my own men—believes my new wife is pregnant.
I force my jaw to relax, smoothly tightening my arm around her waist and flashing the capo a tight, knowing smile. "Thank you. Yes... it's a blessing. We wanted to keep it quiet, but today has been unpredictable."
Sienna peeks up at me through her lashes, and she can instantly tell by the dangerous, amused glint in my eyes that I am demanding a full, unfiltered explanation the exact second we are behind closed doors. She swallows hard, realizing she got herself out of one trap only to land right into mine.
We walk out of the precinct, the security detail clearing a path. I guide her down the steps, keeping her close to my side until the driver opens the door of the waiting black sedan. We both get into the car outside, the heavy doors shutting out the rest of the world.
The car smoothly pulls into traffic, and the moment we are safely away from the chaos, I turn my entire body to face her.
“What was that about back there, Sienna?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as I study her face. “A new generation? First trimester?”
She rolls her eyes, letting out a long, exhausted sigh before she reluctantly explains everything.
She tells me about the officer guarding the front doors of the mansion, how she needed a desperate excuse to bypass him and get upstairs to the bedroom, and how the lie snowballed during her interrogation until the feds were too terrified of a medical liability to keep pressing her.
A low rumble starts in my chest before it breaks into a full, genuine laugh. The audacity of this girl is staggering.
"Smart," I murmur, my eyes tracing the sharp line of her jaw.
"But that doesn't answer the real question. Why did you help me? They offered you a clean slate, didn’t they?
You could have handed over the laptop, annulled the marriage, and walked away from me and the syndicate forever. Why didn't you?"
She scoffs, crossing her arms tightly over her chest, and deliberately turns her head to look out the tinted window, watching the city lights pass by. "Don't flatter yourself, Alessandro. I just didn't want the feds winning."