Chapter 21 Valentina
VALENTINA
I can feel the tension in the air the moment we step through the front doors.
Our mansion has never felt less like home.
Alessandro waits in his office.
As the youngest sister, I’d have hoped for comfort, maybe even retaliation against Maksim, but that is foolish. They see me as a problem.
I follow Adriano into Alessandro’s office, with Cristian trailing behind us.
I wish I could take his hand and feel his strength, but that’s impossible.
The man who showed me so much tenderness last night is now just my bodyguard again.
"Sit." My oldest brother doesn't look up from the papers on his desk.
I remain standing. Small defiances are all I have left.
Alessandro finally raises his eyes to mine, and I almost flinch.
They are cold, empty of the affection I desperately need.
"Maksim paid me a visit today. He had quite the interesting story to tell."
My mouth goes dry. I force my chin higher.
"A letter." Alessandro holds up a piece of paper, my forged note. "Apparently postponing a wedding that's meant to prevent a war between our families." He studies me, his gaze unrelenting. "Care to explain why you would risk all our lives with this childish stunt?"
I hold his gaze, refusing to show weakness. "Childish? I was buying time."
"Time for what, Valentina?" His voice drops lower, more dangerous. "Time to make things worse? Time to destroy everything we've built? Time to kill us all?”
My heart hammers as I wonder what my punishment will be.
Behind me, I can feel Cristian's presence, but I know he can’t help me.
"Time to find another solution!" I slam my hands on the desk, surprising everyone, including myself, with the force of my anger. "You know as well as I do that marrying me is a temporary solution. He’ll challenge you again, Alessandro. Perhaps when he kills me and waits to see how you’ll react.” I step back.
“But you won’t react, will you? He nearly killed me last night, but that doesn’t matter. All you’re worried about is a letter.”
"We are aware of Maksim's actions," Alessandro says. "Measures will be taken—"
"Measures?" I laugh, wondering when my brother’s affection for me changed. Perhaps it started when he became Don. "What measures, Alessandro? A strongly worded conversation while you still prepare to hand me over to him?"
Adriano steps forward. "Val, you don't understand—"
"I understand perfectly!" I glare at one and then the other of my brothers. "I understand that my safety means nothing compared to this alliance. I understand that Maksim can try to kidnap and violate me, and your response is to scold me for writing a letter!"
Alessandro rises from his chair, towering over the desk. "You put all of us at risk. The entire family. Our business. Our people."
"And what about me? Am I not family too?"
“The attack wouldn’t have happened if not for this.” Alessandro taps the letter.
I search their faces, Alessandro's stony expression, Adriano's averted gaze, even Cristian's careful neutrality.
The truth settles in my stomach.
I'm not family.
Not anymore.
I'm an asset.
All those family meetings where they let me speak, all those moments I thought I was being treated as an equal, were just an illusion.
A pretty fairy tale I told myself.
I straighten my spine. "Don Lorenzo would be proud. You're handling the family business exactly as he would have."
Alessandro flinches at the comparison to our father.
Good.
"You included me in decisions to make me feel important, but when it's my life on the line, I'm just another possession to be bartered away."
"Valentina—" Adriano starts.
I cut him off with a raised hand. "Don't. At least have the decency to stop pretending I have any real say in what happens to me."
“You agreed to this,” Alessandro reminds me yet again. His eyes slide from me to Cristian. "And you. Did you know about this letter?"
Cristian stands perfectly still behind me. "No, sir."
Alessandro studies him with calculating eyes. "Yet you didn't call immediately after the ambush. You waited until morning."
"I had to ensure Valentina's safety first—"
"Don't lie to me." Alessandro's fist slams against the desk. "Your first duty was to report back. Instead, you disappeared with my sister for a night."
"It was my decision," I interrupt before Cristian can respond. "I begged him to wait until morning. I was terrified after the ambush. I needed time."
Alessandro's gaze returns to me, narrowed and suspicious.
"Cristian followed my orders throughout everything. If you want someone to blame, blame me."
The guilt is overwhelming.
Not for defying my brothers, but for pulling Cristian deeper into my mess.
His career, his life within this world, depends on my brother's trust.
And I've just put everything he is at risk.
Cristian steps forward, placing himself slightly between me and Alessandro's desk.
The protective gesture is subtle.
Maybe I’m reading more into it, but for a moment, I feel like he’s protecting me against my brothers.
"I had nothing to do with the letter, Don Dante," Cristian says. "But can you truly blame your sister?"
Alessandro's eyes narrow dangerously. "Careful, Bonetti."
"With all due respect," Cristian continues, ignoring the warning, "Valentina has shown nothing but loyalty to this family.
She agreed to sacrifice her life all for the Dante name.
And how do you repay that? Doing nothing when Maksim disrespects her by touching her.
By interrogating her after she was nearly kidnapped or killed instead of going after the man who ordered it. "
Panic grows within me.
No one speaks to Alessandro this way. Not if they want to live.
"If Maksim had succeeded," Cristian presses on, "he would have violated her in the worst ways possible. Are you telling me you're okay with that? That your sister deserves such treatment?"
Alessandro’s eyes are like lasers as they bore down on Cristian. "You're developing a bad habit of overstepping, Bonetti."
"And you're developing a habit of forgetting what matters," Cristian fires back.
"You charged me with protecting Valentina, which is exactly what I did last night when Maksim's men killed our driver and tried to take her.
I led her through the woods, hotwired a car, and got her to safety while Bratva soldiers hunted us. "
I watch in stunned silence as Cristian holds his ground. Is he trying to get himself killed?
"Now you're essentially telling Maksim his behavior is acceptable," Cristian continues, his voice hardening. "You're showing weakness when you should be showing strength. The Dante Don I've served my entire life would never let someone touch his family and live to see another day."
Alessandro's face darkens with each word.
He comes around the desk, stopping inches from Cristian.
"Are you finished?" he asks, deadly quiet.
"Nearly," Cristian says.
“Be careful. The next words out of your mouth, you might come to regret.”
“The only regret I have is that I didn’t kill Maksim when he touched Valentina. And I promise that the next time Maksim tries to take Valentina, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in his head. And if that decision costs me my life afterward, so be it."
The air between them crackles with tension. I step forward, placing my hand on Cristian's arm.
"That's enough," I say.
Alessandro's gaze drops to where I'm touching Cristian, and something shifts in his expression. To my mind, it’s a flicker of suspicion.
"Leave us," he commands Cristian. "Wait outside."
"Alessandro—" I start.
"It wasn't a request," my brother cuts me off.
Cristian hesitates, his eyes meeting mine.
In that brief exchange, I see his fear for me, his regret at leaving me alone, his silent promise to be just outside the door.
Then he's gone, and I'm left facing my brother's lethal stare.
But I fight back my fear and continue to stand in defiance of him.
"We both know he’s right. If you don't care that Maksim made a move against me, then why wait?
Just hand me over now." My voice grows stronger with each word.
"Let him do whatever he plans to do with me.
I'm sure it'll be quick once he gets bored. "
Alessandro's jaw tightens. "Valentina—"
"I want to be cremated, by the way." I cut him off, enjoying the flash of shock in his eyes. "If they find my body at all. Have my ashes scattered somewhere nice. A beach, maybe."
I feel rather than see Adriano shift beside me, but I keep my focus on Alessandro.
"But don't bury me in the family plot," I continue. "I'm clearly not worthy of that. Not when my own brothers value a business alliance more than my life."
"Stop being overly dramatic," Alessandro snaps, but I catch the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
"Is she being dramatic?" Adriano's voice cuts through the tension. "Maksim killed our man. He tried to take what belongs to us before the agreement was fulfilled."
Alessandro turns his glare on our brother. "You're taking her side now?"
"I'm taking the family's side," Adriano says, meeting his stare. "And Val is family. Maksim can't get away with taking what's not his, not without consequences."
"She forged a letter," Alessandro counters.
"And he staged an ambush," I reply. "Which is worse, Alessandro? A letter delaying a wedding, or an armed attack that left one of our men dead?"
Alessandro runs a hand through his hair, the first sign of genuine frustration breaking through.
For a moment, I see the brother I used to know. The one who checked under my bed for monsters when I was little.
"What do you want me to do?" he asks. "Go to war with the Bratva? Risk everything we've built?"
"I want you to show them that hurting a Dante has consequences," I say.
"Maksim claims he was concerned for your wishes," Alessandro replies. "He thought I was backtracking on our agreement. He seems quite convinced that you're eager for this marriage."
A bitter laugh escapes my throat. "Eager? He can't possibly believe that."
"It doesn't matter what he believes." Alessandro returns to his desk, resuming his position of power. "I knew you must have sent the letter, but I told him someone else did it. Likely, a rival family trying to destabilize our new alliance."
My world tilts. Even when faced with Maksim's violence against a Dante, Alessandro is determined to move forward with this arrangement.
"So the wedding is still on?"
"Of course it's on." He says it so casually, as if we're discussing dinner plans rather than the sacrifice of my life. "Maksim wanted to move it up, but I managed to keep to our original timeline."
"And you think that's a victory?"
Adriano places a hand on my shoulder. "Val—"
I shrug him off. "Don't touch me. Don't pretend to care."
"Your actions have consequences, Valentina," Alessandro hisses. "Did you think about that when you forged that letter? When you risked everything?"
I hold my ground even as tears threaten. "I was trying to—"
"Many more could have died than just your driver," he cuts me off, his voice rising. "The Bratva could have declared open war. They could have targeted all of us. Our businesses, our people. Your little act of rebellion put all of us in danger. You accuse me of not caring about your life, but you don’t care about mine or Adriano’s or Cristian's or anyone but yourself.”
I don’t think that’s true, and yet, something about his words feels true, and guilt grows.
“From now until the wedding, you're confined to the house," he continues, his tone brooking no argument. "The only exception will be for wedding planning activities.”
I can barely breathe as my world grows smaller.
Anger stirs, replacing the guilt I felt a moment ago. I do care if someone dies because of me.
But they don’t feel that about me. My value is only in that I’m a woman Maksim wants to break.
For a moment, I consider telling Alessandro that I’m not a virgin.
That my worth has significantly dropped.
But I can’t risk Cristian’s life.
"I understand now," I say quietly. “My life means nothing to you beyond what use you can make of it."
Alessandro's eyes widen.
"Next time, I'll just let Maksim kill me. Better me than any of your precious men, right? At least then their deaths won't be on my conscience."
"Valentina!" Alessandro sputters. "That's not what I meant—"
But I'm already turning away, my head high despite the tears blurring my eyes. I push past Adriano, past the door where Cristian waits.
I don't stop for any of them. What's the point? In their world, I'm just a piece of property.
What I feel… what I want… doesn’t matter.
I doubt it ever did.
It turns out, I was never a part of them, and that thought breaks me inside a little bit.