Chapter 29 #2
Bea flinched. She opened her mouth to respond, but Victor was already moving. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a second folder. This one was thicker, heavier.
“I had you followed,” Victor said simply. “I wanted to see where you went. Who you met with.” He opened the folder and pulled out a stack of photographs.
Bea’s world tilted. “No,” she whispered.
Victor handed the photos to Dimitri. The first one showed Bea outside the coffee shop.
Marco was there, pulling her into a hug.
His arms were wrapped around her, her face pressed against his chest. The second showed Marco kissing her cheek, his hand cupping her face.
The third showed them sitting across from each other at a small table, their hands clasped together on the surface between them, leaning in close like lovers sharing secrets.
Then the older photos, Bea and Marco in a bar, his hand on her thigh, her lips against his ear.
Bea and Marco tangled together in a hotel bed, sheets barely covering them, her head thrown back.
The two of them laughing, her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands on her waist. Dimitri stared at the photographs.
His face had gone completely blank, all emotion draining away until there was nothing left but cold, hard stone.
Killian moved closer, looking over Dimitri’s shoulder. Bea watched his expression change, confusion, then recognition, then something that looked like pain. Nico took the photos from Dimitri’s hands, flipping through them slowly. His face crumpled.
“Marco Valenti,” Victor said quietly. “Son of Antonio Valenti. The family you’ve been at war with for years.
The family who stole from you before and here they are again trying to take over your kingdom, and you all are just handing it right over to them.
” He paused, letting that sink in. “He’s clearly Beatrice’s lover. ”
“No,” Bea said, her voice breaking. “No, it’s not like that-”
“How long?” Dimitri’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Dimitri, please-”
“How long have you been with him?” Dimitri looked up at her, and the betrayal in his eyes was like a physical blow. “How long have you been fucking Marco Valenti?”
“We’re friends,” Bea said desperately. “We’re just friends. Yes I did do some work for the Valentis and Marco and I grew to be good friends and occasionally we hooked up but I haven’t been with him in years-”
“These photos say otherwise,” Victor said, tapping the recent images from the coffee shop.
“Those are just…we were just talking at the coffee shop.”
“You lied,” Dimitri said flatly. “You lied about knowing him. You lied about meeting with him. What else have you lied about?”
“I didn’t lie,” Bea said, tears streaming down her face now. “I just, I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d react like this. I knew you wouldn’t understand-”
“Understand what?” Dimitri’s voice was rising now, anger bleeding through the ice. “That you’ve been sleeping with the enemy? That you’ve been feeding him information about our operations?”
“I haven’t!” Bea screamed. “I would never do that!”
“But you have been sleeping with him,” Dimitri said. The question hung in the air between them. Bea’s throat closed up. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. “Answer me,” Dimitri said, his voice deadly quiet. “How could you fuck Marco Valenti?”
“That was years ago,” Bea whispered. “We were together for a while, but that ended a long time ago. We’re just friends now. I swear to you, we’re just friends.”
“Just friends,” Dimitri repeated. He laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “Just friends who meet in secret. Just friends who hold hands and whisper to each other. Just a friend you open your legs for, what would you call a friend like that?!.”
Before she knew what she was doing her hand met his face with a violent slap. She stepped back and looked at him with so much hurt and anger in her eyes. “Don’t talk to me like that and it wasn’t a secret,” Bea said desperately. “I was going to tell you. I was waiting for the right time-”
“The right time?” Dimitri’s voice exploded. “When would that have been, Bea? After you’d stolen everything from us? After you’d destroyed us?”
“I’m not trying to destroy you!” Bea shouted back. “I’m falling for you! All of you! I would never hurt you!”
Killian had been silent through this exchange, his face pale, his hands clenched into fists. Now he stepped forward. “I believe her,” he said, his voice rough. “Dimitri, I believe her. She’s telling the truth.”
Dimitri whirled on him. “Stop thinking with your dick for once in your life.”
“Fuck you,” Killian snarled. “This isn’t about that and you know it. Look at her. She’s telling the truth.”
“She lied about Marco,” Dimitri shot back. “She’s clearly good at lying.”
“She didn’t lie,” Killian said. “She just didn’t tell us. There’s a difference.”
“Not to me,” Dimitri said coldly.
Victor had been watching this exchange with barely concealed glee. Now he stepped forward again, his expression sympathetic.
“Gentlemen,” he said quietly. “I understand this is difficult. But we need to face facts. Ms. Rossi has been in contact with Marco Valenti. She’s been receiving money from him.
She’s been meeting with him in secret. And our shipments have been compromised.
” He paused. “She lied about Marco. She’s clearly very good at her job, manipulating you three, gaining your trust, getting access to everything you have.
” He reached into his jacket. “Let’s just end this now. ”
The gun came out smooth and fast, the barrel pointing directly at Bea’s chest. Everything happened at once.
Dimitri and Killian both moved, their own weapons appearing in their hands with practiced speed. Two guns, both pointed directly at Victor’s head. Nico had moved so fast no one registered him pushing Bea behind him.
“Don’t you fucking dare point that at her!” Dimitri roared, his voice raw and primal. Victor froze, his eyes widening slightly. For the first time since this confrontation began, he looked genuinely surprised.
“Put it down,” Killian growled, his finger on the trigger. “Now.”
“Are you serious?” Victor asked, his voice tight. “She’s been betraying you. She’s been working with Valenti. And you’re going to protect her?”
“Put the fucking gun down,” Dimitri repeated, his voice deadly calm now.
Victor stared at them for a long moment. Then, slowly, he lowered his weapon. “You’re making a mistake,” he said quietly.
“Maybe,” Dimitri said. “But she’s not dying today.”
He turned to Bea, and the look in his eyes made her heart shatter. For a long moment that seemed to last forever, his eyes turned cold. “Get out,” he said.
“Dimitri-” Bea started.
“Get out,” he repeated, his voice harder now. “Leave. Now.”
“No,” Killian said immediately. “Dimitri, we need to talk about this-”
“Keep your mouth shut,” Dimitri snapped, not taking his eyes off Bea. “This isn’t your decision.”
“The hell it isn’t,” Killian said. “She’s-”
“Shut up Killian, I am the boss, I have the final fucking say in this house, or did you forget?!” Dimitri roared. Killian fell silent, his jaw clenched so tight Bea could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
Bea looked at him, desperate, pleading. Killian looked back at her, and she could see everything in his eyes, the anger, the confusion, the desperate desire to save her. She gave him a small sad smile.
She turned to Nico. The youngest brother was staring at her with such profound sadness that it made her chest ache. His eyes were red-rimmed, his expression devastated.
“Nico,” she whispered. “Please.”
Nico looked away.
Finally, she turned back to Dimitri. He was watching her with that same cold, distant expression.
But underneath it, she could see the conflict.
The pain. The part of him that still wanted to believe her.
The man who let his walls down just for her, had put them all right back up.
“When he betrays you,” Bea said quietly, her voice steady despite the tears streaming down her face.
“When he fucks you over, or kills one of you, when everything I’ve said turns out to be true, don’t say I didn’t fucking warn you. ”
She held Dimitri’s gaze for one more moment. Then she turned and walked out. She didn’t look back. If she looked back, she’d break.
She made it three steps into the hallway before she collided with Isabella. The older woman grabbed her gently by the arms, her eyes wide with concern. “What’s going on in there?” Isabella asked, her voice sharp. “I heard shouting-”
Bea’s face crumpled for just a moment, just long enough for Isabella to see the devastation beneath the mask.
Then she pulled herself together. “It was wonderful getting to know you,” Bea said softly, her voice trembling.
“You are truly a lovely person. I’m just sorry your boys are so easily manipulated. ”
Isabella’s eyes widened. “Bea-” But Bea was already moving, pulling free from Isabella’s grip, walking toward the front entrance with her head held high. She didn’t look back. She didn’t let herself.
Isabella stood in the hallway for a long moment, staring after Bea’s retreating figure. Then she turned and walked into the kitchen.
The four men were still standing there, Dimitri with his hands braced on the counter, Killian staring at the floor with his weapon still in his hand, Nico with his arms wrapped around himself. Victor smoothing down his suit jacket.
The bags of Chinese food sat forgotten on the counter, already going cold. The photographs were scattered across the marble surface like evidence at a crime scene. Isabella looked at each of them in turn. Her expression was ice.
“What,” she said quietly, her voice trembling with fury, “did you fools do?” No one answered. The question hung in the air, unanswered, damning, and somewhere in the distance, the sound of a car engine roared to life and faded into the evening.