Chapter 9 - THE HUSBAND SHE NEVER KNEW
Janevra should have signed the papers.
Instead, she followed Elio into the library.
"Tell me the truth."
He stopped.
"All of it."
For once, Elio Vieira looked uncertain.
Not dangerous.
Not powerful.
Just tired.
"I didn't want the marriage."
Janevra flinched.
He stepped closer.
"Not because I didn't want you."
She said nothing.
"I didn't want you delivered to me like property."
The words hit harder than she expected.
Elio admitted he had noticed her years earlier at a Moretti Christmas dinner.
She had been nineteen, arguing with an elderly art dealer about a misidentified Venetian painting.
He had remembered her.
He had also remembered Lucia's warning.
Protect my daughter from becoming one of us.
"When Victoriao proposed the marriage, I refused twice."
"Then why agree?"
"Because Daario began asking questions about your trust."
Janevra's anger shifted.
Elio had believed marrying her would place her inside the most heavily protected estate in Chicago.
The brutal words she overheard on their wedding day had been partly real.
He hated the arrangement.
He needed the alliance.
And he had convinced himself distance was safer than affection.
"You really thought ignoring me would protect me?"
"No."
His mouth tightened.
"I thought ignoring you would protect me."
Janevra's heartbeat changed.
"From what?"
Elio looked at her for a long moment.
"You."
Before she could answer, the library lights went out.
A soft electronic chirp sounded beneath the desk.
Bruno entered with a flashlight.
"Nobody move."
Security found a listening device taped inside the antique molding.
It had been transmitting every conversation in the library.
Including this one.
Bruno checked the signal log.
The device had been active for three months.
Janevra stared at the installation date.
It had been planted the morning after the wedding.
Only twelve people had access to the estate that day.
May you like
One of them was her best friend.
Lena.
