Chapter 2 - The Scent of Treason
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The grandfather clock in the corner of the dining room struck nine, its heavy chimes echoing through a room frozen in pure horror.
Thirty high-society guests sat with their forks suspended in the air, terrified to move a single muscle in the presence of Chicago’s most lethal underworld boss.
Luca Moretti did not raise his voice, yet the sudden quiet was heavier than a gunshot.
His dark eyes drifted from Adrian to Vanessa, whose porcelain skin had drained of every drop of color.
“Say that again, Adrian,” Luca commanded softly, his tone flat, cold, and razor-sharp.
Adrian Romano kept his eyes fixed onto the polished parquet floor, his breathing ragged and shallow.
“She wanted you dead at the altar, Luca,” Adrian whispered, tears finally spilling down his hollow cheeks.
Vanessa let out a strangled shriek, her manicured nails digging into the mahogany dining table.
“He’s insane! Luca, he’s trying to drag me down because his pathetic wife exposed our affair!”
Vanessa lunged forward, attempting to grab Luca’s arm, but he took one calculated step backward, letting her stumble awkwardly against a silver ice bucket.
“Do not touch me,” Luca said, his deep voice slicing through her panic like a surgical blade.
Allison Romano sat perfectly upright in the chair Luca had pulled out for her, wiping her tears with a linen napkin.
“Tell him about the vows, Adrian,” Allison urged her husband, her voice remarkably clear despite the tremors in her chest.
“Tell him why she insisted on the vintage chalice from your grandfather’s collection in Palermo.”
Adrian’s shoulders shook with a silent sob as he buried his face in his trembling hands.
“The Bellinis arranged for a shipment from Milan two weeks ago,” Adrian choked out, unable to hold the poison inside any longer.
“It wasn’t bridal lace, Luca.”
“It was an odorless neurotoxin designed to mimic sudden cardiac arrest.”
A collective gasp ripped through the room, several wealthy socialites covering their mouths in utter revulsion.
Vanessa’s father, Don Alberto Bellini, had pledged this union to unite the two largest shipping corridors in the Midwest.
Now, the entire alliance was revealed to be an execution masked as holy matrimony.
“The plan was for me to hand you the ceremonial wine during the exchange of rings,” Adrian confessed, his voice barely audible over the roaring storm outside.
“You would collapse before the kiss, and Vanessa would immediately inherit fifty-one percent of the Moretti holdings as your legal widow under the prenuptial agreement.”
Luca stared at the man who had been his brother in everything except blood for thirty years.
“And what were you promised, Adrian?” Luca asked, the heartbreak beneath his stoic mask flashing for a fraction of a second.
Adrian looked up, his face twisted in utter shame and self-hatred.
“She promised I would take over the downtown ports,” Adrian admitted, his lips trembling violently.
“She said you were growing soft, that your moral boundaries were costing us millions, and that together we would control the entire city.”
Vanessa backed away toward the grand archway of the dining hall, her eyes darting toward the exits where Luca’s armed enforcers stood stationed.
“Emily,” Luca suddenly spoke, turning his gaze toward me as I stood holding my silver tray.
My breath hitched in my throat, my fingers tightening until my knuckles turned white.
“Yes, Mr. Moretti?”
“Take Mrs. Romano into my private study on the second floor,” Luca ordered gently, never taking his eyes off his treacherous fiancée.
“Make sure she has whatever she needs, and lock the double doors behind you.”
I set the silver tray on the side table, walked over to Allison, and offered her my arm.
May you like
As Allison stood, she looked at the man she had loved for nearly two decades and whispered five words that stripped away whatever dignity he had left.
“I hope your kingdom was worth losing your soul, Adrian.”
