Chapter 2 - The Price of Humiliation
The door opened only three inches.
Then stopped.
Alessandro moved in front of Sophia.
The gesture was immediate.
Instinctive.
Daniel looked as though he wanted to run.
“Who is Vittorio?” Sophia asked.
“Not here,” Alessandro said.
“You keep saying things without answering me.”
“I know.”
“Then start answering.”
Alessandro looked toward two men near the terrace entrance.
Sophia had assumed they were guests.
They were not.
One gave Alessandro a nearly invisible nod and moved toward the dark doorway.
The other disappeared toward the villa.
The door opened farther.
An elderly waiter stepped through carrying a tray.
Daniel released a breath.
Alessandro did not.
The waiter looked confused by the attention.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Alessandro approached him.
“Did anyone come through this corridor?”
“No, sir.”
“Anyone inside?”
“I didn’t see anyone.”
Alessandro glanced down the corridor.
Empty.
Sophia held up the invitation.
“Vittorio.”
Daniel stared at the lake.
Elena whispered, “Please.”
Sophia turned on her.
“Please what?”
“Leave it alone.”
Sophia almost smiled.
“You slept with my fiancé for three months, helped him hide financial trouble, planned to leave the country, and now someone is photographing me. You don’t get to tell me to leave anything alone.”
Elena’s eyes filled again.
Daniel interrupted.
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“Apparently neither did I.”
Sophia walked back toward the party.
Alessandro followed.
“Sophia.”
“I need air.”
“We’re already outside.”
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
She stopped beside the balustrade.
The lake below was impossibly beautiful.
That irritated her.
The world should not have been allowed to look peaceful.
“I’m going home.”
“I’ll take you.”
“No.”
“Sophia—”
She faced him.
“I just discovered that my ex-fiancé may have used my wedding to move millions of dollars. My sister apparently knew enough to buy a plane ticket. Someone photographed me tonight. And Daniel just told me you’ve wanted me for years.”
Alessandro said nothing.
“That last part would be a good place to begin.”
His gaze shifted briefly toward Daniel.
Then returned.
“Daniel misunderstood.”
“Did he?”
“I told him not to propose.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t believe he deserved you.”
Sophia stared.
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I can give you tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because anything else would sound opportunistic.”
She studied him.
The terrifying Alessandro Moretti was choosing his words because he was worried about taking advantage of a woman three days after her engagement collapsed.
That complicated things.
“I don’t need another man deciding what information I can handle.”
His expression changed.
“You’re right.”
The immediate concession surprised her.
Alessandro continued.
“I met you before Daniel did.”
Sophia frowned.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Seven years ago. Boston.”
Her breath caught.
She remembered Boston.
Graduate school.
A charity gala where she had volunteered after one of the coordinators became sick.
A stranger in a black suit had helped her carry twenty centerpieces after the catering staff disappeared.
She remembered his hands.
His dry humor.
His first name.
Alex.
She had never connected him with Alessandro Moretti.
“You.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“You called my shoes ridiculous.”
“They were.”
“They were Italian.”
“They looked painful.”
“They were.”
Despite herself, Sophia smiled.
Then it vanished.
“You knew who I was when Daniel introduced us.”
“Yes.”
“And you never said anything.”
“You were happy.”
“I thought I was.”
“I had no right to interfere.”
Daniel approached.
“Can we stop pretending this is romantic?”
Sophia looked at him.
“You lost the right to comment on my romantic life when you started sleeping with my sister.”
His face tightened.
Alessandro almost smiled.
Daniel noticed.
“You think this is funny?”
“No,” Alessandro said. “I think consequences are unfamiliar to you.”
Elena whispered Daniel’s name.
He ignored her.
“You want the truth, Sophia? Fine. Alessandro doesn’t rescue people unless he gets something.”
Alessandro’s gaze cooled.
Daniel continued.
“He wants control. That’s what he’s always wanted.”
Sophia folded her arms.
“And you wanted my sister.”
Daniel flinched.
“Apparently everyone has goals.”
She walked away.
This time Alessandro did not stop her.
That mattered.
Sophia found Marcela inside and apologized.
Her cousin hugged her so tightly Sophia nearly cried.
“Do not apologize,” Marcela whispered. “Daniel ruined enough parties this month.”
Sophia laughed against her shoulder.
When she finally left the villa, a black sedan waited near the entrance.
She expected Alessandro.
Instead, her father stood beside it.
“Dad?”
Antonio Bianchi looked older than he had that morning.
“Sophia, get in.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“Please.”
She had never heard that tone from him.
Sophia climbed into the car.
Her father sat beside her.
The driver pulled away.
“Dad.”
Antonio looked at the invitation in her hand.
His face drained.
“Where did you get that?”
Sophia’s fingers tightened.
“You recognize the initials.”
Antonio closed his eyes.
“V.M.C.”
“Who is Vittorio?”
Her father looked through the window.
“Someone I hoped you would never have to know.”
“Daniel knew him.”
“Yes.”
“Alessandro knows him.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Antonio finally looked at her.
“Yes.”
Sophia felt cold.
“What does he have to do with me?”
Her father reached inside his coat.
He removed an old photograph.
Sophia took it.
Four men stood outside a warehouse.
Her father.
A much younger Alessandro.
A man Sophia recognized as Alessandro and Daniel’s late father.
And a fourth man.
Tall.
Silver-eyed.
A scar along his jaw.
On the back was written:
Vittorio Mancini.
The C remained unexplained.
“Why were you with them?”
Antonio’s hands trembled.
“I made a mistake.”
“What kind?”
“The kind that follows your children.”
Sophia stared at him.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
“Your wedding wasn’t canceled because Daniel cheated.”
She frowned.
“I canceled it because Daniel cheated.”
“No.”
Antonio swallowed.
“I mean Daniel’s affair wasn’t the beginning. Elena wasn’t the reason he chose you.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
“What are you saying?”
Her father looked toward the driver.
Then leaned closer.
“Daniel needed access to something only you could authorize.”
Sophia thought of the wedding account.
The transfers.
The $4.8 million.
“What?”
Antonio opened his mouth.
The car stopped violently.
Sophia was thrown forward.
The driver cursed.
A vehicle had blocked the road.
Antonio grabbed Sophia’s hand.
“Stay inside.”
Headlights flooded the windows.
A man stepped from the vehicle ahead.
Sophia recognized the scar before she recognized the face.
Vittorio Mancini walked toward them.
Her father whispered, “Lock the doors.”
Then Sophia’s phone lit up.
A message from Alessandro.
DO NOT LET YOUR FATHER GIVE HIM THE KEY.
Sophia looked at Antonio.
“What key?”
May you like
Her father reached into his pocket.
And pulled out something Sophia had never seen before.
