Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Stole My Marriage Knew My Son's NameBy sunrise, I had made a decision.
I was going to warn Alessandro.
Not because I'd forgiven him.
Not because I wanted him back.
And certainly not because I believed marriage meant sacrificing my dignity for a man who had betrayed me.
I was going to warn him because Samuel deserved the chance to know his father someday.
But I would not place our son in danger to do it.
Gabriel found me in Thomas's kitchen at six-thirty.
I was sitting beside a mug of untouched coffee.
"You're awake early," he said.
"I need you to call Alessandro."
He stopped.
"Elena—"
"Tell him not to attend the meeting with Vittorio."
Gabriel's expression changed.
"How do you know about that?"
I showed him the messages.
He read them twice.
"Who sent these?"
"I don't know."
"Did you respond?"
"Yes."
He rubbed his forehead.
"That could have exposed our location."
"Then whoever sent them already knew enough to frighten me."
Thomas entered the kitchen.
Gabriel handed him the phone.
The older man studied the messages.
"This could be a trap," he said.
"Then we verify it."
"How?"
I looked between them.
"Ask Alessandro where the meeting is."
Gabriel hesitated.
"He won't tell me."
"Then let me speak to him."
The room fell silent.
Rebecca appeared in the doorway, her injured arm in a sling.
"Elena, think carefully."
"I have been thinking for twelve months."
"Talking to Alessandro might expose you."
"Not if we use a protected number."
Thomas sighed.
"Nothing is completely protected."
I looked at him.
"Neither is silence."
Ten minutes later, Gabriel placed a secured telephone on the kitchen table.
He dialed a number.
The call connected almost immediately.
"Shaw."
Alessandro.
One word.
And my entire past rushed back.
I remembered his hand on my waist while dancing in our kitchen.
His laughter when I burned dinner.
The way he tucked the blankets around me when he thought I was asleep.
Then I remembered Valentina's earrings.
And the way he told me I didn't understand his world.
Gabriel looked at me.
I nodded.
He pushed the phone closer.
"Mr. Moretti, someone needs to speak with you."
Silence.
Then Alessandro said, "Who?"
I swallowed.
"Alex."
Nothing.
Not a breath.
Not a movement.
Just silence so complete that I wondered whether the call had dropped.
Then I heard a chair scrape.
"Elena?"
His voice broke on my name.
I closed my eyes.
"Listen carefully. You can't attend the meeting with Vittorio today."
"Where are you?"
"Don't ask."
"Elena."
"Please. Just listen."
He exhaled shakily.
"Are you safe?"
"For now."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Who's with you?"
"People who are helping me."
Another silence.
Then, quietly, "I've looked for you everywhere."
I stared at the kitchen wall.
"You should have looked for me when I was standing right in front of you."
He didn't defend himself.
"You're right."
Those two words startled me.
The Alessandro I remembered had always argued.
Always explained.
Always found a way to turn accusations into negotiations.
Now he simply said I was right.
"I need you to stay away from Vittorio," I continued. "Someone is planning to kill you."
His tone sharpened.
"Who told you?"
"An anonymous source."
"Elena, you need to tell me where you are."
"No."
"Your life may depend on it."
"And my life doesn't belong to you anymore."
I heard him inhale.
"You're right about that, too."
My throat tightened.
I hated how badly I'd wanted to hear him admit it.
But it didn't erase what he'd done.
"Is Valentina with you?" I asked.
"No."
"She was last night."
"That was a business appearance."
I laughed bitterly.
"You held her hand."
He went quiet.
"For seven years, you wouldn't hold mine."
"Elena—"
"Was she safer than me?"
"No."
"Then why?"
His answer came slowly.
"Because I was a coward."
I froze.
"I told myself keeping you out of photographs protected you. And sometimes it did. But I also used that excuse to keep my marriage separate from the world I was becoming."
"Yet you weren't afraid to show her."
"Vittorio arranged that appearance. It was part of a financing negotiation. I should have refused."
"You could have."
"Yes."
"And you didn't."
"No."
I looked away.
He continued.
"I don't expect you to forgive me because I can explain a photograph."
"Good."
"Or because I regret the affair."
My chest tightened.
He'd said it.
The affair.
No evasions.
No business complications.
Just the truth.
"Do you still see her?" I asked.
"No. Not privately. The relationship ended months ago."
I wanted to ask why he'd walked beside her.
Why he hadn't publicly announced the truth.
Why he still wore his wedding ring.
But every additional question felt dangerous.
"Don't go to the meeting," I repeated.
"Elena, wait."
I closed my eyes.
"What?"
He hesitated.
"There's something I need to ask you."
My pulse accelerated.
"Not now."
"Please."
His voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it.
"Did you have a baby?"
Everything inside me stopped.
Across the table, Gabriel stiffened.
Thomas slowly lifted his head.
I couldn't speak.
Alessandro continued.
"Someone sent me a photograph. I don't know if it's real."
My eyes burned.
"Alex—"
"Please don't lie to me."
I looked toward the living room.
Samuel was playing on a blanket beside Rebecca.
He had discovered the dog's tail.
Ranger looked deeply offended.
My son laughed.
That beautiful, innocent sound traveled through the kitchen.
Alessandro heard it.
"Elena?"
I pressed my palm against my mouth.
He spoke again.
A whisper.
"Was that a child?"
I couldn't answer.
Then the front doorbell rang.
Thomas looked sharply toward the security monitor.
His expression changed.
Gabriel stepped beside him.
On the screen stood a woman in a cream-colored coat.
Dark hair.
Perfect posture.
Expensive sunglasses.
Valentina Russo.
I stood so quickly my chair scraped against the floor.
"What is she doing here?"
Alessandro heard my voice.
"Who?"
I couldn't stop staring at the monitor.
Valentina looked directly into the camera.
Then slowly removed her sunglasses.
In her arms was a small stuffed rabbit.
The same kind Samuel slept with every night.
My blood turned cold.
Thomas pressed the intercom.
"Can I help you?"
Valentina smiled faintly.
"Tell Elena I came alone."
Gabriel whispered, "Don't believe her."
Valentina continued.
"And tell her I'm not here for Alessandro."
She lifted the rabbit.
"I'm here because someone sent me this with a photograph of her son."
My knees weakened.
Alessandro's voice erupted from the phone.
"Elena, what's happening?"
I grabbed the receiver.
"Valentina's here."
Silence.
Then Alessandro said, "Do not let her near you."
For once, there was no hesitation in his voice.
No uncertainty.
No complicated explanation.
Pure fear.
"Why?" I whispered.
He answered in a tone I'd never heard before.
"Because Valentina knows who arranged the attempt on your life."
I stared at the door.
"What attempt?"
Alessandro exhaled.
"The car accident you had three months before you left."
My heart stumbled.
I'd almost forgotten.
A truck had run a red light and struck my car.
I escaped with bruises and a fractured wrist.
Alessandro told me it was an accident.
His security team replaced my vehicle.
The matter disappeared.
Now his voice came through the telephone.
"It wasn't an accident, Elena."
I felt the kitchen spin.
"How long have you known?"
"Three weeks."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't know where you were."
Outside, Valentina pressed the doorbell again.
Thomas said, "She's carrying something."
Gabriel zoomed in on the monitor.
Valentina held a small envelope.
She raised it toward the camera.
A name was written across the front.
Samuel Hart.
My son's name.
May you like
I stared at the screen.
And understood that whatever game had begun in Chicago, it had finally reached my child.
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