Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“I’m not interested in speaking to you,” I say, my voice cold as ice. The words come out calm, the way I learned to speak when I was Salvatore’s wife, but inside my pulse is racing, hammering against my ribs. “This is an invasion of my privacy. If you want to interrogate me, use the normal and official way.”
I turn to leave, fingers reaching for the heavy curtain, already picturing the safety of the store beyond it, the bodyguards waiting just outside. My hand closes around the fabric.
But her words stop me cold.
“Are you aware that your current husband had your last husband killed?”
The sentence lands like a slap across my face. Sharp, stinging, knocking the air from my lungs. I freeze, back still turned to her, my fingers grip the heavy curtain so tightly the fabric bunches in my fist. I try not to show it. I try so hard to keep the mask in place, the one I perfected over years, but the shock of her statement ripples through me, sliding under my skin like ice water. My breath catches in my throat, a tiny, audible hitch I hate myself for, but my mind races, scrambles to stay calm, to keep my face neutral, to not let her see the way the ground is tilting beneath me.
She doesn’t wait for me to respond.
She pulls out her phone, taps the screen once, and a recorded conversation starts playing. The voice is clear, male, a little rough around the edges. A man confessing in a low, frightened voice that Ricci was the one who paid him to take the shot in the fruit shop. He did it as part of a deal: Ricci would protect him from an ongoing case, keep the police off his back. But now that a member of his own family is in trouble, he has to renege. He has to give Ricci up to save his brother from being prosecuted.
I stand there, heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat, in my temples, in the tips of my fingers still clutching the curtain. My hands start to shake. The words echo in my head, ugly and impossible and yet… they fit. They fit too well with the pieces I’ve tried not to look at too closely these past months. The way Ricci moved so quickly after Salvatore’s death, the way he stepped into the role like he’d been waiting for it, the way he always seemed to know exactly how things would unfold.
The agent’s voice cuts through the recording, persuasive and gentle now. “Viola, we want you to work with us. These men are predators, and they have done nothing but prey on you. We can help you, but only if you help us. Help us get Ricci. In exchange, we’ll give you immunity and put you into the witness protection program with a new identity. You will be safe, and more importantly, you will be free. Don’t you want to be free of these monsters, Viola?”
I’m close to throwing up. Ricci? A monster?
Just then there’s a small commotion outside the changing room, yanking me back to the present. My bodyguards are at the door, voices raised, calling out to me, asking if I’m okay. They haven’t seen me for a while, and I can hear the edge in their tone. They’re already on high alert. I remember now Ricci had them follow me discreetly. Of course he did. He always does. He said it was for my safety, but now I truly can’t help but wonder. Is it?
“I’m fine,” I call out, though my voice cracks just slightly on the last word. I turn around to face the agent. When she doesn’t say anything else, I push past the curtain and step out into the store, the cool air of the boutique hitting my flushed skin like a shock. The bodyguards relax once they sight me and once again disappear out of sight. Head held high, I head toward the exit.
I’m shocked. Confused. And I feel used. Everything I thought was real these past few months has been peeled back to reveal something ugly underneath.
The words the agent said keep replaying in my head as I walk back to the car, the cold autumn air biting at my cheeks and making my eyes water. Did Ricci have these men follow me because he cares about me… or did he just want to monitor me? To see if I would be approached? To see if I would turn on him?
I hate that I’m even thinking this way.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve grown so close — closer than I ever thought possible, and I’ve fallen in love with him, hard and deep, the kind of love that terrifies me because it’s so all-consuming that I can’t imagine my life without him. But what if it was all a lie? What if he lied to me from the very beginning? Why did he marry me? What if he only did it to keep an eye on me… or simply as a trophy?