Chapter 3 - The Alliance in the ShadowsBefore I could back away from the window, a heavy hand clamped down firmly over my shoulder.
My blood ran cold. I spun around, opening my mouth to scream, but another hand muffled my cry, pressing me flat against the damp stone wall of the annex.
“Quiet, Mrs. Moretti,” a low, urgent voice whispered directly into my ear. “If Marcus hears you, neither of us will leave this property alive.”
I blinked through the rain, focusing on the face inches from mine. It was Matteo Rinaldi—Calvin’s most trusted head of security, the man who had stood outside our penthouse elevator just hours earlier.
“Matteo?” I whispered, struggling against his grip once he loosened it slightly. “What are you doing here? Are you here to kill me for Calvin?”
Matteo shook his head, his dark eyes grim and intense. He let go of my arm and stepped back, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm.
“If I wanted you dead, Brooke, you wouldn't have made it past the front gates,” Matteo said quietly, pulling a dark umbrella over us to shield us from the biting sleet. “I’ve spent the last six hours cleaning up the mess your husband made. He’s tearing the city apart looking for you, convinced you ran off because of Stephanie.”
“Stephanie is nothing,” I spat, my voice shaking with adrenaline and rage. “Did you know about this? Did you know Calvin tried to kill his own brother?”
Matteo looked down at the muddy ground, and that single moment of hesitation was all the confirmation I needed.
“I suspected it,” Matteo admitted heavily. “Seven years ago, right after the ambush, I found irregularities in the security logs. The radio frequencies assigned to Daniel’s convoy had been jammed from inside our own command center. There was only one person with the clearance code to do that.”
“Calvin,” I breathed.
“Calvin,” Matteo confirmed. “He wanted the crown, Brooke. The old man was about to hand the empire to Daniel. Calvin couldn't wait. But instead of killing him outright—which would have caused a civil war within the family—he staged the hit, faked the death, and locked him away here under the guise of ‘protecting’ a medical recovery that he ensured would never fully happen.”
Inside the room, we could hear Daniel and Marcus still talking, though their voices were muffled by the reinforced glass.
“Why are you telling me this, Matteo?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “You’re Calvin’s dog. You’ve protected his secrets for years.”
“Because an empire built on a foundation of absolute betrayal always collapses from the inside,” Matteo said, his gaze meeting mine with unwavering resolve. “And right now, Calvin is blind. He thinks he can control everything—his mistress, his business, his wife. But he crossed a line when he brought Stephanie into your home, and he crossed a final line when he started treating everyone around him as disposable assets.”
Matteo stepped closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“You want your freedom, Brooke? You want to ensure Calvin never hurts you—or anyone else—ever again?”
“What are you proposing?” I asked.
“We don't run,” Matteo said. “We help Daniel take back the throne.”
Before I could process the sheer insanity of aligning myself with a man who might be just as ruthless as my husband, the door to the medical annex suddenly clicked open.
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Marcus Vance stepped out into the courtyard, pulling a cigarette from a silver case. He paused, sniffing the air like a hound catching a scent, his eyes darting toward the dark hedges where Matteo and I stood hidden.
“Who’s there?” Marcus called out, his hand slipping instinctively toward the holster beneath his suit jacket.
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