MARCO RIVA

~~LENA~~ Niccolò sucked. That was not a new discovery. I had known it for weeks. Still, that morning, the realization irritated me more than usual. My first attempt at getting closer to him had failed completely. I should have expected it. The man had the emotional availability of a locked vault. Looking back, I honestly did not know what I had expected. Perhaps gratitude, trust or a normal conversation that did not end with him either dismissing me or walking away. Instead, I had gotten neither. With a quiet sigh, I pushed the food around my plate for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. I had barely managed a few bites, and even those sat heavily in my stomach. My mind was too occupied with everything I had learned the previous night. None of it made sense, and the harder I tried to piece everything together,

ALIVE...?

The name Isabella Voss stayed in my head long after I left the garden. I did not trust Marco. Not even a little.The man was charming, polite, and entirely too willing to offer information. People like that usually wanted something in return. Still, I was not exactly losing in this arrangement either.He clearly had an agenda, probably a selfish one, but I had questions, and he seemed willing to point me in the right direction. Besides, while I hated admitting it, Marco would never dare cross certain lines.Not while I was Niccolò's wife.Whatever issues existed between the two men, one thing had become clear to everyone in this house. Niccolò was not a joke. And despite all my complaints about him, he was far more decent than I had expected when this whole arrangement started.That thought alone irritated me.When I looked up again, I found Marco still watching me with quiet amus

THE CONVERSATION

~~LENA~~ I remained seated on the floor long after I discovered the photograph. The file lay open beside me, forgotten. My entire attention was fixed on the picture in my hands. Isabella Voss. At least, she had been alive six months ago. I read the handwritten note again. And once more, because apparently my brain had decided that repetition might somehow produce a different answer. It did not. The words remained exactly the same. "Isabella Voss. Alive." I exhaled slowly. "Okay, Lena. Don't panic." Unfortunately, telling myself not to panic had never actually prevented me from panicking. Questions began piling up immediately. Who had taken the picture? Who had been tracking Isabella? Why had they hidden the photograph inside an old personnel file? And most i

THE DINNER TRAP

~~LENA~~I had originally assumed that finding the perfect opportunity to question Niccolò would be nearly impossible.The man rarely remained in one place long enough for an uninterrupted conversation. Even when he was physically present, his mind always seemed occupied by something else. He worked constantly, disappeared without warning, and had perfected the art of avoiding discussions he did not want to have.So, when he returned home that evening and informed me that the entire household would be attending a family dinner hosted by his father, I genuinely thought I had misheard him."We're going out?" I asked, lowering the book I had been pretending to read.Niccolò loosened the cuffs of his shirt without looking at me. "We're attending a family dinner."I frowned. "A family dinner?""Yes."I stared at him suspiciously. "Voluntarily?"That finally made him look at me. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"I folded my arms."Nothing. I just didn't know your family believed in s

WHAT EVERYONE AVOIDED

~~LENA~~The silence was not what I had expected. Actually, that wasn't entirely true.I had expected silence from Niccolò. Perhaps even from his father. I had anticipated a few uncomfortable glances, some awkward shifting in seats, or maybe someone attempting to steer the conversation in another direction.What I had not expected was for the entire table to fall completely silent. The reaction was immediate. And deeply unsettling.Forks stopped halfway to mouths. Conversations ended abruptly. Even the soft clinking of cutlery against porcelain disappeared. It felt as though I had accidentally spoken a forbidden word.For several long seconds, nobody moved. Nobody spoke nor even seemed willing to breathe too loudly. I suddenly became painfully aware that I was still smiling.The smile vanished immediately.Oh God.What had I just done? My gaze moved around the table.Several people were openly staring at me. Some looked uncomfortable. Others appeared curious. One elderly woman looked

A FATHER’S WARNING

~~NICCOLÒ~~ By the time dinner finally ended, I had developed a headache. It wasn't because of the noise. Santoro family dinners had always been loud. With enough relatives gathered under one roof, silence was simply impossible. No, tonight's headache had a name. Lena. I stood near one of the windows overlooking the gardens, with a glass of whiskey in my hand as I replayed the disaster she had created at the dinner table. Out of every subject available for discussion, she had chosen Isabella Voss. Isabella. Even now, I couldn't understand what had possessed her. I had known Lena was curious. Curiosity practically defined her existence. Ever since she had discovered that photograph, I had been waiting for the inevitable questions. It had only been a matter of time. What I didn’t expect was for her to casually mention Isabella's name in front of the entire family as though she were asking about a distant relative. The woman had no survival instincts. Absolutely none