Chapter 2 - THE SECRET BEHIND OUR MARRIAGE
I didn't sleep.
At six in the morning, Marcus returned.
His shirt was stained with rain.
His expression was unreadable.
I was waiting for him in the kitchen.
The photograph sat on the marble counter.
He saw it immediately.
His eyes changed.
"Where did you get that?"
I folded my arms.
"Someone sent it."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Marcus picked up the photograph.
His jaw tightened.
"Emma."
"Who is she?"
Silence.
"The woman beside you."
He looked at me.
"Her name is Sofia."
"Who is Sofia?"
"My sister."
I stared at him.
"You don't have a sister."
"I did."
The words landed heavily.
"What happened to her?"
"She died."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
"Before our wedding?"
Marcus nodded.
I looked at the photograph again.
Something wasn't right.
"If she died before we married, why have I never heard of her?"
"Because I didn't want you involved."
"In what?"
His eyes met mine.
"Everything."
I laughed bitterly.
"For three years you've barely spoken to me, Marcus. You can't suddenly tell me you're protecting me from some mysterious danger and expect me to believe you."
"I never expected you to understand."
"Then explain."
He didn't.
Instead, he walked toward me.
He stopped close enough that I could feel his warmth.
"I need you to trust me."
I stepped backward.
"You lost the right to ask for that a long time ago."
Pain flashed across his face.
Only for a second.
Then it disappeared.
"Fair."
He walked away.
I watched him go.
Something inside me screamed that I should stop him.
I didn't.
Later that morning, Alessandro found me in the library.
He closed the door.
"Mrs. Valentino."
"Yes?"
"You shouldn't have received that photograph."
"Why?"
"Because Mr. Valentino destroyed every copy."
My stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Alessandro hesitated.
"Three years ago, someone tried to kill Sofia."
"Who?"
"Your father."
I froze.
"My father?"
He nodded.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
Alessandro placed a file on the desk.
Inside were financial records.
My father's company had received twenty-eight million dollars from an offshore account.
Two days later, Marcus's father had been killed.
Three days after that, Sofia disappeared.
And two weeks later, I married Marcus.
I stared at the documents.
"Why would my father owe Marcus money if he was receiving money from the Valentino family?"
"Because your father wasn't borrowing."
He looked at me.
"He was laundering."
My chest tightened.
"No."
"I am sorry."
"My father wasn't a criminal."
Alessandro didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than words.
That evening, Marcus returned.
I confronted him.
"Did my father have something to do with your father's death?"
Marcus stopped.
"Yes."
The room seemed to tilt.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"Before you married me?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you marry me?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
"Because your father asked me to."
I stared at him.
"My father?"
"Three weeks before he disappeared, your father came to me."
"What did he say?"
Marcus's voice became quiet.
"He told me someone was going to kill you."
I stopped breathing.
"He asked me to marry you."
"To protect me?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you treat me like I was invisible?"
His jaw tightened.
"Because anyone who knew you mattered to me would have used you against me."
I stared at him.
"You could have told me."
"No."
"Why?"
His eyes met mine.
"Because I fell in love with you."
The room went silent.
I couldn't move.
Marcus looked away.
"That was my mistake."
I whispered:
"You love me?"
He closed his eyes.
"I have loved you since before you became my wife."
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
"Then why did you never touch me?"
He looked at me.
"Because the first person who tried to get close to you was killed."
I froze.
"What?"
Marcus walked toward the window.
"Three years ago, someone sent a message."
He turned.
"It said if I ever treated you like my wife, you would die."
I stared at him.
"Who?"
Marcus's expression hardened.
"I don't know."
His phone rang.
He answered.
"What?"
His face changed.
"What do you mean she's awake?"
I stood.
"Who?"
He looked at me.
"Elena."
His missing mother.
"She's been found."
Marcus grabbed his jacket.
But before he left, he looked at me.
"Emma."
"Yes?"
"Do not leave this house."
I nodded.
He hesitated.
Then quietly added:
"Please."
It was the first time he'd ever said that word to me.
May you like
I watched him leave.
Ten minutes later, the front gates exploded.
