Chapter 5 - The Wife He Underestimated
Victor Bellini had spent nine years pretending to love his niece.
Beatatrice decided to spend the next forty-eight hours pretending she still believed him.
She called him the following morning.
“I’m scared.”
Adrian looked at her from across the room.
Victor immediately softened.
“Come home, sweetheart.”
“I can't go to Gabriel.”
“You don't have to.”
Beatatrice forced her voice to tremble.
“Can I come to you?”
A pause.
Then:
“Of course.”
Exactly what she wanted.
Victor gave her an address.
After the call, Adrian said, “It's a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“And you're smiling.”
“So was he.”
They would not attend.
Instead, Daniel traced the property.
It belonged to a shell company connected to Victor.
Adrian's people watched it from a distance.
At noon, six armed men arrived.
At one, Vanessa was dragged from a vehicle.
Beatatrice stared at the surveillance screen.
“My sister.”
Vanessa was alive.
Bruised.
Terrified.
But alive.
“Victor has her,” Daniel said.
“And my mother?”
Beatatrice whispered.
Vanessa and Beatatrice’s mother, Eleanor, had supposedly gone to Palm Beach before Christmas.
Now Beatatrice understood why Vanessa had lied.
Eleanor had never gone.
Victor had taken her.
Beatatrice stood.
“We get them out.”
Adrian blocked the doorway.
“Not by walking into six armed men.”
“Then find another way.”
Adrian did.
Victor believed Beatatrice was coming at four.
At 3:42, the power failed.
At 3:44, a fire alarm activated in the neighboring warehouse.
At 3:46, two delivery trucks blocked the east road.
At 3:48, Adrian's men entered through a drainage tunnel.
By 3:53, Vanessa was outside.
But Eleanor wasn't there.
Beatatrice ran toward her sister.
Vanessa collapsed against her.
“I’m sorry.”
Beatatrice stiffened.
“I’m so sorry.”
The kiss flashed through Beatatrice's mind.
Gabriel's mouth against Vanessa's.
Her sister's hand on his chest.
She wanted to push her away.
Then she saw bruises beneath Vanessa's sleeves.
“What happened?”
Vanessa sobbed.
“Victor took Mom. He said he'd send me one finger at a time if I didn't do what he wanted.”
Beatatrice closed her eyes.
“You could have told me.”
“He had someone inside Gabriel's house.”
That made Adrian turn.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Vanessa looked at Beatatrice.
“They wanted you to run.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel's security made it impossible to take you.”
Beatatrice almost laughed at the cruelty of it.
Victor had needed Gabriel to remove his own protection.
So he had used the one weapon guaranteed to destroy their marriage.
Betrayal.
Except Gabriel had still kissed Vanessa.
And afterward, when Beatatrice threatened to leave, Gabriel had threatened and imprisoned her.
Manipulation explained the trap.
It did not excuse his choices.
“Where is Mom?”
“I don't know.”
Vanessa handed Beatatrice a folded piece of paper.
“Victor made me memorize this number.”
Daniel examined it.
A bank account.
Adrian recognized the institution.
“Cayman Islands.”
Vanessa nodded.
“He said your father hid something worth more than Gabriel's entire empire.”
The ledgers.
Beatatrice understood.
Victor didn't simply fear the evidence.
He wanted the fortune behind it.
Her father's hidden holdings.
Her phone rang.
Gabriel.
She stared at his name.
It was the first time she'd switched on her old phone since escaping.
She answered.
Neither spoke.
Finally Gabriel said:
“Are you safe?”
No command.
No threat.
Beatatrice looked at Vanessa.
“For the moment.”
“Vanessa told me enough before they took her.”
“She's with me.”
Gabriel exhaled.
“Thank God.”
Beatatrice felt nothing.
“Did you know about Victor?”
“No.”
“Did you kiss my sister?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“Then don't tell me Victor made you do it.”
“He didn't.”
That answer mattered.
Gabriel continued.
“I made that choice.”
“And locking me upstairs?”
“My choice.”
“Threatening to chain me to a bed?”
His voice became quieter.
“My choice.”
Beatatrice swallowed.
“Then whatever Victor did doesn't erase what you did.”
“I know.”
She hadn't expected that.
“I thought if I admitted I was afraid of losing you, I'd become weak,” Gabriel said. “So I tried to control you instead.”
“That isn't love.”
“I know that now.”
Beatatrice looked away.
“Where is my mother?”
“I’m trying to find her.”
“So are we.”
“We?”
Gabriel's voice changed.
Beatatrice almost smiled.
There was the jealous husband.
“Adrian Vale.”
Silence.
Then:
“Of course.”
“You know him?”
“I know enough.”
“Apparently everybody knows everybody except me.”
Gabriel almost laughed.
Then his voice hardened.
“Bea, Victor has someone inside my organization.”
“We know.”
“I found who.”
Beatatrice straightened.
“Who?”
“My security chief.”
The same man who had guarded Beatatrice for five years.
Gabriel continued.
“And he just disappeared.”
A sound came from downstairs.
Adrian turned toward the window.
Headlights.
Multiple vehicles.
Too many.
“Beatatrice,” Gabriel said urgently, “wherever you are, leave now.”
Glass shattered downstairs.
Adrian drew his weapon.
“Move!”
Beatatrice grabbed Vanessa.
May you like
Men flooded the property.
And through the phone, Gabriel heard his pregnant wife scream.
