Chapter 4 - The Bride Who Wasn’t a Bride
Clara was released five days later.
Dominic expected her to leave.
Instead she stood beside his car.
“Where are we going?”
He frowned.
“You’re not coming with me.”
“Costa knows where I live.”
“You’re going somewhere secure.”
“Your house?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because people already believe you’re my wife.”
Clara folded her arms.
“And?”
“And living in my house would encourage the rumor.”
She stared.
“Dominic, you literally staged a fake ICU marriage.”
“I was under pressure.”
“You put a family ring on an unconscious woman.”
“It worked.”
“Then congratulations. You’re stuck with me.”
Enzo coughed to hide laughter.
Dominic glared at him.
---
Rossi House was quieter than Clara expected.
Isabella welcomed her with pasta.
Clara stared at the enormous dining table.
“How many people live here?”
“Currently?”
“Yes.”
“Depends how many Dominic has annoyed.”
“Mother.”
Isabella smiled.
“He was difficult at eight too.”
Clara laughed.
Dominic looked offended.
It was the first normal dinner any of them had experienced in days.
Then the front window exploded.
Dominic pulled Clara down.
Enzo rushed inside.
“No shooter!”
A brick had landed on the floor.
A note was wrapped around it.
Dominic opened it.
A COSTA DOESN’T BECOME A ROSSI.
Clara read it.
Then looked at Dominic.
“He knows I’m here.”
“Yes.”
“What now?”
Dominic reached for his phone.
Clara stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I’m done hiding.”
“This isn’t your fight.”
“My uncle made it my fight.”
“Clara—”
“He used me.”
She pointed toward the note.
“He tried to turn me into a weapon against your family. I want him exposed.”
Dominic studied her.
“What are you suggesting?”
“Victor wants me?”
“Yes.”
“Then let him think he’s getting me.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You don’t own me.”
“I know.”
“You said I decide what happens next.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“I’m deciding.”
---
The plan was simple.
Which meant Dominic hated it.
Clara called Victor.
“I want out.”
Victor sounded pleased.
“From Rossi?”
“From all of them.”
“Come to me.”
“I need proof first.”
“Of what?”
“That Dominic lied about my grandfather.”
Victor hesitated.
Clara continued.
“My mother left recordings. I know you hated Rossi. I need to know why.”
Victor agreed to meet.
Dominic listened from across the room.
When Clara hung up, he said, “Absolutely not.”
“You already agreed.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Can mafia bosses do that?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“If something happens to you—”
“What?”
He stopped.
Clara saw something in his face.
Not control.
Fear.
“Dominic?”
His voice lowered.
“I carried you out of that ballroom thinking you were going to die.”
Clara stopped joking.
“You barely knew me.”
“That apparently didn’t matter.”
Silence stretched between them.
Clara reached for his hand.
“I’m coming back.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“No.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“But I can promise I’m not doing this for revenge.”
“Then why?”
“So nobody else inherits this.”
Dominic understood.
May you like
She was finishing what Elena had started.
---
