Elena POV
The heavy silk of the wedding gown hissed like dry leaves as Sofia twirled before the tri-fold mirror, admiring her own reflection.
"It needs to be tighter around the waist," she commanded the seamstress, her voice imperious. "Dante prefers my silhouette defined."
I sat on the velvet ottoman in the shadowed corner of the boutique, hands folded tightly in my lap. To them, I was less than a ghost; a ghost at least haunts the living. I was simply furniture. A specter attending her own funeral.
The seamstress pinned the fabric, her fingers trembling. Everyone in New York knew the name Dante Moretti. And everyone whispered the rumors about his 'unstable' ex-wife and the miraculous return of his fiancée’s long-lost sister.
"Elena," Sofia called out, watching my reflection in the glass with a smirk. "Fetch me some water. Sparkling. And ensure it is ice-cold."
I stood. My legs felt like lead, anchored by the weight of the secrets I carried.
I drifted toward the back room where the refreshments were staged. The door was ajar.
Sofia’s phone sat on the marble counter next to the silver champagne bucket. It buzzed, vibrating against the stone.
I shouldn't have looked. I knew the cost of curiosity. But I was a dead woman walking, and the dead have no consequences to fear.
I picked it up. The screen was unlocked, displaying a secure messaging interface. A notification from a blocked number flashed across the top.
*The transfer is verified. The Russians are satisfied. Secure the ring and the encryption keys.*
My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs. It wasn't just jealousy clouding my mind. It wasn't madness. She was a plant. A spy.
"What are you doing?"
I spun around.
Sofia stood in the doorway. The white dress looked less like a bridal gown and more like a shroud. Her eyes were hard, entirely devoid of the fragile, doe-eyed fear she performed for Dante.
"You're working for them," I whispered, the realization choking me. "You aren't Giulia. Giulia couldn't even manage a passcode, let alone encrypt files."
Sofia smiled. It was a cold, sharp thing, like a razor hidden in a bouquet.
"Giulia is rotting in a ditch in Sicily, tesoro. She died screaming for her big sister."
She stepped forward, her hand closing around a heavy crystal vase on the display table.
"And you're going to join her."
She didn't strike me. With a violent, practiced motion, she brought the heavy crystal down against the edge of the mahogany table.
Shards of glass exploded outward. Before I could react, she grabbed a jagged dagger of glass and slashed it across her own upper arm.
Blood welled up, bright and fast, blooming like a morbid rose on the pristine white silk.
"Dante!" she screamed. The sound was bloodcurdling, a perfect pitch of terror. "Help! She's got a knife!"
The front door burst open.
Dante was there in a heartbeat. He took in the scene—Sofia bleeding, clutching her arm; the broken glass scattered near my feet.
He didn't check my hands for a weapon. He didn't scan the room for threats. He saw only the crimson staining the white dress, confirming the narrative he had already chosen to believe.
"Elena!"
He crossed the room in two strides and backhanded me.
The force of the blow threw me against the wall. My head cracked against the plaster, and stars exploded in my vision.
"Dante, listen to me," I gasped, sliding down the wall, clutching my spinning head. "Check her phone! She's a spy. She's—"
"Enough!" he roared, the sound vibrating in my chest. He gathered a sobbing Sofia into his arms. "You are sick. You are twisted with jealousy."
"Look at the phone!" I begged, pointing to the counter.
He didn't even look. With a sneer of absolute disgust, he kicked the device, sending it sliding under a rack of tulle dresses.
"I am done listening to your lies," he said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, icy calm. "I tried to be patient. I tried to heal you. But you are a rabid dog, and there is only one way to treat a rabid dog."
He dragged me up by my collar, choking off my protest. He didn't take me to the car. Instead, he hauled me out the back exit, into the narrow alley shared by the boutique and the family's restaurant next door.
He shoved me through the heavy steel doors of the kitchen. The staff froze, knives hovering over cutting boards, eyes wide with fear.
He marched me straight to the industrial walk-in freezer.
"You need to cool off," he snarled.
"Dante, please! It's zero degrees in there!"
"Then perhaps the cold will freeze the rot out of your soul."
He threw me inside.
I stumbled over a crate of frozen beef, hitting the metal floor hard. The cold assaulted me instantly, biting through my thin blouse like a thousand needles.
The heavy door slammed shut. The latch clicked with a finality that echoed in my bones.
Darkness.
I pounded on the door until my knuckles split and bled. I screamed until my voice was nothing but a rasp.
But as the shivering started, a violent tremor taking over my body, a strange calm settled over me.
He had just signed his own death warrant.
And mine.
