Valentina lounged across the sofa like a queen accepting the homage of her court, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction.
"Oh, come on, you all are acting like I'm made of glass just because I'm pregnant. Don't you think they're overreacting?"
Before I could answer, Valentina arranged her face into a look of mock regret.
"Oh, I forgot. You can't have children. You're not jealous of all the attention I'm getting as the little pregnant one, are you?"
Seeing my expression darken, Nora Everett moved in fast, smoothing the moment over the way the Family smoothed over everything that threatened to draw blood at the dinner table.
"Of course not. Adriana has always been kind. She loves you just as much as we do."
Valentina narrowed her eyes a fraction, then turned to Mateo. Her fingers drifted to the pendant at her throat. "What about you, Matty? Do you love me too?"
Mateo went rigid, caught off guard, his hesitant gaze flickering toward me before he could stop it.
Looking at the people in front of me, every one of them wearing the same mask of false affection the way made men wear their Sunday suits, I felt nothing but coldness in my heart.
"Of course. Your Mateo sees you as famiglia too, so of course he loves you."
Without another word I turned on my heel, muttering some excuse as I walked toward the door. I had no interest in playing along with their charade any longer.
By the time I came back to the estate, my plans to disappear to the Yvora coast sealed with Elena Rosaria, it was already past ten at night.
Nora Everett and the old Don had long since left. The whole villa sat dark, except for the faint glow bleeding from beneath the door of Mateo's study.
On impulse, I pulled up the security feed for the room. And there she was. Valentina, sprawled across his desk, her clothes disheveled, very much awake.
She was supposed to be asleep upstairs.
Valentina wound her arms around Mateo's neck, her voice soft and teasing. "So. You married Adriana just to keep Lorenzo loyal to the alliance. To keep him loyal to me."
She ran a finger down his chest, her tone all silk and poison.
"You've loved me for so many years, and you ended up bound to a woman who can't even give you blood-heirs. Mateo, don't you regret it?"
Mateo's breath hitched. He turned his head away. "As long as you're happy, nothing else matters."
Valentina didn't let him escape. She caught his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes, then kissed him deep.
"You've been so good to me. I have to find a way to repay you. Tonight, I want to be yours."
Mateo stiffened, caught off guard, but before he could pull away she only smiled, the smile holding a beat too long before it smoldered.
"Relax. I'm already seven months along. The doctor said as long as we take it easy, there's no danger."
With those words whatever restraint Mateo had left snapped. He pulled her into his arms, and together they gave in to the moment.
Outside, lightning split the sky, thunder rolling in low across the territory like something coming to collect a debt.
Just as Mateo reached his peak, a thought cut through him. "Adriana is afraid of thunderstorms. I need to check on her."
He scrambled into his clothes and rushed out, only to find the soft glow of the bedroom lamp.
I was already fast asleep.
He let out a quiet breath of relief, pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, and slipped into bed beside me.
For the next two weeks he played the devoted husband by day. But at night he lost himself in Valentina's arms behind the closed doors of his study.
Eventually Lorenzo came for her, ready to take Valentina back where she belonged, back under the Graciano name.
When Don Graciano's eyes found me, a flicker of surprise crossed them. Maybe even something like admiration.
He asked if I'd been doing well these past two years, then sighed, almost apologetic, turning the heavy signet ring slowly on his finger.
"It's not that I didn't care about you," he said. "But for the standing of the bloodline, I had no choice. I hope you don't hate me."
BANG.
The bedroom door flew open and Valentina came down the stairs, her heels striking the marble like gunfire.
"Lorenzo, I forgive you. Go up and start packing my things. I'm going home with you."
The moment Lorenzo was out of sight, the sweet facade dropped clean off her face.
She turned to me, her features twisting with malice. "Adriana, you pathetic leftover. You really think you can compete with me for Lorenzo?"
I turned to leave, refusing to engage, and that only sharpened her fury.
She lunged, grabbing my arm so hard her nails sank deep into my skin. "I actually thought you had some luck in you. Even a discarded woman, and still someone was willing to take you in."
She let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "But it turns out Mateo never even loved you. Isn't that just pathetic?" Her eyes gleamed as she twisted the knife deeper, her hand brushing the pendant at her throat as though confirming a weapon was still there.
"So what if you were betrothed to Lorenzo first because you're the 'real' blood-daughter of this Family? In the end he still bound himself to me, didn't he?"
Then she leaned in, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper.
"Listen to me, Adriana. So long as I exist, no one in this world will ever love you. Not the Don. Not Everett. Not Mateo. Not Lorenzo."
