4

Watching him leave, I could tell his patience was running out.

Getting rid of Erin and taking our family's docks would leave me with no one to turn to. That was the point.

But he was wasting his time. I'd already made my own plans.

I said goodbye to my father and went back to the Moretti estate so Vincent wouldn't get suspicious.

The asset transfer wasn't quite finished.

Vincent took a call, then came over and took my arm.

"There's a charity gala on Wall Street tonight. You're coming with me."

I pulled away, one hand over my flat belly.

"I'm not going. My stomach hurts."

For a moment, he looked worried. Then he scoffed.

"Eve, you always use a stomachache as an excuse when you don't want to go out.

"Not tonight. You're my wife. You have to be there."

Before I could say anything else, he bundled me into the back of a stretch Lincoln.

Lia turned around in the front passenger seat. "Sorry, Donna," she said softly. "Vincent said he'd show me how the other half lives. You don't mind, do you?"

That seat had once been mine alone. Vincent had promised no other woman would ever sit there. Everything was different now.

I ignored her smug smile and said nothing.

The gala was in the Crystal Ballroom at the Wall Street Hotel.

People crowded around Vincent as soon as he walked in. Lia never left his side.

Everyone could see who mattered now. They flocked to her.

I ended up pushed into a corner, a decoration no one wanted to look at.

The cramps in my lower belly kept getting worse. I gripped the edge of a table, struggling to breathe.

"Ms. Alberti?"

A man spoke beside me, his voice warm.

I looked up. Ian Cullen.

He was the heir to Cullen Bank in Switzerland, the bank our family had been negotiating with to hold our assets.

He sat down beside me and handed me a cup of hot tea with honey.

"Most of the assets have been transferred to Switzerland.

"You don't look well. Would you like to sit in the lounge for a while?"

Before I could answer, a shadow fell over us.

Vincent had come up without my noticing. He casually stepped between Ian and me.

"What's this about Switzerland?"

I froze for a second. "Some up-and-coming Swiss companies," I said quickly. "That's what we were talking about, wasn't it, Mr. Cullen?"

Ian noticed my alarm and gave a small nod.

"Don Moretti, I think you should pay more attention to your wife's health."

Vincent slipped an arm around my waist. It looked casual, but his grip made it clear I belonged to him.

"I know better than anyone how Eve is doing, Mr. Cullen. You don't need to worry about her."

Ian gave him a questioning look but said nothing more. He raised his glass and walked away.

Vincent took me into the lounge. He was about to question me again when we were interrupted.

Bob knocked to tell him someone wanted to see him.

Vincent straightened and glanced at Lia.

"Stay here with the Donna. Don't let her wander off."

"Of course, Vincent."

As soon as he'd gone, Lia dropped the act and leaned close to my ear.

"How does it feel to have someone steal the man you love, Eve?"

I turned away. I wasn't wasting any more breath on her.

"If you want my trash, take it."

She blocked my way.

"I don't understand. After everything I've done, why doesn't Vincent hate you yet?

"I suppose I'll just have to get rid of you for good..."

She clamped a handkerchief soaked in ether over my nose and mouth.

Pain tore through my lower belly. Everything went black.

Then Lia knocked a candleholder off the table.

"Fire!"

Her scream cut through the noise of the gala.

She tied my hands and feet and stuffed me into a wardrobe in the dressing room.

Barely conscious, I watched through a crack in the wardrobe door as Vincent hurried toward us.

Desperate to live, I called out, "Vincent, help me..."

He seemed to hear me. For once, he looked frightened.

Then Lia cried out to him.

"Vincent, save me!

"Eve knocked over the candleholder before she left. She said she wanted to burn me alive..."

She pushed up her sleeve to reveal an ugly burn on her wrist.

Vincent swept her into his arms and carried her straight out of the lounge.

I watched him leave and smiled bitterly. Then I threw myself against the wardrobe door with everything I had left.

"Someone, please..."

The screams from the ballroom and the roar of the fire drowned out my voice.

The flames grew. I could barely keep my eyes open.

In my daze, I drifted back to the day I'd married Vincent.

"Eve, will you marry me?"

That memory blurred into the sight of him walking away with a terrified Lia in his arms.

"Vincent... no. I won't."

Just before I lost consciousness, I heard a familiar male voice. "Ms. Alberti!"