All Chapters of Married to the devil of valtieri: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter 21: The Man Who Held the KeyDante's gun came up before the door finished swinging.Luca Bellandi did not flinch. He stood on the threshold of the study with the little brass key resting in his open palm and his other hand held away from his body, empty and relaxed. Behind him in the corridor stood Rosa, her apron twisted in her fingers, her face wet with tears."Dante," she choked. "Forgive me. He said he only wanted to speak to you privately. He said it was for your own good. I never thought...""Rosa." Dante's voice did not move from its flat, deadly calm. "Go to the kitchen. Lock the door.""But, my boy...""Now."She fled. Luca watched her go with what looked, absurdly, like regret."She loves you very much," he said. "You should not frighten her.""You have five seconds," Dante said, "to explain why I should not put a bullet through your head.""Only five? You used to give me ten." Luca stepped into the room, unhurried, and closed the door behind him with a soft click. I

Chapter 23: Anna's GardenRosa was kneading dough when they found her.It was past midnight, and the great kitchen was dim and warm, lit only by the glow of the range. She stood at the long wooden table with flour to her elbows, pressing the heels of her hands into the dough with a kind of desperate rhythm, as if the work were the only thing holding her upright. She did not look up when the door opened."I wondered how long it would take you," she said.Dante stopped in the doorway. Isla stood just behind his shoulder, her fingers laced through his, and she felt the tremor in his hand."Rosa." His voice was very quiet. "I need you to tell me about my mother."The kneading stopped. Rosa's shoulders rose and fell. At last she wiped her hands on her apron, slowly, finger by finger, and turned.She looked a hundred years old. All the warmth had drained out of her face, and what was left was only grief and a tired, terrible honesty."Sit down, my boy," she said. "Both of you. This will tak

Chapter 25: The White PetalBy dawn the whole estate had been turned inside out.Dante moved through the cellar corridor like a man walking in his sleep, his jaw set, his hands steady. Two guards sat slumped against the wall with their eyes half open, groaning, while the doctor knelt over them with a penlight. The cell door at the end stood ajar. The lock was not broken. Someone had turned a key."Sedative," the doctor said, straightening. "In the tea. Both cups were laced."The corridor went very quiet."Who brought them the tea?" Dante asked.No one answered. Then one of the guards, still dazed, mumbled a word that made every head turn."Rosa."Isla's stomach dropped. At the end of the corridor, half hidden by the stairwell, Rosa stood with her hand pressed to her mouth. She had been crying again. Her face was ashen."I made it," she whispered. "I made the tea. I carried it down myself at midnight. But, my boy, I swear...""Search her room," a guard muttered."No." Dante did not rai

Chapter 27: The Crypt at Dawn"No," Dante said."Dante.""No." He gripped her shoulders in the back of the speeding car, and his hands were shaking. "I will find another way. I have a hundred men. I have a sniper on every rooftop in this city. I will tear that chapel down stone by stone before I let you walk in there alone.""He said alone." Isla held his gaze. "If he sees one of your men, my father dies. You know that.""Then I'll go in your place.""He doesn't want you. He wants me." She laid her palms on his chest, feeling the wild hammer of his heart. "I'm the one who read the ledger. I'm the one who exposed his friends. Let me do this, and let your men do what they do best. Wait. Be ready."His eyes shut. A muscle jumped in his cheek. When he opened them again they were wet."You'll wear the pendant," he said. "You'll press it the moment you see him.""I will.""And if anything goes wrong, you say my name.""I'll shout it."He pulled her against him so hard she lost her breath. "

Chapter 29: The Wedding in Anna's GardenSunday dawned clear and gold, as if the sky itself had decided to forget the week that came before.Isla stood at the window of the blue bedroom in her slip, watching the mist lift off the garden. Below, an army of workers hung paper lanterns between the cypress trees and carried long tables across the lawn. Somewhere a cook was singing. The air smelled of cut grass and baking bread.It was the most ordinary thing in the world, and she could hardly breathe.Luca was alive. The doctors said he would live. He lay in a locked room under four guards, unconscious, with a fever that would not break. Dante had sat beside him half the night, saying nothing, his eyes fixed on that gray face. But Luca's last words had been a warning about the chapel, and so the wedding had moved to the garden. Every gate was manned. Every guest had been searched. Dante had personally checked every window.Nothing could go wrong. Isla told herself that three times."There