All Chapters of Married to the devil of valtieri: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Chapter 32: The Don's Condolences"Mrs. Moretti." The Don inclined his huge white head. "What a pleasure."He stood in the great hall of the estate with his bouquet cradled in the crook of one arm like a sleeping child. Four men in dark coats waited behind him. Two of Dante's guards stood opposite, hands near their holsters. The silence between them was thick enough to cut.Isla came down the stairs slowly. She had changed out of the ruined dress into a plain gray one, and washed the blood from her hands, but she could still feel it under her nails. She kept her face carefully empty."Don Ferrante. You're up late.""An old man doesn't sleep. And I heard the terrible news." His voice rumbled like a distant landslide. "A wedding turned to bloodshed. A husband shot on his wedding day, in his own mother's garden. I came as soon as I could.""How kind.""I brought flowers." He held out the roses. "White, for hope. I hope the groom recovers."She did not take them. After a moment, a servant

Chapter 34: The GranddaughterShe was the most beautiful woman Isla had ever seen.Valentina Salvi stood in the front hall in a long black coat, a leather suitcase at her feet, rain dripping from her dark hair onto the marble. She was perhaps twenty-eight, tall and slender, with pale olive skin and enormous dark eyes, and a mouth that seemed made for mocking. She looked like a woman who had walked away from a great deal and was not yet sure she wouldn't regret it."Mrs. Moretti." Her voice was low and slightly husky. She did not offer her hand. "I'd apologize for the hour, but I don't think we have time for manners.""You're Ferrante's granddaughter.""Unfortunately." A flash of white teeth. "I've come to tell you he's going to burn your house to the ground. I'd also like a cup of tea. I've been driving since noon."Isla studied her. Two guards flanked the door with their hands on their holsters. Marco hovered on the stairs, wide-eyed. Somewhere upstairs, Dante lay in bed, and she had

Chapter 36: The AnteroomOn Friday, the whole city believed Dante Moretti was dying.They had made certain of it. The doctor had issued a statement on Thursday afternoon. The curtains of the hospital wing had been drawn. A priest had been seen entering the estate, Father Anselm in his black robes, carrying a small case. By evening, the rumor had spread through every bar and bakery in Valtieri: the devil had been shot at his own wedding, and was on the very edge of the grave.At eleven o'clock that night, the Moretti motorcade pulled up before the Salvi Hall.Isla stepped out of the first car in a plain black dress and a long dark coat, her hair pinned back, her heart beating like a trapped bird. Beside her, Marco gripped her arm. Behind them, two guards helped Tomas Vance from a wheelchair to his cane. Valentina stood in the shadows by the second car, in a borrowed gray suit, her face pale and set.And from the third car, supported by Luca on one side and a guard on the other, came Da

Chapter 38: RosaThe sound was very small.A dry, flat crack, hardly louder than a book dropped on a table. Then silence, ringing and enormous. Then a woman screamed, and the Salvi Hall dissolved into chaos.Dante caught her before she hit the floor.She was so light. That was the first thing he noticed, afterward, in the long nightmare of his memory. She weighed no more than a child. Her bound hands fell open against his arm. Her gray dress was already darkening beneath the ribs, and a bright dribble of red ran down from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes, which had looked at him with such love for thirty-six years, were wide and astonished."Rosa.""There," she whispered. "I was... aiming for him this time."Behind him, men were shouting, overturning chairs, drawing weapons. Somewhere Luca's voice rang out, calling for the guards. Something heavy fell. Don Ferrante's cane clattered across the marble, and a gun went off, and another, and somebody dragged the old man bodily from hi

Chapter 40: Sixty SecondsThe Moretti family mausoleum stood on a hill above the city, a white marble temple half hidden by cypress and yew.It was where the photograph had been taken. Isla had realized that in the car, studying the picture in the glow of her phone: the little stone room was a burial chamber, the shelves along the wall holding the lead coffins of Moretti dead. A fitting place for a confession. A fitting place, she thought with a cold shiver, for a murder."Last chance," Dante said.They stood at the foot of the steps in the dark. A damp wind moved through the trees. Behind them, ranked among the headstones, were a dozen of Luca's best men, dressed in black and armed to the teeth. In front, the mausoleum doors stood slightly ajar, and a faint yellow light spilled out onto the stone."Not a chance," said Isla."I thought you'd say that.""Then why ask?""Because I'm an optimist." He pressed her fingers to his lips. "Stay close. If I say run, you run.""If you say run, I