Home / He Chose My Cousin,I Chose His Rival / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of He Chose My Cousin,I Chose His Rival: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

“Elena. Come closer.” Marco’s voice brushed my ear. His open collar exposed an old scar on his chest, and his breathing was rough, his hand firm against my lower back. Even through his shirt, his skin was burning hot.For a second, I couldn’t tell whether the heat came from the fireplace or the feverish haze of that last night in the clinic. I could still hear the doctor calling Marco, then the silence after he hung up. Then he lowered his head, his mouth almost touching mine. I turned away and braced both hands against his chest.“Don’t,” he murmured, tightening his hold.I stared at the healing cut over his eyebrow. That cut told me when I was. [I’m not in the clinic. I haven’t married him yet.]We were in the Vitales’ private club in Chicago. Tonight, he was supposed to announce his engagement to Bianca. I’d just dragged him out of a burning lounge after someone spiked his drink. Getting him through the fire, I’d been terrified he would die. Now I just wanted his hands off me.“I’m

Chapter 2

I woke in the hospital with an IV in my hand and Mom sitting beside the bed. Her eyes were red as she took my fingers. “The doctor said your airway could’ve swollen shut if they’d waited much longer.”My parents had been in Milwaukee dealing with a freight dispute. They’d driven back through the night after the hospital called. Dad had already demanded answers from the Vitales. Their version was that security had made a bad call, and the guard responsible had been removed.“Did they tell you whose orders he was following?” I asked. Mom’s grip tightened. I told her everything, including how Marco hadn’t been completely unconscious when I rescued him. Dad stood in the doorway and listened without speaking.The Vitales sent a report afterward. Marco admitted I’d been detained by mistake but blamed his security team and denied authorizing it. Dad refused to accept their explanation. For once, I didn’t ask him to let it go for Marco’s sake.On the day I came home, Marco brought Bianca to ou

Chapter 3

“Bad choice at nineteen.” I put my phone away. “Better to fix it than spend the rest of my life looking at it.” He reached to stop me, but I stepped around him.Upstairs, I changed into a charcoal suit and put on the metal earrings he’d once called too flashy. I wasn’t used to seeing myself like this. I liked it anyway.Bianca leaned against the guest-wing doorway as I came back down. “Off to meet the man your mother picked?” I nodded, fastening my cuff. “You don’t have to settle for just anyone to prove a point.”“Keep that advice. You might need it.” Downstairs, Marco set his glass down hard. I didn’t look back.Mom had arranged lunch at an Italian restaurant. The host confirmed I was Miss Moretti and led me to a window table. The man waiting there looked up, surprise flickering in his dark eyes. He was younger than I’d expected, his sleeves rolled to his elbows, a pale knife scar along one wrist. There was no entourage hovering over his chair. I relaxed a little.“Elena.” I sat oppo

Chapter 4

Matteo didn’t answer right away. He took a clean cloth from a side table and pressed it against my palm.“Can you stand?”“Yes.” I caught his sleeve. “Stay with me.”He helped me up, keeping his hand beneath my injured one. Only when I was steady did he look at Marco.“Her boyfriend.”Marco’s gaze dropped to the keys in Matteo’s hand. The leather loop matched mine, the silver E clearly visible.“What’s she paying you? Name your price. This performance has to be worth something.”“I’m not explaining my relationship to you.” My voice shook, but I kept looking at him. “I told you I didn’t break the seal. You hit me before I could say anything else.”Bianca clutched his arm. “If you’ve got somebody else, why ruin my wedding? Do I have to give Marco up before you’ll leave me alone?”“I haven’t asked you to give him up.”“I’m not finished with her.” Marco stepped in front of Bianca. “Hand her over.”“I’m not going anywhere with you.”Matteo stayed beside me. A second man blocked the guards b

Chapter 5

“No!” Bianca stepped forward so abruptly everyone stared. She grabbed Marco’s arm again. “I mean, the guests are waiting. We can sign without the seal. Let’s not hold up the ceremony over something so small.”“A minute ago, it was an attack on the alliance.” I watched her mouth open and close. “Now it’s no big deal?”Matteo had his man close the door, then started the video. On-screen, Bianca entered alone. She took my earring out of her purse, laid it on the table, and picked up a small hammer left there for adjusting the display furniture.The first blow didn’t break the seal. Her sweet expression vanished. She gritted her teeth and struck it again and again. Her voice came through the speaker. [Go on, play the victim, Elena. Let’s see what you’ve got left when he runs you out of the Moretti house.]She scrawled in the guest book, hid the hammer behind a cabinet, then rubbed her eyes red in the mirror. Watching that familiar gesture, I remembered broken trophies, ruined homework, all

Chapter 6

Marco called around midnight. I let it ring. Shortly after the screen went dark, Bianca sent a voice message. [Happy now? He left me at the estate. Everyone’s laughing at me!]I was about to delete it when a longer recording arrived. The accompanying text read: [Listen carefully. This is why he called off the wedding.]I pressed play. A door opened, then Marco spoke from somewhere across the room. [I can give you another ceremony. First, you’re going to explain what happened to that seal.]Bianca was quiet for a moment. When she answered, she was crying in that familiar, carefully controlled way. [Why are you coming after me? You wanted to make her admit she was wrong, too.][I asked about the seal.][Fine. I took her earring. I smashed the thing. Now you know. But you hit her without asking a single question. How is all of this my fault?]There was a crash, as though someone had swept something onto the floor. I held the phone away until the noise stopped. After a long silence, Marco’

Chapter 7

Dad suspended the new contracts with the Vitales. It would cost us, he told me, but if he kept signing deals after someone forced his daughter onto her knees, he might as well invite the next man to do the same. For the first time, I asked to be part of the negotiations myself.The rumors got around before we could sort out the business. Apparently, I’d picked up some man from New York and wrecked my cousin’s wedding with his help. Dad was punishing the Vitales because he couldn’t stand the embarrassment.At an auction preview, one of Bianca’s friends stepped into my path. “Look who finally came out of hiding. I thought losing the groom might’ve finished you off.” She tipped her espresso toward me.I stepped back as a hand came between us. Porcelain struck a man’s wrist, and coffee splashed across his sleeve. Marco looked down at me, dark circles under his eyes. “We need to talk.”I took the napkins a waiter offered and handed them to him, then turned to the woman. “Have you seen the w

Chapter 8

Once the full footage became public, the rumors changed fast. I gave the family lawyer the confession Marco had tried to make me sign. Compensation and accountability for his security team could go through the proper channels; we weren’t going to sit around waiting for him to develop a conscience.Bianca lost the marriage alliance. Later, arriving for a meeting at Dad’s office, I found her outside his door, begging him to remember his brother. Dad told her the trust would keep paying out. That didn’t oblige him to lend his name and protection to someone who’d tried to destroy his daughter. I didn’t stop to listen to her cry.Matteo went back to New York on business while I stayed in Chicago to work on the new warehouse contracts. We spoke almost every day. He told me when his day had gone to hell and asked if anyone at the negotiating table was still trying to talk over me because of my age. I never had to work out what his silence meant or piece together evidence from other people tha

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