Chapter 5 - The Blood AllianceThe basement of the Vitali estate was a place that didn't exist on any architectural blueprints.
I was sitting in Alessandro’s study on the main floor, wrapping a thick fleece blanket around my shoulders, while Liam sat beside me, pale and shivering from shock. The maid who had brought the juice had been caught trying to scale the east wall.
Twenty minutes later, Alessandro walked back into the study. He had removed his tie, and there were small flecks of crimson blood splattered across the cuffs of his crisp white shirt.
"It was Carmine Moretti," Alessandro said simply, leaning against his mahogany desk and pouring himself a tumbler of scotch. "He paid the maid half a million dollars to slip potassium cyanide into your glass. Victoria provided the poison."
"They wanted to kill Elizabeth and the baby to force you back into the marriage deal," Liam realized, his voice trembling.
"Yes," Alessandro replied coldly. "Carmine knew that if Elizabeth had this child, the Vitali bloodline would continue through her, and the Moretti influence would end. He played his hand too early."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "Call the police?"
Alessandro let out a harsh, dark laugh. "The police? Elizabeth, in my world, we don't call the police. We call undertakers."
He set his glass down and walked over to me, kneeling down just as he had done days before. He reached out, his long fingers gently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
" Carmine Moretti murdered your parents," Alessandro said, his amber eyes burning into mine with an intense, intoxicating heat. "He tried to murder you and our unborn child today. I am going to end him tonight. But I need you to do something for me."
"What?" I asked, my heart pounding.
"Give me your father's flash drive," Alessandro said softly. "The drive with the syndicate's financial ledgers. I know you have it hidden in a safety deposit box at First Chicago Bank."
I gasped. "How do you know about that?"
"I know everything about you, Elizabeth," he replied. "If I have that drive, I can freeze Carmine's offshore accounts, strip him of his mercenaries, and force him into a corner before I move in for the kill. Give me the drive, and I give you justice for your father."
I looked at Alessandro. Six weeks ago, I thought he was my enemy. I thought he was the devil. But looking at him now, seeing the fierce, terrifying protectiveness in his eyes—not just for the baby, but for me—I realized the truth.
He was a devil, yes. But he was my devil.
"I'll give you the key," I said firmly. "On one condition."
Alessandro raised an eyebrow. "You're bargaining with me?"
"I go with you," I said, my voice ringing with a strength I didn't know I possessed. "I want to look Carmine Moretti in the eyes when he falls."
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Alessandro stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. A slow, dark smile spread across his handsome face.
"God help me," he whispered, pressing a sudden, fierce kiss to my lips. "You really are a dangerous woman, Elizabeth Vance."
