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What they didn’t realize was Alessandra was more dangerous than she appeared. She had hidden beneath her father’s desk or the table as a child, playing quietly while he conducted business. She knew every inch of her family home from playing hide-and-seek with the guards. She could and would burn the Russo empire to the ground and rise from the ashes like a phoenix from the flames.
Beneath her poised demeanor, a she-demon awoke. If this is what they thought of Alessandra, she would prove them to be damn fools. It was always the meek ones you needed to look out for.
Alessandra studied her reflection in the oval mirror on the side wall. Her hair was in disarray, and her cheeks were flushed. The wide-eyed woman staring back at her was unrecognizable.
“Ahhh!” she screamed.
She took a paperweight off Drake’s desk and hurled it at the mirror. The glass didn’t just crack it shattered into a million pieces along with her soul.
“You fucking whore!” she screamed. “I hate you! I hate you!”
She continued screaming, ignoring the pain in her throat because it was no match for the pain in her heart as she blindly swept everything from the desk. Rage blinded her as she picked up a letter opener and turned it over in her hand.
Who would she stab? Would she stab Drake? Her father? Luca? Or herself? Yes, she thought. She’d carve out her heart and burn the bitch. Alessandra would never feel a fucking thing again.
***
Chapter Seventeen
After a long day at the office, Drake received a call from Jerry. He was pissed that Alessandra would hire an investigator behind his back. This was their life, not a game.
It was time to tell her the painful truth if he didn’t want to lose his wife. He just hoped that what he revealed didn’t jeopardize everything he sought to achieve. It was time to say goodbye to Drake Walker and the fantasy life he’d built for himself.
Drake Walker commanded respect from his peers. His friends knew his darkest desires and didn’t judge him for expressing them. He was the big brother that his younger siblings looked up to, and the son his parents were finally proud of. He had the most gorgeous wife wearing his ring. The wife that was meant to be his. The woman he loved more than anything, and the one who had recently agreed to give him a child.
The bastard inside of him was about to shatter all of that. He would no longer be a husband but a jailer. He wouldn’t be a son or a brother as part of a family. His tattered career would be gone in a flash. Once the genie was outed from his bottle, no amount of prayer would put it back.
Drake made a few stops on his way home. The first was to a florist for a bouquet of flowers. He chose a colorful array of wildflowers but couldn’t name a single one. Regardless, his wife deserved them. It was a pity she didn’t expect gifts like flowers from him on a regular basis, and that shit was about to change.
His next stop was to purchase a nice bottle of Bordeaux to accompany their dinner. He owned a free-standing wine cooler with a capacity of over 40 bottles, but this occasion called for something different. Drake was far from a sommelier but knew a good bottle when he saw it.
The final stop was a restaurant to pick up dinner. Another travesty was the lack of dates he took his wife on. Most nights she cooked, or he picked up something on his way home from work. Alessandra spent her days at home waiting for him to walk in the door. It was a shame he only now realized how isolated she was. If it weren’t for Noah or Beth, she wouldn’t have any friends.
Drake vowed to do better and treat his wife to the marriage she always wanted. He would start taking her out on a weekly date night. He’d even let her pick the activities from time to time and do them without complaint. They could start entertaining once a month or drive to Lake Forest to visit his family.
He would also encourage her to pick up a hobby or do something that helped her make friends. Alessandra had so much to offer; it would be unfortunate if she felt unable to express herself.
Drake wanted to treat Alessandra to a relaxing day at the spa. He purchased a certificate to give her the works: facial, mani/pedi, massage, and body wax.
It was too much to work in hypotheticals and hopefulness. Things wouldn’t change unless he made the first step. He couldn’t love someone the way they deserved if he continued holding back.
In their building, deliveries were screened and visitors were signed in. The 24-hour building concierge was supposed to check all IDs of visitors against the approved list and call for others. The craggy man behind the desk tipped his hat and greeted Drake as he passed.
Drake swiped the key to his private elevator, which opened directly into the penthouse. Jerry and Alessandra were the only others who had a key to access it. He also technically owned that space and had a decorator turn it into a mudroom.
Any optimism Drake felt disappeared the moment he stepped off the elevator. Alessandra’s strangled cry from down the hall caused his heart to stop. The wine bottle shattered as he dropped everything when he heard a crash from within.
His immediate thought was that someone had managed to slip in and attack her. Drake quickly opened the hidden wall safe behind the false panel in the pantry. He pulled out his Glock and loaded a full magazine. With his thumb on the safety, he made his way down the hall.
Drake’s blood ran cold as he saw the door to his office standing wide open. Alessandra cried from within as another thumping crash sounded in the room.
A quick sweep of the trashed room revealed there was no imminent threat. He quickly tucked the gun into his waistband.
“Alessandra! Che cazzo stai facendo—what the fuck are you doing? Why did you break into my office?”
Broken glass crunched beneath Drake’s shoes as he stepped into the mess. Papers were strewn everywhere as though a cyclone had blown through. One of the legs was broken off his sitting chair. His laptop, which was full of classified information, was smashed and broken in two. Drake would have a hell of a time explaining that to Grant.
Alessandra’s hoarse screams turned into strangled sobs as her rage cooled. She still seemed unaware of his presence, and he gently laid his hand on her.
