Page 39 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

BIANCA: That’s not happening.

FALCO: Don’t be too confident. Pride comes before the fall.

BIANCA: Are you on my side or hers?

FALCO: Yours, obviously.

Dante shifts in his sleep.

I slide the phone beneath the sheets, frozen, my heart pounding.

He settles again.

Slowly, I pull it back out.

BIANCA: Any updates on her police complaint?

FALCO: Nothing yet. The inspector handling the case hasn’t leaked anything, but don’t worry. Everyone has a price. We’ll find his.

I don’t like that answer. I hope he’s only talking about money.

I switch off the screen and lie back down.

Beside me, Dante sleeps, unreachable.

I look at him one last time before closing my eyes.

In five days, he’ll be mine. No matter what state of mind he’s in, he’s not the kind of man who abandons his fiancée days before the wedding.

By then, whatever Valeria is planning, it’ll be too late.

Too bad if Wald doesn’t get what he wants.

I don’t care about his money or his formula.

I’ll have something better soon.

Dante.

And the life I’ve always wanted.

12. I need to do it

Valeria

Tuesday, December 20

The waiting is unbearable.

I keep myself busy however I can: scientific journals, streaming shows, even cat videos. Stephen—who’s slowly losing his mind from my frustrated sighs—regularly steps outside to talk with Galen, who’s taken over from Youri.

At twelve-thirty, my phone rings.

“I’ve got something,” Mara says the second I answer. “There was an attempted breach on Aurenza’s servers last night.”

I go still.

“R&D?”