Page 34 of Isle of Seduction

“I apologise, Piper, I’m just very protective of him. I’d say he was just waiting for me,” I laugh to defuse the atmosphere. She just said out loud what everyone thinks in secret and I should be grateful for the opportunity to clear the air and build strong connections with powerful women in the community. I’m not about to have a cat fight over my husband’s past, for Christ’s sake.

I knew I was the talk of the town but being with the three women reminds me exactly how much. I know I’m getting nowhere without giving them a piece of myself. They already know the story of how we met and how we got married fast because we’re supposedly madly in love. Though the more time passes, the harder it is to keep my distance from the person who’s destined to leave me in the end.

“To be honest with you, Andrea is the cousin of my cousin’s husband.”

Their eyes widen at the coincidence. If only they knew he blackmailed me to marry his sorry ass.

“When I found out, somehow it brought me back to our time together and I couldn’t help but feel a connection there, something beyond the physical.”

“And I’m sure the physical is fantastic,” Jane purrs.

“Jane, don’t be crass,” Michelle says. “Are you okay with moving so fast? Miranda and I have been together for three years and are just now talking about marriage.”

“I’m not sure of anything when it comes to Andrea. That’s what makes it more exhilarating,” I say, and find myself to be truthful. “And between you and I”—I lean in conspiratorially, letting them know I’m about to impart a piece of knowledge they’re the only ones privy to—“our marriage will help him with his political career. I want to support him the best I can.”

They all smile before Jane places a hand on mine and assures me the secret is safe with them. We share a kinship. She doesn’t need to voice it for me to know her situation resembles mine.

I jump onto the opportunity to segway into my next topic and what I came here for, though I’m having more fun than I originally thought I would. “If he wants to beat Addams, who’s the example of perfect British pedigree, Andrea has to step up.”

Piper snorts. “Right.”

I frown and feign confusion, and it’s Michelle who gives me the golden nugget.

“Addams might look like the perfect Englishman, but I wouldn’t spend a minute with him alone.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Women in his entourage have a tendency to disappear,” she responds.

“You mean his colleagues leave town after working with him?”

“No, I mean the people no one cares about, like his maid or the nanny. And they don’t just leave town. They vanish.”

Jane tries to lighten the mood. “Come on, Michelle, these are rumours and hateful at that. He might be a political opponent, but slander isn’t what we do. Would you like to drink something else?”

“Jane is right, there’s probably an explanation,” I chime and don’t miss the look Piper and Michelle exchange. They know something Jane doesn’t.

We continue to chat lightly about inconsequential shit until Jane generously goes up to pay and Piper takes my hand. The tone of her voice is urgent and frazzled. She looks to her right and left as if expecting someone to be listening, then leans to me to whisper. “Giulia, I don’t know you well, but you have the attitude of someone who doesn’t give up once she’s found a bone. Please listen to me, don’t go looking into Addams’s history. It won’t end well.”

Michelle stays silent but seems to agree with Piper. I smile inwardly because now I know where to look.

I need to find the names of the maid and nanny that disappeared under Addams’s employ and follow the trail. If these two women disappeared without a trace, I can find proof that he hired someone to get rid of them. From that to killing Xan won’t be a stretch.

Despite the selfish objectives of this gathering, I enjoy Jane, Michelle and Piper’s company and we decide to take a stroll through town.

We’re on Main Street when I catch a glimpse of Andrea, seated at a minimalistic cafe. The man he’s talking to has his back to me, so I don’t see who it is, but he’s dressed to the nines. He shakes my husband’s hand and leaves.

I frown because that’s Alexsei Dobrev, leader of the London Bratva. Considering the last encounter we had with the Russian Crime organisation, when we lost Igor, my shoulders bunch up with tension.

“Thank you so much for brunch, let’s do that again some time.”

I leave my new friends and enter the Specialty Coffee Bar, where everything from the floor to the table to the La Marzocco coffee machine is white, giving me anxiety. I’m ready to ask Andrea for an explanation, when a tall blonde woman approaches him.

She wears high heels and a tight black dress. And her manicured fingers are touching what’s mine. Casually, she sits next to Andrea and place a hand on his heart and I see fucking red. My stomach burns and I almost pop my jaw by clenching it so tight.

“Who the fuck…”

The woman swipes her hair to the side, giving me a full view of her lean face with high cheekbones and pouty lips.

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