Page 53 of Courting Danger

With a tired huff, Valente shook his head. “I’m not going to explain myself to a spoiled brat who had everything handed to him. You wouldn’t understand. Now, I’m leaving, and if you want Ghita to remain alive, then you won’t try to follow me.”

In response, Alex shrugged then looked down at his watch again. After studying it for a moment, he smiled.

“No, you aren’t going anywhere.”

Valente opened his mouth to argue, but when he did, an unexpected cough suddenly struck him. The violent hacking sound caused his whole chest to spasm, and a few drops of blood sprayed from his lips.

Ghita took the opportunity to flee. She pushed his arm off her throat and ran to duck behind Garrison for safety.

Not once did Valente try to get her back. He was too busy struggling to breathe.

At the same time, everyone else in the room started showing the same symptoms. All except for Ghita, Alex, and me, of course. We remained fine.

I breathed a sigh of relief and shoved my gun back into its holster. Our plan had worked.

“What?” Valente managed to sputter before being cut off by more bloody coughing.

Several others around the greenhouse mimicked the question.

Alex clapped his hands together once, like closing a book at the end of a story.

“Perfect timing. That turned out to be one of my better plans.” He inspected the leaves of the rose trellis, turning them over to reveal brown spots already forming on green surfaces. “Though, I do regret that the plants will probably die.”

Still coughing, Valente fell to his knees and clutched his chest. His eyes, however, drifted toward the ceiling. “The sprinklers.”

“Yep.” Alex abandoned the leaves to address the suffering crowd. “I have to thank you, Valente. Being drugged sucked, but it gave me the idea. Though I couldn’t just slip it into the wine. Too many suspicious people in our family. I couldn’t be sure everyone would drink, so I needed another delivery system. The greenhouse was a lucky find. Sorry, about the last minute change, Mother. I know you hate things like that.”

He nodded toward her in a show of genuine remorse.

She glared at him, obviously more furious about being poisoned than having her schedule interrupted. One hand gripped her chest as she struggled to speak around a violent coughing fit.

“I can’t believe you would...” She didn’t bother to finish that sentence. Of course, Alex would go so far. He was a Mariano. They won by any means necessary.

“Don’t worry,” Alex called to the group that was rapidly growing sicker by the second. “I have an antidote, of course. It’s right here.” He pulled out a box that had been hidden behind the rose trellis. “There’s enough for everyone.” From the box he pulled out a small glass vial filled with liquid.

It was the same vial Ghita, Alex, and I had taken earlier to spare ourselves the effects of the poison.

Alex sloshed the liquid around for everyone to see. “You can have it once you’ve sworn your loyalty to the Mariano family’s new leader. But, since you should already be loyal, that won’t be a problem, right?”

With me on one side and Ghita on the other, Alex stood below the rose trellis as one by one each person got on their knees to take their unholy communion. In exchange for a vow of loyalty, they were given a lifesaving vial.

Alex’s mother was the first to take the vow, and although she was still angry about being on the receiving end of such a trick, there was a light in her eyes that spoke of pride. She had raised her son to one day take charge, and he was living up to those expectations spectacularly.

Throughout it all, Valente was left on the floor. His coughing grew quieter, though blood continued to drip from his mouth, until eventually he went silent.

From that moment on, the man never made another sound. Not even his heart dared to beat.

CHAPTER 18

Garrison

Back at Alex’s apartment, I stepped across the already familiar threshold with the confidence of someone coming home. It had been a hectic couple of days, dealing with the fallout of David Russo’s funeral. Many people were furious that Alex would dare go so far as to drug his own family. A quick reminder that Valente had been a trusted ally of the family for decades usually shut them up.

Surely, if Valente could turn out to be a traitor, then drastic measures must be taken to ensure trust and loyalty. Or else the whole family structure might crumble.

As soon as he was back in his own apartment, Alex let out a huge sigh and collapsed on the couch.

“I can’t believe that’s finally over.”

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