Page 25 of Kidnapped Wife

“Oh, have you not?” She pouted. “That must be my mistake, because everyone is going to assume you were stealing from my dad as well as Massimo. After all, it’s not going to be hard to convince them, you being labeled a gold-digging whore.”

“I am not after Massimo’s money, and I would never steal from anyone.”

“Yeah, but no one is going to know the truth, are they? They’re not going to know I’m the one stealing, and, well, I need Massimo, and you’re in the way.”

“Why do you need Massimo?” Elsie asked.

“That is no concern of yours.”

Elsie laughed. “Actually, seeing as he is my husband and chose me, I think it is only fair I find out what my competition intends to do. I mean, is this just about sex, or money, or histitle? Or do you love him?”

Isabella snorted. “Love. You pathetic people, always thinking it has something to do with love. It is never about love. Look around you. Daddy is growing bored with paying for my life, and Massimo is not hurting for money. Besides, I get to boss everyone around. It will be a win-win for me, and I get to deal with you.”

She stared at Isabella, and for the first time in a long while, she hated another human being. Elsie had vowed to never let anyone matter to her to the point it would affect her feelings.

“Massimo will never choose you,” Elsie said. “You will never get the keys to this house, or the keys to his fortune, because he sees through you.” As she spoke, she moved closer. “You can try to kill me. You can try to frame me for stuff I’ve never done, but you won’t succeed. Do you want to know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve looked hell in the face and fucking bounced back.”

Isabella had been so distracted, she didn’t see the punch Elsie landed to her face before it was too late. Elsie had vowed to never hurt another human being but the vile spilling from her lips was more than she could take.

She shoved the gun out of Isabella’s hand, and then before the other woman could react, just as Massimo said, he, Romero, as well as Franco stepped into Massimo’s office.

Isabella wasn’t expecting them, and Elsie rushed to Massimo’s side. He pulled her into his arms.

“Daddy, look what she did. Look what she … did.” Blood pooled at the corner of Isabella’s mouth.

She’d not even hit her that hard, and yet Isabella was crying as if she’d stabbed her. Elsie saw the fake tears building. She was about to try to manipulate her father.

“You disappoint me, Isabella,” Franco said. “I thoughtyour mother and I had raised a good girl, a nice girl, and yet you are willing to frame an innocent woman just so you can have a better lifestyle, although you want for nothing.”

“Daddy, it’s not like that.”

Elsie gasped as Franco did what she never expected a father to do. He shot his daughter in the head, and before she had even fallen, he turned his back on her.

“Will she be a problem?” Franco asked.

“No,” Massimo and Romero said at the same time.

“No, I won’t.”

“You’re curious as to why I killed her?” Franco asked.

Elsie didn’t know if she should even ask him any questions in case he decided to turn his gun on her.

“She was dangerous, and her greed would eventually get us all killed, and I cannot allow that to happen. She had to be dealt with. The family comes before everything, and I want to apologize to you, and to you, Massimo, for any damage my daughter may have caused.”

“There is no damage.”

“Now, if you will excuse me.”

Massimo pulled Elsie out of his office, and there were already men arriving, who she knew from experience were there to clean up the body. He took her straight to the kitchen with Romero hot on their tail.

“He killed her,” Elsie said.

“The man didn’t have a choice,” Romero said. “She openly admitted to wanting power, to wanting money.”

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