Page 80 of Angelo

"How long have you known about Isabella?” she whispered. “How did you even find her?"

"Your grandfather told me about her not long after he gifted you the music box."

Elyse's eyebrows lifted high. "How the hell did you get it out of him?"

A pause. "Benedetto did not tell me directly."

"I don't understand."

"I used the music box."

Elyse frowned. "I still don't understand."

"The listening device inside the box connects through wifi," Alessandro explained, "which means it can be hacked. I admit, I have been eavesdropping on your grandfather as much as he has been eavesdropping on us..."

She felt her chest seize up with distress. "¡Ay, Dios!You hacked the music box?"

"Technically, I did not hack it. Marcello did it for me. He is better with technology than me."

Elyse felt her anxiety levels soar. "What if my grandfather caught him? I can't believe you didn't tell me about the music box! Or my mother! Or Eve Davies!"

"I only kept everything from you because..."

She ground out unhappily, "Go on."

"For the past few months, I have been working up the courage to see these tasks through—especially the matter involving Eve Davies—to brace myself for whatever you chose to do. I did not want to draw you closer to me. I worried that attachments might make it harder for you to... leave."

As Alessandro's confession sank in, a sense of validation soothed her anger. It made her feel a little more at peace. Her assessment of the motivesbehind her husband's sullen behavior had been correct.

“I already told you that I was going to stay.”

“I know,” he agreed, “but I was not sure whether you meant it or not. The men in your life have never given you a choice. You were forced to accept whatever bullshit they sent your way. I did not want to be like the others.”

"So you expected me to abandon you at the first opportunity?” she demanded.

"When we first met,” he reminded her, “freedom was what you desired most.”

"Maybe my definition of freedom has changed."

Alessandro groaned as though in pain. "Do not play with my emotions.Per favore. Put me out of my misery, and tell me where you will be five days from now. Palermo or... London?"

Her husband's speech had wavered noticeably. Alessandro sounded as though he was on the verge of breaking into pieces.

"In five days, I will be in Palermo," Elyse responded with absolute certainty, "with you."

Another pause. "What?"

She whispered in a voice brimming with love, "You drive me crazy, Alessio, but I choose you."

"You are not fucking with me?" Incredulity flooded his tone.

The corners of her mouth tilted up. "That night, in Queens, I may have removed a bullet from your stomach, but you ended up saving me, too. Your love changed me in ways I didn’t know I needed. How could I ever leave when my heart is no longer mine? It belongs to a devil now. A lifetime together wouldn’t be enough for me."

He exclaimed in awe, "Do you mean it?”

“With my whole fucking heart.”

“Dio, to hear these words from you…”

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