Page 88 of Angelo

Valentina sniffed, "I am about to sacrifice myself forcosca. The least you cando is acknowledge my efforts."

"I never said I didn't value your sacrifice."

Valentina didn't look convinced. "Lies."

Elyse refused to take the bait. "I don’t want to argue right before you’re about to walk down the aisle. We can air out our grievance after the wedding.”

"But this is our last chance to talk," protested Valentina. “Once I exchange vows with the worm, there will be no going back, so you and I must work out our differences.Now."

"I don’t think—”

Valentina interrupted her, "If you had not come to me just now, I would have found you before the ceremony. I have some things that I must get off my chest."

She braced herself. "Oh, fuck…”

"These past three months have been eye-opening to say the least. You have been indispensable as my little bitch. You were able to handle all of the bullshit better than my own mother."

Elyse suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Thanks, I think?"

"I know you do not trust me, though. You are waiting for me to betray you."

Elyse didn’t argue because what the blonde said was true. She mumbled, "We don't need to be friends to work together."

"No, we do not need to be friends," Valentina continued, "but I need to know that I can trust you if we are going to continue our alliance after I becomeSignora De León. Otherwise, our plans will fail."

Elyse murmured, "You're not wrong, but trust must be earned."

"Célia trusts me."

"I’m not Célia."

"Sandro trusts me, too."

"Does he really, though?"

Valentina smirked. "You do not know much about Sandro and me, do you?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.Barely, though. The blonde’s favorite pastime seemed to be antagonizing her about Alessandro. It was like kicking a dead horse at this point. Annoyance shot through Elyse, but she managed to paste an unbothered smile on her face.

With the patience of a saint, Elyse sighed. "Apparently not. Enlighten me, please."

17

Valentina took a dramaticpause. "Believe it or not, there was a time when Sandro and I looked out for each other like real siblings."

Was this true? Immediately, curiosity clamped onto Elyse and wouldn't let go. "I didn't realize the two of you were ever on good terms.”

Valentina’s voice dipped low, taking on a decidedly more somber tone. "My mother married Vincenzo when I was thirteen. Sandro was seventeen. He resented us at first because his mother had barely died the year before. In time, though, Sandro lowered his guard around me. Back then, I was not as capable or comfortable in my skin as I am now. In many ways, he became my protector and my confidant."

Protector and confidant? Elyse didn't know whether or not to believe Valentina. Was this an act like her crocodile tears at Vincenzo's funeral? If any of this was true, though—

Elyse had always suspected hidden layers of complexity between Alessandro and Valentina. Her husband hadn't elaborated on this aspect of his relationship with his stepsister during their awkward encounter in the Zurich villa.

“His brothers treated me like shit. I am glad that they are dead. Sandro was the only one who ever stood up for me.”

If Valentina wasn't bullshitting her, Elyse didn't know whether or not to fault Alessandro for keeping this part of his past from her. Even if this was an oversight—rather than an intentional omission—the bastard had been keeping more than his fair share of secrets, so this subject remained a bit touchy on her nerves.

The not-so-blushing bride cleared her throat, roughly, to draw Elyse's focus back to their conversation.

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