Page 69 of Angelo

The power in her tone caused Alessandro to halt in mid-stride. He turned around to face her with a wary smile.

"Cuore mio," he remarked, "you have returned. Were you able to help Valentina find a dress?"

Without responding to his question, Elyse walked over to usher him into one of the spare rooms. She shut the door behind them and glared at him. "It seems your stepsister gets very chatty after a few glasses of champagne.”

“If you hand her a drink, she will never shut up.”

“I know,” drawled Elyse. “We had a very interesting discussion today."

Brown and blue-gray eyes fell upon Elyse intently, studying her like an unarmed man trying to outmaneuver an angry she-bear. "Valentina has been known to say some,ah, interesting things when under the influence of alcohol. If I were you, I would not take anything she said to heart."

Against her will, Elyse's lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes stung. She felt worried out of her mind. She felt betrayed. Again, Valentina and Alessandro were plotting while leaving her in the dark. In a small voice, she whispered, "I thought you were done keeping secrets from me?"

At the sight of her anguish, her husband immediately strode over to gather her into his arms. He looked deeply troubled and concerned. "What are you talking about, Elyse?"

She shied away from him, pulling away from his touch to leave an arm's length space between them.

"I know you're planning something with Valentina," Elyse accused unhappily. "She says you intend to remove more opposition. I don't understand, though. Aberto, Domenico, and Carlo are dead. Who else is standing in your way?"

Alessandro's eyes grew wide with alarm. "Elyse, I can explain..."

"You keep treating me like an outsider. Why does your stepsister always know more than I do?"

"It is not like that at all."

She snorted in disbelief.

Guilt darkened her husband's handsome features. Alessandro didn't deny his deception. Maddeningly enough, he owned up to it right away, "I didn't want to keep it from you."

His admission stabbed at Elyse's heart. Why did she have to find out through Valentina instead of him? Elyse bit back, "Yet, you did it, anyway."

Why did she always have to wring this shit out from him? It felt like pulling teeth. Elyse wanted to claw her hair out in frustration. The secrets Alessandro was hiding from her didn't seem frivolous in nature. They were likely matters of life and death, and the fact that he’d given her no say in how events would play out was downright heartbreaking. Elyse loved Alessandro, but he clearly didn't trust her enough to let her in, and she was starting to hate him for it. Outwardly, she saw Alessandro's face soften with emotion as, inwardly, her heart railed against him.

"I wanted to tell you yesterday in the study, but..."

He had been too busy fucking her to talk to her. Again. Bitterness took hold of her tongue. "Why didn't you?"

"In a way," he mumbled, "you already know."

"Do I?" she countered testily. "Forgive me for not being a mind reader."

Alessandro released a heavy sigh. Reluctance clung to him like a second skin as he spoke, "Now that the De Leóns, the Berlusconis, the Morettis, and the Trevisanos are in weakened states, I am in a good position, ascapo, to carry on with the status quo. However, that is not what I want. That is not good enough for me."

Elyse's rage dissolved slightly as she tried to understand where her husband was headed with this train of thought.

"Then," she prompted, "what do you want?"

"I have told you before," Alessandro continued quietly, "I intend to legitimize as many of my family's businesses as possible."

"Yes, I know," she offered in gentler tones, "and I want to help you achieve this goal."

Around this time, Elyse felt her phone buzz again in her pocket, but she was too engrossed in their conversation to check it.

"My allies will only support me if I continue with business as usual. They prefer the way my father conducted business," Alessandro explained, “and they will make a fuss if I go against tradition."

Elyse grimaced. "I'm sure you're right."

"I will not be able to let go of the cocaine distribution or restructure my other businesses without sacrifices and risks."

---