Page 38 of Beautiful Torment (Empire of Kings #1)
I can’t tell her that, in another lifetime, if things had been different, there would be no question about it. So instead, I force a smile and repeat the same thing I keep telling myself.
Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.
I’m sure it will. She considers me. But in the meantime, I’m here for you whenever you need a friend.
Thank you. I appreciate that more than you know.
We finish our breakfast and retreat to the lounge, flopping back on the extra-large cushions and enjoying the sun. Before long, I start to doze off again, and Natalia wakes me with an apologetic expression.
I’m sorry, but it’s almost time for us to go. I should help get the kids ready.
It’s okay. I nod. I should probably go find Angelo. I haven’t seen him today.
They’re in the office, she says.
I rise from my cushion to give her a hug before she leaves. Dinner when I get back home?
Definitely, she agrees. I’ll be looking forward to it.
On my way to the lower deck, I bump into Alessio on the landing just as he’s coming up the stairs.
“Abella.” He nods at me. “Congratulations on your nuptials.”
“Thank you.” I offer him a genuine smile. I’ve always liked Alessio, even knowing there’s something very dark in him. Regardless, seeing how happy he makes Natalia, I like him even more.
He’s about to pass me by when I stop him. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can always ask.” He leaves the rest unsaid. It doesn’t mean he’ll always answer.
I glance down the stairs, wondering if I’m about to kick the hornet’s nest. “Angelo said something to me last night, and I’m trying to make sense of it.”
“That sounds like a question for him,” Alessio answers wryly.
I choose to ignore that very legitimate point. “He said I wanted him in prison.”
Alessio considers me for a moment, as if he’s trying to get a read on me. “Well, did you?”
“Do you seriously believe I’d do that?” The hurt filters through my words.
“Do I believe it?” he echoes. “No. But I’m not the one who matters, am I?”
“Why would he think that?” I press.
“Probably because Matteo was the one who put him there, and you’re guilty by association. You did dump him for his brother, in case you forgot.”
Ignoring the jab I’m never going to live down—rightfully so—I focus on the other thing he said. “Matteo didn’t put Angelo in prison.”
“Except he did,” Alessio argues. “I saw the evidence myself. I even spoke to the men who helped him set it up.”
“No.” Something twists in my gut. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong, Abella.” Alessio softens his tone. “And neither was the Tribunal when they sanctioned Matteo’s death. You know they wouldn’t do that lightly.”
What he’s telling me doesn’t make sense. Matteo loved Angelo. He would have died for him, or even taken his place in that prison cell if he could. He told me that many times. For years, he worked tirelessly to find the men who set Angelo up.
“The Tribunal really sanctioned it?”
“Yes.” Alessio shrugs. “If Angelo hadn’t done it himself, Matteo would have been executed by The Society.”
A whirlwind of conflicting emotions clash together as I try to process what he’s telling me.
I’ve known Angelo and Matteo my whole life.
They loved each other. They trusted each other.
I never saw anything to indicate otherwise.
But I also know how these things work. The Tribunal wouldn’t have sanctioned Matteo’s death without evidence.
And it wouldn’t be the first time news of such a shocking betrayal rippled through the Cosa Nostra .
Matteo had everything to gain when Angelo was in prison.
After Silvio’s death, it fell to him to act as heir to the throne while his brother was absent. He could have ruled for decades.
“I need to see the evidence myself,” I plead with Alessio. “Did he set up the gallery attack and have Lockwood killed?”
He offers me a pitiful smile. “It’s not mine to show. You’ll have to talk to your husband about that.”
We both know that isn’t happening.
“Please, Alessio…I need to be certain. Can you give me your word that Matteo really betrayed Angelo?”
He arches a brow at me. “Have you ever known me to lie?”
“No.” My last hope deflates as I consider that. “I haven’t.”
“He fooled all of us,” Alessio says. “He wasn’t the man any of us thought him to be. And if you really need to hear me say it, I give you my word that Matteo sent Angelo to prison. That’s a fact.”
Tears hover on the edges of my eyes, and I blink rapidly, trying to dispel them. I still can’t understand it, but I trust that Alessio is telling me the truth.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “For being honest with me.”
As I turn to go, Alessio’s voice stops me.
“I know you didn’t love him.”
I can’t bring myself to face him…because he’ll see that he’s right.
“You don’t have to carry this if you had nothing to do with it, Abella. The crime was Matteo’s, and he got what he deserved.”
I release a shaky breath. “I wish it were that simple.”
“Well, maybe it’s not,” he says. “But if you want this marriage to have any chance, you need to come clean with Angelo and tell him what happened.”
“I know,” I answer. But when I glance over my shoulder, he’s already gone.