Chapter 4 - Playing the Game
By dinner time, the atmosphere inside the Romano mansion was suffocatingly tense. Alessandro sat at the dining room table, dressed impeccably, sipping a glass of red wine.
Isabella walked down the grand staircase, wearing an emerald velvet dress. She looked radiant, but her nervous energy was visible in the way she constantly adjusted her diamond bracelet.
"Alessandro," she said smoothly, taking her seat opposite him. "About this morning... I apologize if I seemed curt. My wedding fitting had me stressed, and I felt like you were mocking me with that silly food gesture."
"There's no need to apologize, Isabella," Alessandro said, offering a tight, convincing smile. "I was exhausted from work. I shouldn't have pressured you."
Isabella let out a visible sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I hate when we fight."
"By the way," Alessandro added casually, cutting a piece of steak. "I gave Sarah and her little girl a few weeks off. Apparently, the child was feeling unwell, so I sent them to a retreat in upstate New York."
Isabella’s fork hovered over her plate. Her eyes flickered with intense interest. "Oh? You sent them away? Today?"
"Yes. A quiet cabin in the mountains. I thought the fresh air would do the child good." Alessandro took a slow sip of his wine, watching her face carefully. "It's completely isolated. No distraction, no cell service. Just peaceful."
Isabella smiled—a real, genuine smile of dark relief. "That was very generous of you, darling. You have such a big heart."
She thinks they're vulnerable now, Alessandro realized. She thinks the child is out of the house and isolated.
That evening, after Isabella went to her private wing of the mansion, Alessandro met Marcus in the security control room built into the mansion's basement. On screen, they monitored Isabella’s phone line through an encrypted interception signal Marcus had installed an hour prior.
At 11:15 PM, Isabella made a call.
"It's done," her voice echoed through the speakers. "He doesn't suspect a thing. He thinks he was just tired."
A heavy, rough male voice responded from the receiver. "What about the kid? You said the maid's daughter saw you mix the dose."
"He sent the kid and her mother to an isolated cabin in the Berkshires," Isabella whispered coldly into her phone. "No cell service. No neighbors. It's perfect. Send Julian up there tonight. Make it look like an accidental gas leak or a house fire. I can't have that six-year-old brat talking to anyone else."
In the security room, Marcus looked over at Alessandro. Alessandro’s face was pale with fury, his fists clenched so tightly his nails bit into his palms.
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"She just signed her own arrest warrant," Marcus whispered.
"No," Alessandro hissed. "We don't just arrest her. We catch her man red-handed at the cabin, and then we give Isabella the wedding of her nightmares."
