Chapter 40: #40 - Guest

Caterina Bellini

I looked around at the decor I had chosen myself, the patterns, the paintings, but I no longer saw myself there. That house wasn’t mine anymore, because everything I looked at carried Adrian’s heavy hand over its energy.

Even though everything was supposedly resolved now, with Victoria safe and having left with Luca, Adrian paced back and forth, taking sip after sip of a drink I couldn’t identify, though it smelled strong.

He had dragged me from the basement to the upper floor, making me pass through all of our staff as if I were a prisoner.

Funny how he was the one who betrayed the family first, yet I was the one who had to suffer the consequences for living my life.

That’s the injustice of being a woman in a world ruled by men.

Adrian had given up on us a long time ago, but something in him made him believe that just because he had something hanging between his legs, he could claim me whenever he wanted, as if I were a whore at his disposal.

I could see how exhausted he was. And I was too, but I was also determined. The victory of saving my friend and stopping them before the worst happened gave me the motivation to believe I could still change my fate in this life.

The victory came with a bittersweet taste, though, as I found myself surrounded by a lunatic man making me his prisoner.

He took off his jacket and threw it over the armchair where he used to sit whenever he needed to think. It was the only room in the house he had kept for leisure, away from business. Now it no longer had that peaceful feeling, not when I could see the veins bulging in his neck, ready to burst.

“It’s simple, Caterina,” he began, still restless, gesturing like a madman. “I’m going to forget what happened in the basement, and so will you. After all, you’re back. And you’ll behave like my wife. I won’t tolerate this rebellion of yours anymore.”

I watched him, desperate to wear the mask of a Don he had created for himself, but it was loose, slipping from his face, revealing the mediocre man underneath.

I knew he wanted to break me again, to make me small so I would fall back into the trance that let him control every part of my life. I couldn’t let that happen again.

“You think I’m the one in the wrong here? That’s funny, Adrian. Don Monti, the man who drowns himself in the pussy of the mistress he keeps for convenience and treats her like a wife?”

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” he stated.

“You treat me like someone who can’t think,” I shot back. “I want a divorce. And I want my share of Bellini Copola.”

He stared at me, frozen. The shock in his eyes was obvious, and I understood why. Adrian could endure betrayal, even with all his jealousy, but not the loss of power. Money was the lifeblood of his leadership.

He lived for it. He cared about status and control. It had always been that way.

“You can’t leave me,” he said finally. “You’re alone. If you try, you’ll be eliminated. It’s Mafia law, you know divorce doesn’t exist for us. We have a blood bond, our marriage. It’s eternal, Caterina.”

I saw him fighting against his own sanity, a man torn between the insatiable ego of a weak Don and the jealous heart of a husband who couldn’t bear to be replaced. I had to break the ego to find the weakness he tried to hide.

“Vincenzo taught me more about strategy in one week than you ever did in years of marriage. And the project we’re developing together... it’s a network of support and intelligence that, interestingly, is far beyond your reach, Don Monti.”

His fury was no longer about Victoria. It was about my loyalty to another man. That was what really hit him.

“You slept with him, didn’t you? He kissed you, Caterina? Did he fuck you?”

He lunged forward, grabbing my chin with brutal force. He pulled me close, his eyes burning with a sick possessiveness I had never seen before.

“But it doesn’t matter, not now,” he whispered. “I’m going to fix this, Caterina. I’ll fix our marriage. You’ll forget Leone and learn to obey me again.”

I turned my face away, rejecting the kiss that came, unwanted and suffocating. His breath hit my cheek, hot and disgusting.

I resisted. He shoved me away, humiliated and frustrated by my rejection.

“You’ll never measure up to him, Adrian. Do you know how many times I came with him in one night?” I laughed, the scorn dripping from the corner of my mouth. “I don’t think you’d reach that number in three more years of marriage.”

His arm rose toward me, his hand hovering inches from my face. I just stared at him, looking straight into his eyes as if to say, Go ahead and see what happens. But I was right, and the cowardice was there, just as I expected.

He stepped back.

“I just want you to know one thing, you bitch. If you keep pushing this ridiculous idea of a divorce, I’ll destroy your lover. I’ll tell the Council that Vincenzo Leone was involved with another Don’s wife. His reputation will be ruined for betrayal and adultery. He’ll be exiled, and you’ll crawl back to me completely helpless. Think about that before you open your mouth again and let your pride speak.”

That was the last thing he said before locking me inside the bedroom.

I let the shower water run over me, thinking about how I had ended up there.

I knew Adrian was impulsive enough to claim betrayal, even though there were few Dons who would want to be seen as cuckolds. He was petty enough to turn everything against me, and I didn’t want to hurt Vincenzo.

When I got dressed and stepped out of the closet, I felt a cold breeze as I entered the bedroom, which was completely dark. I flipped the main switch, but the ceiling light didn’t turn on.

It was broken.

I took a flashlight from the first drawer, and as I searched the room, my gaze froze on the curtains.

At the entrance to the balcony stood a tall, dark figure, completely still, watching the darkness of the room.

My heart leaped to my throat. I was locked in. And I wasn’t alone.

And it already felt too late to scream for help.