Chapter 2 - The Bride Nobody Was Allowed to QuestionElena did not sleep.
Adrian never asked her to.
He never touched her again that night.
Instead, he summoned a female physician he trusted, ordered the household staff out of the east wing, and sat in the library while Dr. Naomi Chen examined his wife behind a locked bedroom door.
At 2:17 in the morning, Adrian was still wearing his wedding suit.
His tie was gone.
His jacket lay over a chair.
His hands rested on the edge of his desk while he stared at nothing.
Across from him stood Gabriel Torres, his chief of security and one of the few men in Chicago who could tell Adrian when he was making a mistake.
Gabriel had worked for him for eleven years.
He knew every expression Adrian had.
This one worried him.
“We located Victor.”
Adrian’s gaze lifted.
“Where?”
“Moretti residence.”
“Dominic?”
“With him.”
“You said they left the reception.”
“They did. Went straight home.”
Adrian gave a humorless smile.
“They thought she wouldn’t talk.”
“Maybe they assumed she’d be too frightened.”
“They assumed correctly.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Because that was the part Adrian hated most.
Elena had not exposed them.
Adrian had noticed.
If she had successfully hidden the bruises, she might have spent years married to him without saying a word.
A knock came at the door.
Dr. Chen entered.
She was in her late forties, composed and unimpressed by reputation.
Adrian stood immediately.
“How is she?”
“She needs rest.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Naomi closed the door.
“She has bruising consistent with repeated blunt-force trauma. Several injuries are older. Some are recent.”
Adrian’s fingers curled against the desk.
“Any broken bones?”
“Not currently. There’s evidence one rib may have fractured months ago and healed without appropriate treatment.”
Gabriel looked away.
Adrian remained motionless.
Naomi continued.
“She also has an injury near her shoulder that appears to have been reopened recently.”
“When?”
“Likely yesterday.”
The day before the wedding.
Adrian felt something inside him turn to ice.
“Can she tell you what happened?”
“She told me she fell.”
“She told me her father gets angry.”
Naomi’s expression hardened.
“That tells me enough.”
Adrian moved toward the door.
Naomi stepped into his path.
“No.”
Gabriel blinked.
Few people blocked Adrian Vale.
Fewer survived doing it twice.
But Naomi had delivered Adrian’s younger sister’s baby years earlier and treated members of his organization without asking questions.
He tolerated honesty from her.
Barely.
“Move.”
“No. Because whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t do it tonight.”
“My wife was beaten yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Before she was brought to my church.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to sleep?”
“I expect you to understand what she needs.”
“I know what she needs.”
“Do you?”
Adrian looked at her.
Naomi lowered her voice.
“She has spent years around men who confuse protection with ownership.”
That landed harder than Adrian expected.
“If you storm out tonight and turn Chicago into a battlefield in her name, you may believe you’re defending her.”
Naomi stepped closer.
“She may see another dangerous man making decisions over her head.”
Adrian said nothing.
“She needs control over something,” Naomi continued. “For once.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Ask her.”
It sounded absurdly simple.
But Adrian realized nobody had asked Elena anything all day.
Not which flowers she wanted.
Not which church.
Not whether she wanted the marriage.
Possibly not even whether she wanted to live in Chicago.
He glanced toward Gabriel.
“Keep eyes on the Morettis.”
“No contact?”
“Not yet.”
Gabriel nodded and left.
Naomi followed.
Adrian remained alone for another ten minutes.
Then he returned upstairs.
He knocked.
No response.
He knocked again.
“Elena?”
“Come in.”
She was sitting beside the window in the robe, knees pulled toward her chest.
The wedding dress had disappeared.
Naomi had probably removed it.
Adrian remained near the door.
“How do you feel?”
“Embarrassed.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“Why?”
She gave a small laugh that held no humor.
“Because you married a damaged woman.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.”
“No.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I knew this marriage wasn’t your idea.”
“You didn’t know all of it.”
“No.”
She looked toward the window.
“So now you’ll return me.”
Something about the word made him stare.
“Return you?”
“To my father.”
Adrian slowly crossed the room, stopping several feet from her.
“Elena, you are not merchandise.”
She gave him a tired look.
“You don’t know the Morettis very well.”
“I know men like your father.”
“No, you know men who negotiate with him.”
She swallowed.
“That’s different.”
Adrian sat in the armchair across from her.
“Then tell me.”
Her eyes snapped to him.
“Tell you what?”
“Everything.”
Fear immediately resurfaced.
He lifted one hand.
“Not because I’m demanding it.”
She waited.
“Because I need to understand what you want.”
“What I want?”
“Yes.”
Nobody had asked her that in so long she seemed unable to answer.
Adrian saw it.
Her lips parted.
Closed again.
Finally she whispered, “I want them to leave me alone.”
“Done.”
“You can’t just say that.”
“I can.”
“My father owns businesses with you.”
“They can be untangled.”
“He controls half the South Side crews.”
“Not half.”
Despite herself, Elena stared.
Adrian’s mouth almost moved.
“Your father exaggerates.”
She looked down.
“And Dominic?”
“He’ll stay away from you.”
“How?”
“That depends on what you want me to do.”
The room became quiet again.
She seemed to study him.
“You really mean that?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll let me decide?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I say do nothing?”
That answer cost him.
But he gave it.
“Yes.”
Elena breathed slowly.
“Then don’t hurt them.”
Adrian’s jaw flexed.
She noticed.
“You said I could decide.”
“I did.”
“No killing them.”
“No killing.”
“No broken bones.”
He almost smiled.
“You negotiate like your father.”
Her expression disappeared.
Adrian immediately regretted the comparison.
“Sorry.”
She looked surprised again.
Powerful men rarely apologized around Elena.
“I want proof,” she said eventually.
“Of what?”
“That they can’t make me go back.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“You live here now.”
“That won’t stop my father.”
“It will.”
“You don’t understand.”
Adrian looked straight into her eyes.
“Then explain it.”
She hesitated.
“My father doesn’t think you married me.”
“What does he think?”
“That he gave me to you.”
Adrian’s stare sharpened.
“He said this marriage wasn’t an alliance. It was payment.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the first thing that genuinely surprised him.
Adrian’s organization had business arrangements with Victor Moretti, but none required a human bride as collateral.
“There’s something else,” Elena whispered.
Adrian waited.
“My father made me sign papers before the ceremony.”
“What papers?”
“I didn’t read them.”
“Why?”
Her mouth trembled.
“Because Dominic was standing behind me.”
Adrian understood.
“Where are they?”
“Father took them.”
“What did he say they were?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“He said after tonight, everything that belonged to me would belong to you.”
Adrian went still.
“What belongs to you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Elena.”
“I swear.”
She looked genuinely frightened.
“My mother died when I was sixteen. She left things in trust. Father never let me see the documents.”
Adrian’s instincts came alive.
Victor Moretti had been pushing for this marriage for nearly two years.
Adrian had assumed the old man wanted protection.
Political leverage.
Access to Adrian’s legitimate businesses.
But suddenly the entire arrangement felt different.
“What was your mother’s maiden name?”
“Bellandi.”
Adrian knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago did.
Bellandi Shipping had once controlled warehouses, river terminals, and enormous parcels of industrial property around the city.
Most of that empire had supposedly been sold after Elena’s grandfather died.
Adrian stood.
Elena immediately tensed.
He stopped.
“I’m only getting my phone.”
She nodded.
He made one call.
His attorney answered sleepily.
“Adrian?”
“Wake up.”
“I’m awake now.”
“I want everything you can find on Sofia Bellandi Moretti’s estate.”
A pause.
“Elena’s mother?”
“Yes.”
“How soon?”
“Yesterday.”
The attorney sighed.
“I’ll start.”
“And Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Search for any documents filed today involving Elena’s name.”
“Marriage documents?”
“Anything.”
Adrian ended the call.
Elena watched him.
“You think my father lied about something.”
“I think your father has been lying about many things.”
She wrapped the robe tighter.
“And if those papers gave you everything?”
“Then I give it back.”
She stared at him.
“You wouldn’t keep it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it isn’t mine.”
That seemed to confuse her more than anything else he had said.
Adrian turned toward the door.
“Get some sleep.”
“Where are you going?”
“The guest room.”
She blinked.
“This is your bedroom.”
“It’s yours tonight.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do.”
He opened the door.
“Adrian?”
He turned.
Her voice was quiet.
“Thank you.”
He held her gaze.
“No one should receive gratitude for not hurting you.”
Then he left.
At 6:42 the next morning, his attorney called.
Adrian answered before the second ring.
“What did you find?”
Daniel Russo sounded fully awake now.
And alarmed.
“You need to come downstairs.”
“Tell me.”
“Victor didn’t just transfer property.”
Adrian walked into his office.
Daniel stood beside the desk holding a stack of documents.
“What did he transfer?”
Daniel handed him the first page.
“Control.”
Adrian read.
Then read it again.
Twenty-seven percent ownership in Vale Consolidated Holdings.
Adrian slowly looked up.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“My shares are privately held.”
“Most are.”
Daniel flipped another page.
“Eleven years ago, your father used Bellandi capital to save the company from bankruptcy.”
Adrian’s pulse slowed.
“Who owned the Bellandi stake?”
“Sofia.”
“And after she died?”
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
“Elena.”
Adrian’s expression became deadly.
Daniel continued.
“Victor has apparently been exercising control over Elena’s shares as trustee since she was sixteen.”
“She’s twenty-four.”
“Yes.”
“The trust should have terminated.”
“Three years ago.”
Adrian stared at the document.
Daniel placed another paper down.
“And yesterday, Elena signed those shares over.”
“To me.”
“Not exactly.”
Adrian looked up.
Daniel’s voice tightened.
“To a holding company controlled by Victor Moretti.”
Silence.
Adrian finally understood.
The wedding was never about joining two families.
Victor had used his daughter as camouflage for a takeover.
And Adrian had almost thanked him for the privilege.
“What happens if the transfer stands?”
Daniel exhaled.
“Victor can force a board restructuring.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning by the end of the month, he could control Vale Consolidated.”
Adrian’s face became unreadable.
“And if Elena says she signed under coercion?”
Daniel glanced upstairs.
“Then Victor Moretti has a very serious problem.”
At that exact moment, the front gates opened.
Gabriel’s voice came over Adrian’s phone.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Victor Moretti is here.”
Adrian turned toward the security monitor.
A black sedan stopped in the circular drive.
Victor emerged.
Dominic stepped out behind him.
And Victor was smiling.
“Should I send them away?” Gabriel asked.
Adrian stared at the monitor.
Then toward the staircase where his wife was sleeping.
“No.”
He buttoned his jacket.
“Let them in.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
Adrian walked toward the door.
“Giving my father-in-law exactly what he came for.”
“And what is that?”
May you like
Adrian’s expression turned cold.
“The opportunity to lie to my face.”
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