Page 59 of Beneath the Shadows

"And Val doesn’t know?"

"No. He’d put a stop to it if he did."

Dante's face hardens. "The way he treats her?—"

"It’s about to get worse," I say, voice darkening.

"What are you talking about?"

"He promoted me to underboss."

"Congratulations," Dante says, though his tone is far from congratulatory.

"Thanks."

"How does that affect Alessia?" he asks, his curiosity piqued.

"I’ll be running the restaurant. And Alessia will be working there."

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dante’s face twists in disbelief. "He’s making his wife work alongside the women he regularly comes to fuck?”

"Yep," I say, my tone flat. "It’s a dick move. But would you expect anything less?"

Dante scrubs a hand over his face in frustration. "Did you find out anything useful while you were here?"

We exchange a few words about the scraps of information I’ve gathered. Valentino’s tracks are well-covered, his plans buried deep. But I can’t shake the feeling there’s more to it—more of our own men involved than we realize.

I glance back at the house, suspicion gnawing at the edges of my mind. "It’s only a matter of time," I murmur, more to myself than Dante.

"Before what?"

"Before he slips up." My voice is steady, a promise woven into the words. "And when he does, I’ll be ready."

Alessia

“Alessia,” Val’s voice booms from his office as soon as I step inside. Unease creeps up my spine as I make my way to his office. “Where have you been?”

“You gave me permission to go for a walk with Dante,” I remind him.

“That was two hours ago,” he snaps.

“I brought my camera,” I say, holding it up. “Would you like to see some of the photos I took?”

“You and that ridiculous camera,” he sneers, disdain dripping from his words. I school my features, refusing to show him how much his comment stings. “Come clear my plate. It’ll be good practice for you.”

“Practice?”

“Practice,” he echoes, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. “You’ll need it for your new job.”

“What new job?”

“You’re going to be waitressing at my restaurant.”

“At Casa della Ombre?”.

“Yes,” he confirms, the grin on his face growing wider.

“Why would you make me do that?”

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