Page 75 of Lorenzo & Lily

Marcello frowned and his mustache twitched. “I’ll double check things.”

Why was that not a surprise? “Or maybe you can trust that I wouldn’t do anything to harm myself or my older brother who’s Acting King? That maybe I know what the fuck I’m doing?”

Marcello stood up, reaching out for him. “I didn’t mean–”

“You always say that shit, but you always do mean it, even if it is unintentional.”

Marcello took a deep breath. “You’re right. If you say you’ve done it, then you’ve done it.”

Finally. It wasn’t much of a confidence booster, but it was a start.

“Yes, you’re right, Lorenzo” Alex added. “I know you’d never put me in danger, nor would you put yourself in danger, either.

Holy. Shit.His family was standing up for him? Believing in him? “Thanks, Alex. Marcello.”

“It was long overdue.” Alex glanced at the rest of their family. “Long overdue.”

Marcello sat down again, and Grace took his hand. “I did get some more information, things you should know before you go. Do you have a few minutes to discuss?”

He was still reeling from his brothers believing in him.Focus. The strike. Right. “Sure. Let’s bring the others up to speed.”

Marcello gave a brief overview to his parents, sisters, and others regarding the details of the investigation. “Here’s the latest: we followed Field and discovered something interesting. It seems his wife is not the woman we thought she was. It’s true that Field abused her, but we don’t believe that’s the case anymore. Something changed in the last few years, and Eddie found out what it was.”

Eddie nodded. “It turns out that Susan comes from serious money. She’s an American heiress. Her father died a couple years ago, and left most of his fortune to her and nothing to Field.”

“She’s holding the purse strings and the power,” Lorenzo muttered.

“And probably for the first time in their marriage. There’s a clause in her father’s will, too, that keeps the fortune from Field unless she explicitly leaves it to him. I don’t know how that would fly in Valleria – the courts would need to figure that out – but it would give her leverage in their relationship for the first time.”

Nate shook his head. “Do you think she’s behind this? That she orchestrated all of this? If her husband gets more power, as he would through a strike, wouldn’t that be counterintuitive to her ends? She’d want him to have less power, not more.”

Grace, whose past also included abuse, spoke in her refined English accent. “Not all women who are abused respond to it the same way.” Marcello’s arm came around her, and she cleared her throat. “If she felt as though she finally had her power back, she may very well have behaved in this way. On the other hand, perhaps not.”

Lorenzo kept his gaze on Marcello. “So, you think that’s why Field is going after the strike, because he’s trying to take his own power back?”

Marcello shrugged. “it’s a possibility.”

“As if the asshole didn’t have enough already? He ‘allegedly’ beat the shit out of her for years.” At Grace’s wince, he quickly added, “Shit. I’m sorry, Grace. I hope my words didn’t hurt you.”

Grace gave a small smile. “I know your words, though they were perhaps a little…rough, didn’t mean any offense. I know you despise violence against women, and you’ve always been very respectful towards me. Your words didn’t hurt me, just startled me. I’m stronger than you might think.”

Lorenzo attempted to diffuse the tension he’d just created with a wicked smile. “You’d have to be a strong woman to spend the rest of your life with Marcello.”

Marcello narrowed his eyes. “Lorenzo…”

“You sure you still want to marry him? It’s not too late to back out.”

Grace smiled more broadly. “I’m sure.”

“Damn right she is,” Marcello muttered.

Nate chuckled, along with most of the others. “I also have some gossip, if you’d like to hear it.”

“About Field?” Alex asked.

“Sort of. If the latest rumour mill is to be believed, Susan has been having an affair with Paget.”

Eddie whistled. “Jesus. The wife of a union leader sleeping with the Minister of Transportation?”

---