Page 126 of Die for You
Nothing he says can shock me.
Or so I thought.
“Surely you didn’t think Hugo was the mastermind behind this all? I’m insulted.”
Both Valentina and I share the same reaction of utter shock.
“Hello, my darling. Miss me?”
“How? You’re dead.”
“Yes, I know. You killed me. Till death do us part. But you didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?”
“I’m not crazy. Ididsee you.” Valentina seems relieved.
But now, we have another issue to deal with.
Bria is alive, and she’s fucking pissed.
“This isn’t possible. You were dead. I felt for a pulse. I plunged that knife into your heart.”
Bria stands tall in a pantsuit, very reminiscent of Gianna. “Yes, you did, but lucky for me, I was wearing a stab-proof vest. Very affordable and came in a day, thanks to Amazon Prime.”
She’s making jokes? Sheisfucking crazy.
“You felt for a pulse for two seconds. You were too worried about Valentina to check if you had finished the job. You know better than that.”
“But I was at your service. My men told me it was all taken care of.”
“I was too,” she says, examining her nails. “That pathetic excuse of a burial was an insult to my memory. Thankfully, your men are easily bribed.”
Her words cut deep because now, I understand. “It’s been you this entire time, not Gianna, hasn’t it?”
“Ding! Ding! Ding!”
Throughout this entire time, I believed Gianna was the one responsible for killing my men and overthrowing my kingdom. But it was Bria.
“The mole is you.”
“Yes, darling, I can’t believe it took you this long to figure it out. I thought you’d have worked it out long ago. When I saw the files my father had on Valentina, I knew you’d have the proof to convince her that Gianna was her mother.
“So I thought if I deleted them, you’d give up your little obsession with her. But it seems I was wrong.”
“So you made a deal with the woman who killed your father?” I shout, struggling in my seat to break free.
She flinches as my words have cut her deep. “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right?”
“Have you no loyalty?”
My verbal stab wounds her, and she lunges forward, slapping my cheek. “I was loyal to you! And where did that get me? Constantly living in her shadow! Do you know what it feels like to be second best your whole life?”
Valentina is quiet, and that’s because she’s working at the restraints behind her back. She must have enough slack to eventually break free.
In the interim, we need to stall Bria.
“I’m sorry! I was a fucking shit husband! But that doesn’t warrant you to destroy everything I’ve worked so hard for. You killed good men, and for what? ’Cause you’re upset we didn’t go on date nights!”
“Don’t patronize me,” she snarls.
