Chapter 2

Alessia's Pov

My head pounded like a bass drum when I finally came to reality. The silk sheets beneath me weren't mine, and the ceiling I stared at belonged to no room I recognized.

I bolted upright and instantly regretted the sudden movement as nausea rolled through me. Memories from last night flooded back at the bar, Leo Costello, the drugged drink. My clothes had been changed; I was wearing an oversized men's shirt and nothing else.

"Fuck," I whispered, scanning the room for an exit or a weapon, anything.

"Good morning, detective." Leo stood in the doorway all dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, holding two cups of coffee. "Thought you might need this."

I pulled the sheet up to my chin. "Where am I? What did you do to me?"

"Relax." He set one cup on the nightstand beside me. "You're in my penthouse. And I didn't do anything you're imagining. My housekeeper changed you after you... got sick."

"You drugged me," I accused.

He shrugged with no flicker or remorse . "I needed a private conversation. Couldn't risk you making a scene."

"So kidnapping was your solution? I'm leaving." I moved to stand, but my legs still felt weak.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Leo's voice remained casual, but his eyes hardened. "Especially since your friend Marco is eager to see you."

My blood ran cold. "Marco? What have you done with him?"

Marco was my colleague at the district attorney's office—one of the few people who'd believed in my innocence when Matteo was arrested..

Leo studied me over the rim of his coffee cup. "Follow me when you're ready. Bathroom's there if you want to freshen up." He pointed to a door on the right. "Don't try anything stupid, Alessia. This building belongs to me. Every exit, every person works for me."

He left and closed the door behind him. Not locking it, The message was clear: I wasn't getting out unless he allowed it.

Ten minutes later, after splashing cold water on my face and finding a robe to cover myself, I followed the sound of voices down a hallway lined with modern art pieces that probably cost more than my yearly salary.

I froze at the entrance to a spacious living area. Marco sat tied to a chair, blood seeping through his pants where a bullet had torn through his thigh. His face was bruised, his glasses were missing but his eyes widened when he saw me.

"Alessia! Thank God. Are you hurt? Did they—"

"Shut it, counselor." A burly man with a gun pressed it against Marco's temple.

"Let him go," I demanded, my voice stronger than I felt. "He has nothing to do with any of this."

Leo looked up, amused. "Nothing? Your boyfriend here has been helping build a case against my family. That makes him very much involved."

"He's not my—"

"Save it." Leo stood, walking toward me with predatory grace. "We've been watching you both. Recording you, All those late nights at the DA's office, the files you've been collecting." He circled me. "Did Matteo know you were planning to flip on him before he got pinched?"

Marco struggled against his restraints. "Don't tell him anything, Alessia! He's just trying to—"

The crack of a fist connecting with Marco's jaw echoed through the room and I flinched, rushing forward only to be caught by Leo's iron grip.

"I wasn't working against Matteo," I said quickly. "I didn't know anything about his... business until yesterday."

Leo's laugh was hollow. "Yet here you are, conspiring with a prosecutor."

I watched in horror as the camera captured Leo helping me from the bar, my body limp and pliant. The footage cut to the inside of a car, where I was conscious but clearly drugged, answering questions about everything, every damn thing I wasn't supposed to be saying about the operation and Marco being in love with me could be the only reason why he was diligently working with me.

God, I was clearly speaking gibberish about my Husband, Marco and even Leo.

Marco's face flushed with humiliation as Leo paused the video.

"That's not—I didn't say—" I stammered, but Leo raised an eyebrow.

“What do you want Leo, kill and drop some trails of bodies for you before you release Marco and stop this madness?”

His laugh was cold. "No, cara. By marrying me instead."

The room went silent. Even Marco stopped struggling."You're insane," I finally managed.

"I'm practical." Leo pulled out his phone, showing me a photo of Sofia Ricci leaving the police station. "Your mother-in-law made a deal this morning and threw you under the bus entirely. Said you were the brains behind Matteo's operation, that you pushed him into the family business."

"That's a lie!" I shouted.

"Of course it is but lies told by the grieving mother of an accused criminal carry weight. Especially when backed by the Costello family lawyers." His smile was razor-sharp. "By this time tomorrow, your face will be all over the news as the mastermind who seduced Matteo Ricci and pushed him into a life of crime."

Marco spoke up. "We can fight this. Alessia, don't listen to him." Loe didn't give a damn about Marco's existence, his main focus was on me and when Marco was trying too hard to convince me, he ordered his men to shut him up.

"Stop." My voice cracked. "Just stop. What exactly do you really want from me, Leo?"

" He lifted my chin with his finger. "Marry me. Become Alessia Costello. I'll make the charges against you disappear, give you everything Matteo promised but never delivered."

"And if I refuse?"

His eyes went cold. "Then I release the video of you admitting to working with a prosecutor to the press. I leak evidence showing you knew about Matteo's business all along. I destroy your reputation, your future, and your friend's career. After that..." He shrugged. "People who betray the family tend to disappear."

"You'd kill me?"

"I'd have no choice." His tone suggested genuine regret. "Business is business."

I looked at Marco, bleeding and desperate. At the men with guns. At the luxurious prison Leo had brought me to.

"How do I know you'd keep your word? About Marco, about the charges?"

"Because unlike your husband, I'm a man of honor." Leo took my hand. "Say yes, and Marco walks out of here now. Say no, and I put a bullet in his other leg."

But I saw the truth in Leo's eyes. There was no fighting this. There was only survival.

"If I agree," I said slowly, "what would be expected of me?"

Leo's smile was triumphant. "To be the perfect wife in public. Support my business interests. Give me children. In return, you'll want for nothing."

"And Matteo?"

"Will remain exactly where he is. Prison." Leo's eyes hardened. "Make your choice, Alessia. Time's running out."

I looked between the devil before me and the good man bleeding for me. The choice was impossible, yet crystal clear. To save one life, I would have to surrender my own.

"I need your answer," Leo whispered, his breath hot against my ear. "Now.”