The day of the big wedding was marked by clear skies and a not-so-stifling sun. The temperature was cool, something that had not been seen in Italy since the beginning of summer.Voslov stood at the window of his mansion, watching the mountains bathed in the golden glow of the sun. His eyes were sad and his attitude was that of someone in mourning. He had reason to believe that the day ahead was less wonderful than others believed."Sir, your breakfast is ready," said a young man whose small, puny frame made him look younger. Voslov turned to look at him with a dull look.He followed the little man into the dining room, a vast room with a gigantic oak table, absurd for a man who lived alone and did not allow his employees to sit down. He sat down at the top end, placed a napkin on his lap, waited for his cooks to prepare the dish, and began to eat. More than thirty employees were lined up waiting to receive an order."Is my suit ready yet? I'll be leaving
The hotel was the epicenter of chaos with employees running from one side to the other. It was a high-prestige wedding, nothing could go wrong. Voslov hastily cleared away the employees who were blocking the elevator, but not before asking where he could find the long-awaited protagonist. He pressed the button that would take him two floors up. In the hallway where the doors opened there was no one. A crushing silence echoed off the walls, interrupted only by their languid but firm footsteps.He stood in front of the door of one of the rooms. He inhaled and exhaled several times very quietly, giving the impression that he was performing some kind of ritual until he finally rang the bell. He was answered by a bodyguard."I want to see Ciro Tonali," he said, reserving his politeness."He's not available," was the man's direct reply. Voslov felt something spark inside him, making him furious. He couldn't tolerate such disrespectful treatment. Of course, the bodygua
Michael, or rather Derek, arrived at the wedding accompanied by a tall African-American woman with wavy hair and an elegant bearing, who could match the detective's tuxedo.- Remember: we are a couple without children, we lived in Naples until recently when we bought a house here in Florence. - He went over the alibi with his partner. She nodded, delighted to attend a high-class event for which she would be paid the not inconsiderable sum of thirty thousand euros. - Try not to talk to anyone and if you have to, say little. You can say that you don't yet master the language.-Understood. If you'd like, I could give you a hand with the whole investigation. - Karla offered.-It's better not. Just do what I tell you and try to go unnoticed, we'll see each other later.Each went their separate ways. Michael set out to talk to some of the guests who seemed more receptive to talking to a stranger. His intention was to find out more about the bride. What he had r
Lorient acted like the boss in the suite, ordering around left and right. She had told Bethany she had nothing to worry about, and boy did she mean it. The tantrum she threw when they brought her the wrong jewelry was no bigger than the one she threw when they showed up with the bouquet Bethany was supposed to be carrying. Sleepy white roses instead of lively red ones.-You're so late! When I ordered Belgian chocolates, I didn't think they'd come all the way to Belgium to bring them. - The bridesmaid scolded a delivery man who came in, embarrassed. Bethany wanted to say something in her defense, but she was afraid of Lorient's strong character.The maid of honor slammed the door shut once the boy was lying outside. She then turned to look at the bride with a smile. She was a complete lunatic.Both girls approached to eat the chocolates that would help calm their nerves, or at least that was the excuse that motivated them to eat them.-Are you mar
The guests were beginning to lose patience. It was almost an hour after the ceremony had started and the bride had not appeared. Ciro was so worried that he personally went up to find out what the problem was. He was not pleased to find out that his fiancée refused to leave the suite.-My dear, what's going on? -Ciro asked, knocking on the door, a bundle of nerves. He didn't care so much about the wedding, he just wanted to know if his beloved was okay, but there was no answer. He turned around to look for the bridesmaid. -What happened?-I don't know. I was with her until Caitlin arrived, so I decided to give them privacy. Then I came back and neither of them was there, after a while Bethany appeared in a flood of tears and when I tried to try to comfort her; to find out what was wrong, she pushed me out. - Ciro had barely waited for Lorient to give his explanations when he had already turned towards Caitlin. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and took her to a
The wedding march began to play and, as tradition dictates, the guests stood up to see the arrival of the long-awaited star. Slowly, she appeared down the aisle strewn with red petals.The bride looked closely at her fiancé, standing at the end of the aisle. She felt trapped by fate, unable to decide. Her feet felt heavy as if they were tied to a huge ball of cement. Running away was not an option. Meanwhile, her mind repeated over and over again, in the smallest detail, Brahim and Ciro's conversation. Her skin crawled and her eyes filled with tears. The uninitiated believed it was a product of emotion, so they put their hands on their hearts, moved.Red gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving her at the altar in the hands of Ciro Tonali. Bethany's heart threatened to burst out of her chest from how fast it was beating. The groom could see her anguish. He tried to take her hand to reassure her, but she rejected him without dissimulation and clung to the b
The ceremony that followed the wedding took place on one of the largest and most beautiful docks in Florence, which was not usually used for such events, but there was nothing that money couldn't fix. After cutting the cake and posing for photos with each of the guests, it was time for the dance; a situation that made Bethany uneasy. All eyes were on them while she was in the arms of a murderer of whom she only knew lies. Her hands were not around his neck as they had been during rehearsals, but were placed on his strong chest, wanting to keep at least a minimum distance, Ciro noticed. It was not the same smiling Bethany who hugged him during rehearsals and the kiss that sealed their union was the trigger. But he would not comment on it, at least in front of the guests. They had already had enough of a show with the bride's delay.-I love you. – The Italian murmured in her ear hoping to change her cold attitude. What he achieved, without knowing it, was to make every ha
"A pair of black orbs staring at her in solemn darkness and hands squeezing her thin neck." This had been a recurring nightmare that had disturbed Bethany in her first days after awakening from her coma. She always believed it was a product of her fanciful subconscious, relegating her importance. Of course she was going to believe it like that, there was no point in giving her another explanation.A flight attendant arrived to draw her out of her thoughts. She offered her a Margarita, which Bethany accepted without a second thought.-It's the third one already. - The Italian observed.They were hundreds of meters above the ground, aboard Ciro's private plane; he was heading to his honeymoon. Bethany didn't say or do anything, she just drank her glass of liquor, losing herself in the white blanket of clouds they flew over.-Do you want to talk to me about what's happening to you? - Ciro insisted for the umpteenth time that day, tired of feeling so
answering machine. He had listened to the message three times already, still unable to believe it. He walked over and played the audio for the fourth time:-I'm recording this message for anyone who might be interested: I'm Bethany Carter, or so I think. I'm stuck in Italy and I need help getting back to the United States.He slammed his fist against the small wooden table. He had no doubts, it was Anne's voice. It had been a long time since he last heard it, but he would never forget it. Even in his dreams he could make it out so clearly that it was as if she were right in front of him. That melodic tone that had been the ringing tone of his life for years.A sea of feelings came to him. Anger, emotion and nostalgia surged through his turbulent soul. In the end, he didn't know why he was crying. Maybe it was because of helplessness, since no one believed him even when he was right. His beloved Anne was still alive.She forced herself to compose
Later that day, Bethany would try for the umpteenth time to leave the house. Inside the Tonali mansion everything was rigorously guarded. Privacy was limited, almost non-existent, so she had to go to a place that was far from the control of her husband, who luckily was not at home at that moment. Her main problem was the guard who practically welcomed her to the mansion. The corpulent man did not leave the small room next to the huge iron gate for anything, not even to eat. He only left his post when he needed to use the bathroom, which was a small room inside his guardhouse.Bethany was playing with the dogs on the large green porch, pretending to be unaware of the security guard who didn't even suspect her intentions, which gave her peace of mind to look at her cell phone. The anxiety that dominated her at that moment manipulated her perception of time in a cruel way, making her believe that sixty minutes would pass as dozens of hours, and the security guard remained firm i
The relationship between Ciro and Brahim was clearly fractured. They rarely spoke to each other and the few moments they shared were filled with tension. There was a thin streak of hostility between them, just waiting to explode. Brahim tapped his golf club against his SDR sneakers , glancing at his brother, who until now had been acting rationally, if a little distant.-How are things going with Bethany? - She asked, throwing Ciro off balance. He preferred to concentrate on his shot so as to stop himself from giving her a murderous look."You mean how they walk after having rolled around with you?" he said hostilely, lamenting his bad shot that left the victory on a silver platter for Brahim.-No. I mean about the private detective. -Ciro ignored him. He didn't want to tell him anything about his wife. Brahim stood in front of his brother and continued: -I've looked at the inform
Sand Wedge club hit the small white ball which rolled into the hole. The firstborn strutted about his achievement and shouted claims as he got ready for the next shot. Brahim was absorbed in his reality, not even realizing that Ciro was about to steal his turn. He watched intently towards the balcony of the main room. Bethany was standing there, returning his stalking gaze. With the cool breeze of the wind ethereally stirring her reddish hair. In the last few days, Ciro had become a kind of guardian angel who watched over Bethany day and night from the temptations of “Lucifer.” That distant glance was the first contact that reunited the well-matched lovers after several weeks of ignorance. Brahim had wished to have the opportunity to talk to her, although he didn’t know very well what he would say to her. That last conversation they had had left him with a lot to th
Ciro was tying his tie with great effort, making mistakes over and over again until he lost his patience. He was not used to tying it himself, usually Bethany helped him, who did it in a flash. But this time he couldn't go to her or he would ruin what he had in mind. Surrendered to frustration, he left the knot badly tied and the tie crooked, thinking that it looked better than he thought, and even if it didn't, he wouldn't waste any more time on it. That ridiculous accessory had taken up a lot of his time, more than he spent on any other piece of his suit. Suddenly, a ringing sounded that wasn't his cell phone. It took him a while to realize that it was the small android he had confiscated from the detective. He walked over to the nightstand next to his bed and pulled the noisy device out of the top drawer where he had kept it. "Unknown" was written on the identifier, it was a number that wasn't regi
Bethany's bare feet touched the green grass, damp from the sprinklers the gardener had put up earlier.The iron gate was right in front of her, and it looked farther away than usual. Only by crossing those bars would she achieve freedom, or at least the beginning of it. She began to walk slowly, almost on tiptoe, being as stealthy as she could. It was early in the morning so Ciro was sleeping, if she didn't escape now, then there wouldn't be another one. She quickened her pace, feeling very slow, but the bars were getting further and further away.-Bethany! - She heard her captor's fierce scream from inside the house. Ciro had woken up. It didn't matter anymore to be stealthy. Her fast walk changed into a run for her life.She ran as fast as she could, but she still couldn't close the distance to the iron gate. And if her suffering wasn't enough, the dogs came out of their den straight towards her. She understood that they weren't there to keep her company but t
After leaving Michael's house, Ciro, with disgust making his blood boil, was about to arrive home, however, he was not ready to face his wife. What would he say to her? How would she react? This last question was what scared him the most. He had never reacted violently to her, not even the first time of her infidelity, but he was not sure he could handle it as well now. This time he felt like his soul was being squeezed and all he wanted was to destroy something with his fists, until he saw them bleeding and raw, and his anger flowing out through his wounds, they had to be huge openings. He stopped at a pole dance without being completely aware of what he was doing. His mind was only focused on revenge, as it could not be otherwise considering what he did. He sat at one of the tables to watch the women dressed in lingerie dance on the pole. He ordered a bottle of rum that he intended to drink
Everything was a blur. Flashbacks flashed through his mind where he was running, constantly looking back. He tripped and the next thing that took a bit of force in his memories was the sting in his head from a hard blow. As he fell, he remembered saying goodbye to those he loved.When he began to become aware of the events, the first thing he noticed was that his body was immobilized. His arms and legs were tied and dead to his will. Someone immediately removed the cloth bag that covered his head. It took him a few minutes to adjust his vision to the light; it seemed like he had a lighthouse right in front of him.-Good morning. –He heard a voice. He had spent a lot of time investigating and meddling in the Tonali's life to know that it was Brahim.He was standing very close to Michael while Ciro was a little further back, glaring at him. And around him were five men dressed in black. The detective noticed that they were in the house he had bought
Bethany had been craving a latte, so she decided to go down from the bedroom to the kitchen. Ciro had left for some time, somewhere she didn't know, and he still hadn't arrived.He entered the kitchen, which was completely empty. The maids had already left for their respective homes when they finished their work shift. He prepared his drink very slowly, not wanting the rush to spoil its good taste. Latte coffee was his favorite. Its flavor brought back family memories that stirred his nostalgic sense. He drank it out of a kind of masochism.She made a face of disgust when she saw Brahim entering, thinking she was alone. The man leaned his right shoulder against the edge of the entrance and prepared to look at her with seductive airs. Seeing that Bethany was not fazed by his eagerness, he took the initiative to approach her and moved one of her locks of hair away from her face."What do you think you're doing?" She asked as if it were the strangest thing anyone had ever done to her."W