Betrayed at the Altar, I Married a Powerful Rival novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Casserole

"Who sent it?" I asked.

Federico laid the phone face down on the windowsill.

"One of the maids. The one who gasped on the stairs. My men took her phone an hour ago."

"Who is she working for?"

"She says Teresa Sabatini pays her mother's rent."

I should have been surprised, and I wasn't.

"Don't fire her," I said.

"She sold a photograph of my wife."

"Then she'll sell the next one too, and you'll know exactly where it goes."

Federico looked at me for a long moment.

"Move her to the laundry. No phone, no windows to the road," he said. "And dress. You have a visitor at ten."

"Who?"

"A woman in a Buick with a casserole dish on the passenger seat. The gate called up ten minutes ago."

I dressed fast.

By ten o'clock Teresa stood in the Orsini kitchen with a glass dish wrapped in a towel, and she was already crying.

The cook, the housekeeper and both remaining maids were in the room, because Teresa had asked politely for somebody to show her where the oven was.

Paola stood by the refrigerator in one of my borrowed sweaters, arms folded.

Federico leaned in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and said nothing.

"My girl," Teresa said, and put the dish on the counter. "My Gianna. Look at you."

She came toward me with her arms open.

I didn't move, and she stopped a step away and covered her mouth.

"I haven't slept since Friday. I made your favorite, the baked ziti, the way your mother made it. I had to bring it myself."

"You never knew how my mother made it."

"I tried to learn."

Her voice shook.

She wore the black cardigan she wore to funerals and the small gold cross at her throat.

"Gianna, I'm so ashamed. You have to understand, I couldn't say no to my son. Dario told me what the boss wanted, and I thought, she'll be safe with the Orsinis. The old man will be dead in a year. I was only trying to protect you."

← Chapter 6 · All chapters · Chapter 8 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend