Contract Of The 7th Wife

Chapter 5: Faithful traitors

"It’s almost the mourning period, but I choose to feed my stepson before the grief."

The heavy doors of the Vincenzo & Co. Holdings office clicked shut behind me, cutting off the view of the staff out on the executive floor. Riccardo sat behind his desk, the moment he looked up, his hands coming off the keyboard. A wave of excitement flushed across his face as his dark eyes swept over me with a sudden, wild hunger.

He leaned against the edge of the desk with a smug smile. "Don’t you think my bed would have been better, Dana? This is my office. Anyone could walk in."

I stepped right into his space, tilting my head back to look at him. I raised a single finger, pressing it gently against his lips to hush him. "Having your stepmother in your bed can have your head off your body, you know," I whispered, staring deep into his eyes. I slide my hands down from his lips, running my fingers slowly over his neck and down the firm muscle of his chest, recording his voice on my watch. "But you can fight for yourself. I certainly won’t stay with a loser."

Riccardo bit his lips, I could hear the drumbeat of his heart beating under my palm. He pulled me over, reaching for my waist, completely melting under the physical touch. "I’ll win," he whispered. "I’ll tear down anything that stands between us, Dana. Just tell me what you want."

I leaned in closer, letting every bit of my hairbrush his jaw as my fingers lingered near his collarbone. "I’m inclined to believe this upcoming mourning has something to do with your mother. Interesting. She was the first, I guess. What was her name?"

"Francesca," Riccardo muttered, running his hands on my shoulder, as I moved my tongue closer to his lips. "Francesca was her name."

"So sad she’s gone," I murmured softly, sliding my hands down to his ribs. "I would have loved to meet the woman who gave birth to my cute stepson."

His relaxed smile vanished, replaced by a vengeful, furious look. "Blame it on that monster you call a husband. He uses women and discards them when he’s done. One day, I will set his forbidden room ablaze and watch his reaction. It will be fun, I guess."

I moved my hands smoothly, as a sinister smile sprayed across my lips. "Oh? There’s a forbidden room?"

"Where else do you think he dumps all the memories of his wives?" Riccardo scoffed.

I ran my hands down his tailored shirt, slowly pulling off one button and letting my fingers feel his bare chest. Ricardo relaxed on his executive chair, closing his eyes while I dip my fingers down in his shirt. "Don’t you think the whole estate would be destroyed if you choose to set the forbidden room ablaze?"

"Far from it," Riccardo whispered, a proud, manic sound. "Can’t you see it’s completely separated from that penthouse he locks you in?"

“I see”, I patted his chest gently, buttoned his shirt and laid a soft kiss on his neck. "Why don’t you have your meal, dear stepson?"

Riccardo reached out, drawing me back as he stood up from his desk. his "Dana, why are you doing this?. Don't leave yet."

"Have your lunch, Riccardo," I murmured, throwing a calm glance over my shoulder as I walked toward the exit. "We have a very long week ahead of us."

I left the suite, giving him a view of my back as I walked out. Right before the door closed, I blew him a kiss.

The ride back to the Ferraro estate was completely silent. I sat in the backseat of the car, playing the audio from my watch looping in my ears, when my phone buzzed hard against my leg. I pulled out the encrypted screen.

It was a text from an unlisted number. My stomach dropped the second I read it.

“Anyone who destroys the Ferraro monsters is a hero. But until you finish them off, you’re just target number seven.”

Taking care of baby Elio for the rest of the evening felt different. I couldn't get that text message out of my head. Nine times I started to pass the information along to my boss. All nine times, I backed out before hitting the call button or sending the message.

At exactly 2:27 AM, I slipped down the service corridors toward the old wing. Pulling a micro-terminal bypass tool from my sleeve, I typed out the security commands. It took less than ninety seconds to loop the surveillance cameras and blind the monitors, giving me a strict ten-minute window.

The heavy security lock clicked open with a quiet hiss.

But as I reached for the heavy basement door handle, footsteps echoed from the next corridor. Light spilled across the stone floor. Sofia was walking back from the kitchen with a glass of water.

I pressed my back flat against a marble pillar, staying deep in the shadows and holding my breath as her heels came closer. Sofia stopped near the archway and looked around the dim hallway. After a long, quiet moment, she shrugged and walked back toward her bedroom.

The moment her footsteps vanished, I stepped out of the corners, unlocked the security door, and hurried down the stairs.

About a few minutes later, I stepped into the forbidden room, turning on a small tactical penlight to see through the heavy dust and darkness. My beam of light swept across the floor, and I froze.

Seven massive, heavy steel boxes sat in a row against the concrete walls, all fitted with digital keypad locks. I moved down the line, my heart pounding hard.

The first box was sealed tight. The next four were exactly the same, locked, heavy, and completely shut.

Then my light hit the seventh box.

It was wide open. And it was completely empty.

I stared into the empty metal shell, my chest tightening. Before I could even process what it meant, my foot clipped the base of an old clock tucked into the corner of the vault.

The heavy wood rattled against the wall. The jolt knocked something loose from a crack beneath the base, and a small piece of plastic slid across the floorboards.

I dropped to my knees, shining the penlight on it. It was a highly encrypted magnetic passcard, stamped with a sharp gold emblem. I picked it up and flipped it over.

A cold wave of shock hit me as I read the crisp lettering and the ruthless motto engraved across the surface: Ferro Group. Nothing is given. Everything is claimed.