His Collateral

Chapter 12

Alessandro's POV:
"You did what?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"I had someone threaten Aldo." I replied as my fists came in contact with the punching bag.

"We had a plan Sandro and you had one simple task. Do not confront Aldo. Now he knows we are suspicious of him."

I paused, my attention now on our conversation. "What was I supposed to do Marco? Sit down and wait for the so called evidence to magically surface? It's my brother we're talking about here. He was murdered and his murderer is out there, roaming the streets, a free man and you expect me to fold my hands and watch?"

He took a deep breath in. "No I don't. What I expected from you was to act according to what we had discussed Sandro, or you could have at least informed me before doing something like this."
"But it's useless arguing over it now. What was his reply?" He added

"Such is life. You give and you receive. It was probably my turn to give away something dearest to me." I said quoting Aldo's words as I began punching the bag even harder.

"He really said that?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"Exactly my reaction. Something is definitely wrong Marco." I replied
"I'm married to his daughter. The plan was to use her to get to him but the bastard doesn't seem to give a fuck!"

"You did say he was a selfish man. If he didn't care then, why would he care now?"

"And Bella, she doesn't even speak about them."

"They used her as a collateral. I would also be mad if my parents had gotten me married to pay off a debt."

"You think she knows?"

"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't."
"Well I have to go. I have some work to do."

"Alright." I replied and cut the call before grabbing my towel and heading back inside.
I walked into my room to find Bella asleep on the couch. My eyes roamed all over her body taking in her appearance. She had a black shirt on with a skirt similar to the one she put on yesterday. Her slender, tanned legs on full display.
I quickly shook the thought away, my hands rubbing my temples and then my eyes drifted to her palm that was now wrapped in a white gauze.

I stared at her for a while longer before walking away. I took a shower and when I got out, Bella was still asleep. I quickly got dressed and headed for my study.

Bella's POV:
I woke up feeling a bit better. The pain on my palm had significantly reduced as I was taking lots of painkillers but a huge amount of skin on my palm had peeled off making it impossible for me to make use of my right hand. Everything was now a struggle.

All thanks to Alessandro.

I got up from the couch and straightened my dress before leaving the room. I was half way down the stairs when I heard laughter coming from the kitchen. It was Alessandro and someone else. A lady.
I took slow steps down until I was finally in the kitchen. I stood by a corner. They were both seated on the stools around the island.

I had never seen him laugh that way before. Who was she?

Alessandro's and my eyes met and his smile slowly faded. The lady, noticing it turned to look at me and that was when I saw her. She was Christy.

"Bella?" She called my name as she stood up from her stool and walked over to where I stood.
"Oh my gosh, it's you!" She added hugging me tightly with a huge smile on her face. I hugged her back, meeting with Alessandro's inquisitive eyes once more.

"You know her?" He asked from behind.

"She's my friend. We met at the mall the other day." Christy replied looking between Alessandro and I as if she had put two and two together.
"Are you both?..."

But Alessandro answered her question before she could even complete it.
"Yes. She is my wife. And Christy here is my cousin."

"Wow! What a tiny world we liv-" she paused as her eyes darted to my palm.
"And what happened to your hand?"

My eyes darted quickly to Alessandro who was already boring holes into my head while maintaining a still expression on his face.

I have to come up with something quick..

"Um... I..burnt it while making dinner yesterday. B-but it's fine. I'm fine now."

"So sorry. Well come on. We have a lot to talk about now I know who your husband is." She whispered the last part dragging me away.

Christy took me to the pool side, where we talked for hours. She was fun to talk to and I enjoyed spending time with her, except for the part where I had to lie when she asked about Alessandro and I and how we met. Occasionally, I also caught a glimpse of him gazing at us from his study.
It was almost 2pm when we heard noises coming from inside the house. Then Mary came out.

"Bella, Sir Alessandro would like to see you in his study."

Why? What does he want now?

I stood up from the swing. "Alright, I'm coming."
Christy got up as well and followed me back into the house. On getting to the living room, I spotted a long garment bag, a mirror , a mini rack of shoes and bags, and the same dressmakers from my wedding, Ruby and Sam.

"Oh there she is." Sam said walking up to me with a huge grin on his face.

"She's even prettier than last time." Ruby added making me smile
She turned to Christy giving her a peck on both cheeks. "And if it isn't our very own Christy."

"What are you guys doing here?" Christy asked and I looked at them, wanting to know why as well.

"Mr. Alessandro of course. He has asked us to bring this custom made gown for Mrs. Rossi over here." Sam answered.

Mrs. Rossi? That name sounded foreign.

"What's the occasion?" I asked

"That, you'll have to find out from him." Ruby answered. Then Mary tapped me on my shoulder reminding me that he wanted to see me in his office.
"I'll be back." I said leaving them to talk as I made my way to his study upstairs. I knocked on the door and heard his deep voice say 'come in'.
I twisted the knob open and made my way into his office before shutting the door behind me.
He was busy staring at the computer in front him while I slowly made my way to his desk.

"Mary said you wanted to see me?" I asked now in front of him.

He turned to look at me. "Yes. I believe you've met Ruby and Sam."

I nodded.

"They have brought a dress for you. Try it on. A makeup artist and hairstylist are on the way. We'll be attending an event by 8pm tonight."

"Why do I have to come?"

"Because I need to make an appearance with my wife."

"And since when did you consider me your wife?" I asked, a new burst of confidence surging through me.

He looked at me like I had gone nuts. "I said you should go downstairs and fit in your dress. We have an event to attend by 8pm."
He spoke with more authority now.

"I'm not going."

"What did you say?"

"I am not going!"

"Do not test me Bella." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"And what are you going to do? Huh? Burn my other hand? Well go ahead, I've been through wor-" I paused, realizing what I was about to say and quickly made my way out of his study. I was just by the top of the stairs when I heard footsteps behind me followed by his tight grip on my elbow. He spun me around to face him and he didn't look happy.

Of course he wouldn't be happy.

"He was just about to say something but was interrupted by Christy exclaiming loudly downstairs.

"Definitely this one. It would look really pretty on her." She said holding a black shoe up in front of the mirror.

"And this too." She added lifting a red purse this time around and showing it to Mary. I turned to look at Alessandro as he let go of me.

"You don't have a choice. Be ready by 7:45." He said and walked back in the direction of his study.
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