Chadwick also grew increasingly irritated by the support the old man, whom he referred to as Umberto during his talks with Lincoln, was showing his daughter. He was also annoyed by therecent attention he was giving to that little whore, Richard. The two men had been seeking a way to neutralize one of them for quite some time, and this presented the ideal opportunity.
Lincoln discreetly withdrew to his room, avoiding the servants—carefully selected and generously paid by Allegra not only to perform their duties but also to monitor him. With trembling hands, he retrieved his phone and quickly dialed Chadwick’s number. After what felt like an eternity, the line finally answered.
“What’s so urgent that it can’t wait until tomorrow?” Chadwick’s voice was grumpy and hoarse. “You know this is the time for my afternoon nap, but do you fucking care? Of course not.”
“Sorry,” Lincoln replied in a meek, apologetic tone. “I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t really important.” He inhaled sharply. “I know how we can finally get free of the bitch’s control and get on top of the situation.”
Chadwick huffed in contempt. “Oh, really? Another of your bright ideas? Okay, let’s hear it, genius.”
Lincoln cleared his throat. “There is this guy, Bob Dixon, who came here and threatened Allegra, telling her to sell a story to the competition unless she gives him four million dollars.”
“Four…what?” The noises on the other end of the line showed Chadwick shifting in bed. “Oh wow, sissy dearest must have done something really, really bad this time. I’m listening. What’s the story?”
“Bob Dixon is the maternal uncle of Ottavio Sforza’s oldest child,” Lincoln started nervously. “Apparently, Allegra paid him and his wife to file for custody of the child, and then his father bought his business for four times its value to make him drop the lawsuit. Anyway, he didn’t get to enjoy the money because someone robbed him.”
Chadwick let out a loud laugh. “Let me guess: the guy thinks sissy dearest did it, which makes him even more stupid than you. She may be a controlling, manipulative bitch who sometimes bribes people into doing what she wants, but she was always a law-abiding citizen.”
Lincoln nodded in approval, though he knew the other man couldn’t see him. “Exactly. And this is when we come into the picture, taking care of the problem and holding the bitch in our debt for the rest of her life.” He swallowed hard several times. “I thought we could…um…use your contacts to take care of the job. I... I recorded their conversation. I’ll email it to you.”
“Good boy.” The praise Lincoln craved came in a cold voice. “I’ll decide what to do after I listen to it. Wait for my message.”
Right after Chadwick hung up, Lincoln sent him the conversation, then lay on the bed, waiting for a sign from the man. With his hands folded under his head, he silently cursed the day he first met that guy and fell for him like a schoolgirl. Still, he enjoyed being roughed up and humiliated by him; in a strange way, it made him feel important and seen.
Lincoln sighed, wondering whether, once that Allegra bitch was out of the picture, Chadwick would marry him, as he’d promised all those years earlier when they hatched that plan. He probably will, the man thought, because I’ll be a wealthy widower now, not the broke nobody I used to be when we first met.
Lincoln’s phone buzzed, and he checked the new message. Chadwick was on his way to Lincoln’s house and told him to leave and wait for him down the road at the usual spot. Twenty minutes later, the men were heading to the address Bob Dixon had dictated to Allegra as ano-excuse-not-to-be-theremasked threat.
Chadwick parked the car at the end of the driveway and signaled to Lincoln, who was waiting for instructions, to get outand follow him. As they approached the house, their unease grew; they sensed something was terribly wrong deep inside.
The main door was wide open, confirming the men’s gut feeling. They rushed inside, heading to the living room, where a blood-freezing scene greeted them. On the couch, Bob Dixon sat, head tilted back, mouth agape, eyes wide with terror, blood seeping from the countless stab wounds littering his body.
Chadwick and Lincoln exchanged a terrified look. If that was Allegra’s doing—and they were sure it was—they’d better watch their backs and lie low. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
CHAPTER 20
“Hey, beauty!” Galen said softly, his hand reaching toward the young, solid-white mare, who shyly backed into the farthest corner of her stall. “Aww, come on, let’s be friends,” the kid continued soothingly. “I come in peace, bringing treats.” He pulled an apple from the paper bag he was holding. “Here you go. Come and get it.”
“I don’t know if you’ll have any luck with that one,” a stable hand who witnessed the scene shook his head. “Don Nuzzo had quite a few clients for her, but they all gave up in the end. Not that I blame them. No one likes a horse who just…hides like that.”
“Maybe she does it because people let her down too soon,” Galen got as close as he could to the stall’s gate, holding the apple. “Or maybe it's because they didn’t try hard enough to understand her, to communicate with her. Isn’t it, beauty?” The teen turned to the hand. “Does she have a name?”
“Yes, Bella,” the man said in a bored voice. “But I don’t think she answers to it anymore; no one here has used it in quite a few months.” He straightened and rolled his eyes slightly at the boy. “Look, ragazzino, we’re just a handful of people here, working from dawn till dusk and the other way around. We’re too damn busy to play shrink for the horses.”
Galen ignored the stable hand’s words, focusing on the horse. “Come on, Bella, look at this big, round, juicy apple,” he coaxed her in the same soft voice as before. Finally, the young mare cautiously moved closer, nuzzled the apple, and took a good bite. “That’s it, sweetie, well done.”
“Here you are, figlio mio.” Ottavio let out a long sigh of relief. “I asked your cousins and friends where you were, and they were a bit confused, which worried me. Then Gianluca said the two ofyou parted ways here, and…” He cleared his throat. “Do you see anything you like?”
“Yes, papa,” Galen nodded toward the little mare, who was taking the rest of the apple from his hand. “Her name is Bella, and she's a very sweet girl. A little sad and shy because no one really cares about her, talks to her, or spends time with her.”
“I see,” Ottavio nodded in understanding. “You want to see her happy, and I want the same for you, so consider it done.”
“Consider what done?” Galen frowned in confusion at his father’s words, then turned to him and saw the light in his eyes. “Papa, are you… do you really mean it? Am I going to have my own horse, Bella? Are we going to take her home?”
“Si, figlio mio, we are.” Ottavio ran his fingers through the teen’s light-brown strands. “I stood in the doorway for a few good minutes, watching how you talked to that shy horse, how you put time, patience, and sensibility into the interaction. It was long enough for me to see that you and Bella are a good match, so to say.”
“Mille grazie, papà.” Galen threw himself into the man’s open arms, wrapping his arms around his neck. “You’re a fantastic father, and I love you very much. Ives, too. And Basile, Ivy, Poisoned Ivy, and…”
“I got the message,” Ottavio laughed softly, kissing his son’s forehead. “You are super excited and enthusiastic about having your first horse, and you want to hug everyone you know and tell them how much you appreciate them.” He smiled, and it reached his eyes. “Don’t forget to add the Wisdom Keeper to the list of people you love because he offered to keep Bella at The Base’s vet clinic’s stables.”
