Chapter 9 - The Future Wife
Bonnie’s grandmother was moved before sunrise.
Officially, Margaret Lane had decided to spend a few days at a “luxury wellness retreat.”
In reality, Teresa Moretti personally collected her and brought her to the estate.
Margaret walked through the front doors, looked around, and said, “This is not a wellness retreat.”
Bonnie hugged her.
“No.”
Margaret looked at Luca.
Then at Bonnie.
Then at Luca again.
“Is this about a man?”
Bonnie almost laughed.
“In the broadest possible sense.”
“Which man?”
“My ex-husband.”
Margaret’s expression brightened.
“You finally divorced that jackass?”
Teresa laughed so hard she had to sit down.
Bonnie stared.
“Grandma!”
“What? I waited six years.”
“You never said anything.”
“You loved him.”
Bonnie shook her head.
Apparently everyone in Philadelphia had held a meeting without her.
Margaret pointed toward Luca.
“And him?”
Luca stepped forward politely.
“Luca Moretti.”
Margaret studied him.
“I know the name.”
Bonnie winced.
Luca remained calm.
Margaret looked back at her granddaughter.
“Is he dangerous?”
Bonnie considered.
“Depends who you ask.”
“I’m asking you.”
Bonnie looked at Luca.
“No.”
The answer came naturally.
Luca’s eyes changed.
Margaret noticed.
Old women noticed everything.
“Hmm.”
Bonnie quickly redirected the conversation.
“Ryan sent someone to photograph you.”
Margaret’s humor disappeared.
“Why?”
Bonnie explained enough.
Not everything.
Margaret listened.
When Bonnie finished, her grandmother became silent.
Then she said, “That little bastard.”
Luca coughed into his fist.
Margaret pointed.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear.”
“I heard.”
“Good.”
Margaret spent the morning with Teresa.
By noon, Bonnie prepared for Ryan’s meeting.
He had chosen a restaurant near City Hall.
Public.
Crowded.
Probably because he assumed Luca would not create a scene there.
Bonnie wore a simple navy dress.
No borrowed designer clothes.
No attempt to become someone else.
Before leaving, Luca handed her a small device.
“Emergency alert.”
Bonnie frowned.
“I thought Pennsylvania recording laws were complicated.”
“It doesn’t record.”
“What does it do?”
“Sends your location if pressed.”
She slipped it into her bag.
“You’re going to be nearby.”
“Yes.”
“How nearby?”
“Near.”
“Luca.”
“Very.”
She smiled despite herself.
Ryan was already seated when Bonnie arrived.
He looked terrible.
No tuxedo.
No polished confidence.
His eyes were red.
His jaw rough with stubble.
For the first time since she had met him, Ryan looked like a man losing control.
“Sit.”
Bonnie remained standing.
“You photographed my grandmother.”
“I didn’t.”
“One of your people did.”
“I don’t have people.”
“That must be embarrassing.”
His mouth tightened.
“Bonnie, this is serious.”
“Fourteen million dollars tends to be.”
He glanced around.
“Where’s Moretti?”
“Not your concern.”
“He’s using you.”
“You’ve mentioned.”
“You don’t know him.”
“Neither did you, apparently.”
Ryan leaned forward.
“I can fix everything.”
Bonnie sat.
“Talk.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
He thought he had regained the familiar dynamic.
Good.
“I need you to sign one document.”
“No.”
“Listen first.”
“No.”
“Bonnie.”
She waited.
Ryan lowered his voice.
“The South Pier project is dead. Calvano knows it. Everyone knows it.”
“And?”
“If one transfer is completed, I can recover enough capital to settle the disputed debts.”
“You mean disappear with twenty-five million.”
His face went still.
Bonnie smiled faintly.
“Surprised?”
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Moretti.”
“You really hate that he knows your secrets.”
Ryan leaned back.
“You think he’s better than me?”
“I think that’s an incredibly low standard.”
His face hardened.
“There’s a trust.”
“I know.”
“I can put money into it for you.”
Bonnie laughed.
“You left me forty-one dollars.”
“I was angry.”
“You were celebrating.”
“Fine. I was cruel.”
First honest statement.
Ryan continued.
“I made mistakes.”
“Forgery is a mistake now?”
“I was under pressure.”
“For three years?”
His jaw tightened.
“I built something enormous.”
“We built something.”
“I built the company.”
“With my money, my labor, Luca’s first investment, and apparently several crimes.”
“Stop.”
“No.”
People at nearby tables glanced over.
Ryan lowered his voice.
“If you sign, I can give you five million dollars.”
Bonnie stared.
“You think I’m negotiating?”
“Everyone negotiates.”
“No.”
“Ten.”
She smiled.
“You really never knew me.”
Ryan’s confidence cracked.
“I knew you better than anyone.”
“No. You knew what I tolerated.”
He stared.
Bonnie leaned closer.
“And you confused that with who I was.”
Ryan’s phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
“Do you love him?”
The question stunned her.
“What?”
“Moretti.”
“This has nothing to do with him.”
“It has everything to do with him.”
“No, Ryan. That’s the lesson you still refuse to learn.”
“What lesson?”
“I can leave you without belonging to someone else.”
For a moment Ryan looked almost hurt.
Then anger returned.
“You’ll regret humiliating me.”
Bonnie stood.
“Humiliation was the forty-one dollars.”
She picked up her bag.
“This is accountability.”
Ryan grabbed her wrist.
Not violently.
But enough.
Bonnie looked down.
Then back at him.
“Let go.”
He hesitated.
A chair scraped behind him.
Luca stood three tables away.
He had been there the entire time.
Ryan released her.
Luca approached.
“I said alone,” Ryan snapped.
Bonnie answered.
“I said nothing.”
Ryan looked at Luca.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”
“You’ve wanted my wife for six years.”
Luca stopped.
“Ex-wife.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“See?”
A waiter approached nervously.
Bonnie shook her head.
“It’s fine.”
Ryan looked around at the people watching.
Then said something meant to wound Luca.
“She’ll never fit into your life.”
Bonnie rolled her eyes.
“Apparently I’m not here.”
Ryan continued.
“She wants normal.”
Luca looked at Bonnie.
Then answered calmly.
“She deserves to choose.”
Bonnie felt the words.
Ryan did too.
He stood.
“Ask him what choosing him means.”
“I’m not choosing anyone today.”
“Then why are you living in his house?”
“Because you forged my identity and dangerous men began following me.”
“Vincent won’t touch you.”
“You arranged this with him?”
“No.”
“Then stop speaking for other men.”
Ryan stepped back.
His eyes moved between Bonnie and Luca.
Something calculating returned.
“What happens when this is over?”
Bonnie frowned.
“What?”
“When you’re cleared. When Calvano leaves you alone. You think Moretti just lets you walk away?”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
Ryan laughed.
“No man like him does anything for free.”
Bonnie looked at Luca.
“I already told her that,” Luca said.
Ryan seemed surprised.
Bonnie almost smiled.
Luca continued.
“She owes me nothing.”
Ryan shook his head.
“You don’t believe that.”
“I do.”
“You’ve been waiting six years.”
Luca was silent.
Ryan seized it.
“There.”
Bonnie looked at him.
Luca’s expression changed.
Then he said the last thing anyone expected.
“If Bonnie decides tomorrow that she never wants to see me again, I will make sure she is safe and then disappear from her life.”
Ryan stared.
Luca continued.
“If she decides she wants to stay—”
He stopped.
Bonnie’s heart beat harder.
Ryan scoffed.
“What? She becomes your girlfriend?”
Luca looked at Bonnie.
Something reckless entered his expression.
“No.”
Bonnie raised an eyebrow.
“No?”
Luca’s gaze stayed on her.
“My future wife.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ryan stared.
Bonnie stared harder.
Luca seemed to realize what he had said half a second too late.
The waiter nearby almost dropped a glass.
Bonnie slowly turned toward him.
“Excuse me?”
Luca cleared his throat.
“That came out incorrectly.”
“You think?”
Ryan laughed.
For once, Bonnie agreed with him.
Luca looked deeply uncomfortable.
A sight probably worth millions in Philadelphia.
Bonnie folded her arms.
“Would you like to try again?”
He glanced at Ryan.
Then at the room.
“No.”
“Wise.”
She walked toward the exit.
Luca followed.
Outside, Bonnie made it three steps before she started laughing.
Luca looked annoyed.
“This is not funny.”
“It is extremely funny.”
“I was making a point.”
“You announced our marriage to my ex-husband.”
“Future marriage.”
“That distinction does not improve it.”
“I said it incorrectly.”
Bonnie laughed harder.
Luca opened the car door.
She did not get in.
Instead she looked at him.
His embarrassment faded.
The space between them changed.
“Did you mean it?”
His eyes met hers.
He could have lied.
He did not.
“Not as a plan.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means when I imagine you in my future, my mind doesn’t stop at next week.”
Bonnie’s laughter disappeared.
Luca continued quietly.
“But you are not ready to hear that.”
“Probably not.”
“And I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Definitely not.”
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
“Good.”
Then she got into the car.
Luca walked around to the other side.
Before he entered, Bonnie smiled to herself.
Future wife.
Ridiculous.
Impossible.
Far too soon.
So why had her heart reacted before her common sense could object?
Her phone buzzed.
Ashley.
You need to see this now. We found a video on Ryan’s drive. It’s from the night Luca was attacked six years ago. Ryan is in it.
Bonnie’s smile vanished.
She showed Luca.
His face turned cold.
The past was about to stop being a mystery.
May you like
And the video waiting at the Moretti estate would reveal that Ryan’s betrayal had begun before Bonnie ever knew she had something worth stealing.
---
