✔️ SLANDEROUS INTENTIONS | +18

Chapter 34

ANTONIO

Slanderous intentions linger in the air.

Not my wife's. Not mine. But the malice, sneaking toward us, belongs to the foe. It's noxious — detrimental, like a mamba in the dark, waiting for the right moment to strike. And it doesn't want to strike me. It wants to sink its poised fangs into my wife, desiring to drag her into her fatal death.

My wife is on her knees before the danger, still a slave to her fear. I don't have the time to free her from her chains of obedience. But I am an Alessi. I defend my family. I defend my wife.

And I will tear the serpent's head from its body before it can slither into my home, coiling its deadly grip around the soul that is part of me. And I will serve it to her on a golden plate. If she doesn't want it, I'll take it. Because the power I hold feeds on danger. Every dangerous victory contributes to my prosperity, extending my power.

"What did you find out?" I ask Roman as we chat over FaceTime. He's gone to the location Viktor mentioned after making him sing the information like a canary from dusk till dawn in the basement.

"I went to their place in the countryside," Roman continues, looking exhausted from his forest adventure. "I even had to camp overnight in the woods when the GPS led me down a blocked forest path."

"Finally, I reached the place and could effortlessly open the doors since I had the fingerprint. After turning the mansion upside down in search of crucial information, I discovered a safe. You won't believe what I found! That son of a bitch wasn't lying — Petrov really keeps all his dirty secrets locked away in there!"

There must be a loophole. His adventure in the mansion without any adversaries makes me grow alarmed. "All his secrets are in this particular safe, and the place isn't guarded?" I ask, frowning.

"Oh, it is," he scoffs, shaking his head. "There are guns mounted on the walls and a ground sensor tracking my movements. If Alexa at the gate hadn't said, 'Please scan your left thumb,' I'd be dead right now!"

"Be careful, Roman. Why would he let his system tell you which finger to scan for entry?" I mutter pensively, still feeling uneasy about the system's incompetence.

"Maybe he's just old and forgets which finger to use," Roman suggests with an ignorant shrug, looking relaxed in the enemy's nest. "The old man is probably stuck in the past, not interested in state-of-the-art technology like you, but whatever, you'll be shocked by what I discovered!"

"Petrov's nudes?" I ask with a hum, making him look at me disgusted. His traumatized expression makes me smile; he is a great man I can rely on.

"That would be an eyesore..." he shudders at the thought before shaking his head and looking at me. "I found information about the locations of his warehouses and Helena! He even has photos of her from when I took her out! There's a background check on her and a negative paternity test as well."

My jaw clenches in anger. "Come again?" The old fuck has a twisted obsession with my wife and wants her because she reminds him of his dead wife, Anastasia.

"About Helena or the warehouses?" he asks with a frown.

"My wife! What other information does he have on her?" I grit out, anger boiling within me. The thought of him even imagining touching what's mine makes my blood boil. But it's just a matter of time until I step on his head.

"Nothing more," he replies, trying to keep his tone neutral. "I don't want to make you mad, but I think Petrov has developed a bit of an obsession with Helena since she resembles his beloved late wife."