Chapter 16: The Architecture of Deceit
The final day in Florence arrived with a sky the color of bruised plums, heavy with the threat of a Tuscan storm. Inside the Palazzo della Luna, the atmosphere was even more pressurized. Today was the day of the formal signing the moment the Valenti textile empire would officially become a subsidiary of the Moretti Group.
For Élise, the morning began with a flurry of administrative demands. She had been up since 5:00 AM, triple-checking the translated documents and ensuring the digital encryption for the transfer was secure. Her conversation with Zara from the night before echoed in her mind. Zara had been shocked by Pedro's presence in Florence, but she hadn't been surprised by his behavior. To Zara, Pedro was just the "charming guy from Logistics" who happened to live next door a bit eccentric, perhaps, but a known quantity.
But as Élise looked at the latest text from him.."The view from the bridge is better than the view from the boardroom"she felt a cold knot of dread. Why was he here? Why was he tracking her movements with such precision?
A shadow fell across her desk in the temporary workspace Adriano had assigned her. She looked up to see Adriano standing there, his coat slung over one arm, looking like he hadn't slept at all.
"The Valenti family is waiting in the Sala dei Gigli," he said, his voice a low vibration. "The lawyers have cleared the final draft. Is the briefcase ready?"
"Everything is here, sir," Élise said, standing quickly.
Adriano stepped closer, his presence effectively erasing the rest of the room. He reached out, his thumb brushing a stray strand of hair away from her forehead. The touch was brief, but it felt like a brand. "You look tired, Élise. After today, you can rest. But for the next three hours, I need you to be the sharpest person in that room. Lucia will be there. She will try to bait you again."
"I won't let her," Élise promised.
"Good. Because if this deal falters, she wins. And if she wins, my parents win. And if they win..." He stopped himself, his jaw tightening. "Let's go."
The Sala dei Gigli was a room designed to intimidate. Massive tapestries hung from the walls, and the long, marble-topped table was surrounded by men in suits that cost more than Élise's entire education.
Lorenzo Valenti sat at the head, looking weary. Beside him, Lucia was a vision of sharp, tailored perfection in a cream-colored suit. She didn't look like the woman who had smoked on the balcony the night before; she looked like a corporate assassin.
"Let's begin," Lorenzo sighed.
The next two hours were a blur of legal jargon and high-stakes posturing. Adriano was a master of the room, his silence more powerful than most men's shouting. Every time a question arose about the technical logistics or the future of the French distribution wing, he flicked his gaze to Élise.
She held her ground. She answered with a precision that left the Valenti lawyers with nothing to argue. Even Lorenzo seemed impressed, nodding as she explained the new streamlining process.
But Lucia was silent. Too silent.
Just as Adriano reached for the fountain pen to sign the final document, Lucia leaned back, her chair scraping softly against the marble floor.
"Before we finalize," Lucia said, her voice smooth and dangerous. "I think we should discuss the security breach."
The room went still. Adriano's hand froze inches from the paper. "What breach, Lucia?"
"The one involving your assistant," she said, flicking a glance at Élise that was pure poison. "It has come to my father's attention and mine that Miss Laurent has been in constant contact with an outside party during these negotiations. Someone who has been spotted lurking near this Palazzo. Someone who seems to know the details of our schedule."
Élise felt the blood drain from her face. "I... I haven't shared any business details."
"Then how do you explain this?" Lucia slid a tablet across the table.
On the screen was a series of photos. They were shots of Élise and Pedro together in Milan sitting on the steps of their apartment building, Pedro helping her with a box, the two of them laughing at a cafe. But there were newer ones, too. Grainy photos of Élise on the terrace last night, looking at her phone, and a shot of Pedro standing on the street corner just outside the hotel this morning.
"This man," Lucia said, her voice rising for the benefit of the room, "is a known agitator. He has been seen following this acquisition for weeks. And your 'essential' assistant has been feeding him information. Or perhaps, she's simply his lure."
Lorenzo frowned, looking at Adriano. "Adriano, I cannot sign over my legacy to a firm that has a leak in its inner circle. If this girl is compromised, the deal is off."
The silence in the room was deafening. Every eye was on Élise. She felt like she was drowning. She looked at Adriano, desperate for him to defend her, but his face was a mask of unreadable granite.
"Élise," Adriano said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Is this the man who has been texting you?"
"Yes," she whispered, her voice trembling. "But he's just my neighbor! He works in Logistics, Adriano! He's not an agitator, he's... he's just Pedro."
At the mention of the name, a ripple of shock went through the Valenti side of the table. Lorenzo's eyes widened, and he looked at Lucia with a confused expression. But Lucia kept her eyes locked on Élise, a triumphant smirk tugging at her lips.
Adriano didn't look at the photos. He looked at the document in front of him. Then, he looked at Lorenzo.
"The man in these photos is not an agitator," Adriano said, his voice echoing in the vast room. "He is a nuisance. And he is not Miss Laurent's contact. He is her shadow. If you think for one second that I would allow a 'leak' to sit at this table, you don't know me as well as you think, Lorenzo."
"But the contact..." Lorenzo started.
"The contact is personal, not professional," Adriano snapped. "Miss Laurent was unaware of the man's intentions. I, however, am fully aware. He is being dealt with."
Adriano picked up the pen and signed his name in a bold, aggressive stroke. He pushed the paper toward Lorenzo.
"Sign. Or walk away and watch your vineyards go into foreclosure by Monday morning. The choice is yours. But do not use my staff's personal life as a bargaining chip."
Stunned by Adriano's sheer force of will, Lorenzo slowly reached for the pen and signed.
The moment the doors closed behind the Valenti party, the room felt like it was shrinking. The lawyers scrambled to collect the folders, sensing the impending explosion.
Adriano didn't move. He stood at the head of the table, staring at the empty chairs.
"Adriano, I'm so sorry," Élise began, her voice cracking. "I didn't know he was following us. I didn't know it would look like that. I thought he was just being... friendly."
Adriano turned to her. The anger in his eyes was so cold it felt like a physical blow. "Friendly? You thought a man who works for me, who followed you across the country, who staged photos to look like an affair, was being friendly?"
"I didn't think..."
"That's the problem, Élise! You don't think! You see the world as a place of 'neighbors' and 'kindness' while I am trying to keep you from being torn apart!" He slammed his hand down on the marble table. "He used you! He used your silence and your naivety to try and sabotage the biggest deal of my career!"
"Why would he do that?" she cried out. "He's just a guy from Logistics! Why does he care about your deal?"
Adriano stepped toward her, his shadow falling over her like a shroud. He looked like he wanted to tell her. He looked like the truth was clawing at his throat the fact that the "guy from Logistics" was the brother who shared his blood and his hatred.
But he couldn't do it. He couldn't let Pedro win by becoming the center of her world.
"It doesn't matter why," Adriano hissed. "What matters is that you are no longer safe. Not in that apartment. Not in that office. Lucia has these photos. By tomorrow, the gossip rags in Milan will have them too."
"My career..." she whispered, realizing the weight of what had happened. "I'll be fired."
"You won't be fired," Adriano said, his voice suddenly dropping to a low, possessive tone. "Because you aren't going back to work as an intern. You're coming with me to the estate in Varese. You stay there until I can scrub this mess clean."
"I can't just disappear with you!"
"You don't have a choice," Adriano said, grabbing her arm. "Pedro is already on his way back to Milan. He thinks he's won. He thinks he's cornered you."
He pulled her toward the side exit, away from the prying eyes of the hotel staff.
"But he forgot one thing," Adriano whispered as they reached the waiting car. "I don't lose what belongs to me."
Five miles away, at a small train station on the outskirts of Florence, Pedro sat on a wooden bench, watching the tracks. He checked his phone. The photos had been delivered to Lucia exactly as he had planned. He knew the scene that had just unfolded in the Sala dei Gigli.
He smiled, a slow, dark expression.
He didn't care about the Valenti deal. He didn't care about the textile mills. He only cared about the look on Adriano's face when he realized that his "perfect" intern was now tainted by a scandal involving his own brother.
He stood up as the train to Milan pulled into the station.
"Round one to me, brother," Pedro murmured, stepping into the carriage.
He pulled out his phone and sent one last message to Élise.
Pedro: He's going to try and hide you away now. He's going to tell you it's for your own good. But ask yourself, Élise... who is the one holding the cage door open, and who is the one locking it? See you in Milan.