Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN RYAN REALLY WANTED
Sophia Moretti entered my life wearing a red coat and carrying a gunmetal-gray briefcase.
She arrived at Olivia Bennett's office without an appointment.
Two bodyguards waited outside.
I recognized her immediately from photographs.
Sophia Moretti.
Twenty-nine.
Daughter of Vincent Moretti, a powerful New York crime boss.
The woman Ryan intended to marry.
I stood when she entered.
Sophia looked at me.
“Emma?”
“Yes.”
She studied my face.
Then said:
“You're prettier than the photograph.”
I frowned.
“What photograph?”
Sophia placed her briefcase on the table.
Inside was a folder.
She slid it toward me.
On the first page was a photograph of Ryan and me outside a restaurant.
Taken six weeks earlier.
I stared.
“Who took this?”
“My father's security team.”
“Why?”
Sophia sat.
“Because Ryan told us he had no romantic attachments.”
My stomach dropped.
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
She opened another page.
A copy of an email.
Ryan had described me as a family acquaintance who would soon marry Daniel.
The date was three months before our wedding.
Three months.
Before Ryan proposed.
Before he kissed me beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
Before he told me I was the only woman he'd ever wanted.
I felt the room tilt.
Sophia watched quietly.
Then said:
“I didn't know.”
I looked at her.
“Didn't know what?”
“That you believed you were marrying Ryan.”
I swallowed.
She continued.
“When I heard about the ceremony, I assumed you and Daniel had arranged it yourselves.”
I stared.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Sophia's expression hardened.
“Because Ryan lied to me too.”
Sophia explained that her father was considering a legitimate shipping partnership with Carter Maritime.
Ryan had presented himself as the future controlling shareholder.
He claimed Daniel had voluntarily stepped aside after his injury.
“He said Daniel couldn't manage the company,” Sophia said.
Daniel's expression went cold.
“I've managed the company from a wheelchair, a hospital bed, and a rehabilitation center.”
Sophia nodded.
“I believe you.”
I looked between them.
“What do you want?”
Sophia closed the folder.
“The truth.”
Then she looked directly at me.
“And I want to make sure Ryan doesn't get away with treating women like business assets.”
For the first time since my wedding, I felt something unexpected.
Not happiness.
Not yet.
But the beginning of an alliance.
Before leaving, Sophia paused beside Daniel.
“Your brother told me you were bitter.”
Daniel gave a small smile.
“Am I?”
She looked at his cane.
Then at the documents on Olivia's desk.
“No.”
She held out her hand.
“I think he was afraid of you.”
May you like
Daniel shook it.
“So do I.”
