Elena Conti POV:

His voice—meant to land as seduction, as the opening move of a wedding night—hit my raw nerves like a blade drawn sideways. I’d heard that tone a thousand times. It was the voice he used when he wanted something and assumed it was already his.

I pulled a smile onto my face. It felt like surgery.

"Just tired, Alex." My voice came out steadier than I’d expected. A stranger’s voice, calm and distant. "Long day."

"You do look pale." He reached for my forehead. I flinched before I could stop myself—a quarter-inch recoil that told him everything I wasn’t saying.

His eyes went cold for half a second. Then the mask slid back into place. "You must be exhausted. My poor girl. Go take a hot bath. We can just sleep tonight."

The tenderness was a performance. I’d spent my career watching people perform—brides pretending to be happy, mothers pretending to approve, grooms pretending they weren’t terrified. Alex was good, but he wasn’t good enough. I nodded and retreated into the bathroom.

I turned the shower on and stepped under water hot enough to hurt. The tears came then, silent, pressed out between clenched teeth. I’d learned to cry without making noise in my second foster home, where noise meant attention and attention meant trouble. The water carried everything away.

We slept on opposite sides of the bed. He breathed evenly. I stared at the ceiling and made a list. What I knew. What I needed to prove. Who I could trust. The list was short.

By morning, I had a plan.

I told him I was sick. Canceled the brunch, the couples massage, the helicopter tour. Told him I wanted my own bed in San Francisco.

"But Elena, it’s our honeymoon." His frustration was a live thing under the calm surface. A Moretti heir didn’t get told no—especially not by his new wife, on the first morning.

"I’m not feeling well." My voice was flat. No edge to grab onto. "I want to go home."

He couldn’t argue. A man who argued with a sick wife looked like a monster, and Alex couldn’t afford to look like anything but the devoted husband. Not with the Rossettis watching. Not with his father’s men at the reception, tallying every misstep. He made the calls, his jaw tight, arranging the first flight out.

In the limousine, he tried again. "When you’re better, we’ll go somewhere. The Maldives. My treat."

I didn’t answer. Let him sit in the silence. Let him wonder.

At the airport lounge, he stepped away to make a call—his back to me, his voice too low to carry. Calling her, probably. Reporting that his new wife was already being difficult. Or maybe calling his mother, asking for advice on how to handle me. Either way, he wasn’t talking to anyone who was on my side.

On the plane, I put on headphones and a sleep mask. A wall of silence. His irritation was a physical thing in the seat beside me, a heat I could feel without looking. He wasn’t used to being shut out. The Elena he knew was attentive, responsive, always tuned to his frequency. This version was a dead channel.

He was losing control of a situation he hadn’t even realized was a situation. Let him spin.

At SFO, he reached for my hand at baggage claim. I bent to pick up my bag at the exact right moment. My timing was perfect. His hand closed on air.

"What is your problem, Elena?" His voice dropped to that register men use when they’re about to remind you who’s in charge. "This has gone on long enough."

I turned and met his eyes. No anger. No tears. Just stillness.

"I told you," I said. "I’m tired."

The emptiness in my voice did more damage than any accusation could have. I watched him recalibrate—the slight tightening around his eyes, the fractional pause. He was trying to read me and finding nothing to read.

Good.

In the car, I watched San Francisco roll past the window. Our building. Our view. Our life. Every word in that sentence was a lie I’d helped construct. The apartment was a stage. The marriage was a contract with terms I hadn’t been allowed to read.

My mind was already working ahead. I needed access to his study. I needed records. I needed the kind of proof that didn’t just confirm what I knew—it had to be proof I could use.

Alex sat beside me in simmering silence, trying to figure out how to fix me.

He still thought I was the problem.