An Alliance for a Liar and a Slut

One week before the alliance ceremony.

My adoptive sister, Veronica, rushed back home to help me prepare for the wedding.

That night, while she was in the shower, an old-fashioned flip phone I'd never seen before rang on her nightstand.

"Vivi, can you see who it is for me?"

I teased her, a laugh in my voice. "Hiding a secret lover, are we?"

I slid the phone open to a message from an unknown number:

"Baby, want to use them tonight?"

Underneath the text was a photo.

It was a slinky, snake-like body chain engraved with the letter "V" and a pair of plush, pink silk handcuffs.

Then, a voice message came through.

"I can't stop thinking about you. Let's try this tonight."

I froze, then played it again.

A chill snaked down my spine, turning my shock to ice. I recognized the tattoo in the photo's background—a blur of ink on a man's hip. Where my name, "Vivi," had once been inked, a fresh tattoo of "Ronnie" now sat.

It wasn't just anyone. It was my fiancé. Haward Moretti.

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1

The room was warm, the central heat blasting.

The sound of the shower echoed from the bathroom, each percussive drop hammering against my heart until I could barely breathe. I stared at the burner phone, one I’d never seen Haward use. His conversation with Veronica was so sexually explicit it felt like I’d never truly known either of them.

And yet... a sliver of doubt pricked at me. *Could I be mistaken? Could it just be a similar tattoo?*

After all, Veronica and I had grown up together. She’d never dated anyone and had always claimed she wasn't interested in men. More importantly, the first time she met Haward, she’d glared at him with utter disgust.

"So you're the gutter rat who thinks he can have our princess?"

My face burned with mortification, but Veronica ignored me completely. She looked Haward up and down, her voice glacial. "You bastard. You better cherish my Vivi, or I'll make you wish you were never born."

That first meeting had been a disaster.

To this day, Haward would still say of her, "If she wasn't your adoptive sister, I would have destroyed her the moment we met."

I stared at the phone screen.

Another message came through from the same account: a single question mark. I flinched, instinctively snapping the phone shut and pulling up Haward’s contact on my own phone.

I started a video call.

It rang a few times before he answered.

"Baby."

Haward's familiar face appeared on the screen. He panned the camera to show his men behind him, and several of them waved.

"The future Mrs. Moretti checking in?" one of them teased.

"Don't worry, boss lady, we'll keep an eye on the Capo for you!"

"The Capo only has eyes for you. You've got nothing to worry about."

Those men were Haward's childhood friends, the Made Men who had helped him secure the family's business and expand their territory. I looked at Haward's gentle smile.

"Baby, you miss me?"

He leaned closer to the camera, his voice a low whisper. "Because I miss you like hell. I've been cracking the whip on these idiots to finish up so I can get back to my fiancée."

Hearing Haward call me "baby" still made my heart flutter, a familiar warmth spreading through my chest. I managed a smile.

"Your work is more important."

I shouldn't be doubting him like this, doubting our love, our future.

"I was just wondering…"

That voice message echoed in my head, a venomous whisper.

"Haward," I looked into his smiling eyes, "what do you think of Ronnie?"

I tried to sound casual, as if we were just chatting.

"It seems like she has a boyfriend."

Haward's expression froze for a split second before smoothing over into a mask of indifference. "Who cares about that wildcat."

His tone was dripping with disgust.

"I have zero interest in her drama," he said, his voice flat with boredom. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even want to hear her name."

Haward smiled at me again.

"Baby, I've still got work to do, so I have to go."

"When I get back, I'll bring you some jewelry from Sicily."

Haward hung up.

I sat on the balcony, gazing at the city lights as a thick fog settled over my heart, cold and suffocating. Before I could sink further into my thoughts, a hand tapped me gently on the shoulder.

"Vivi."