don't.” My voice shuddered, and more tears emerged in my eyes as panic settled in again. “Please don't hurt him. He only tried to help me.”
Alessandro brushed away the tears from my face. “I know, cara. I know it's hard, but I need you to think with a clear head. Do you know who would benefit the most from my death?”
I lowered my head in shame. “Me. I would benefit, but I don't see how—”
“Who suggested that you should stage an accident, Olivia?”
“It was Broderick,” I whispered, too shocked to lie. “But he only did it because I was hopeless and upset.”
Alessandro caressed my hair and a tender smile tugged at his lips. “And he was there to comfort you and take away all of your worries? Protect you from your bastard of a husband?” he probed gently. “How convenient.”
“It wasn't like that,” I protested.
“You’re right, cara,” he murmured. “Mr. Matthews isn't as self-sacrificial as he has attempted to let you believe. His concern wasn't without ulterior motives. Once I was out of the picture, he had every intention to assert himself in my place and take over.”
“No, he wouldn't!” I refused to believe it.
“Tell me, piccola,” Alessandro demanded softly. “Has he never made advances?”
I closed my eyes and gulped. “I rejected him on more than one occasion, and he has always respected my wishes.”
“And yet...it didn't stop him from trying again,” Alessandro pointed out with a dose of sarcasm.
I shot him a miserable glare. “Alessandro...you promised you wouldn't hurt him.”
“Cara, I needed you to tell me the truth,” he revealed. “I had to know how deeply you were involved. I could never hurt you.” I protested, and he leaned a finger against my lips. “Really hurt you...but I just had to know. It fucking killed me to realize I had pushed you into seeking assistance from one of my enemies.”
I raised my head in sudden defiance. “I’ve never sought his assistance, and don't call him your enemy because that's not what he is.”
“Oh no? And how else should I call a man who intended to murder me so he could gain access to my wife, my estate and my business? If I dropped dead like he’d planned, tesoro, I promise you'd see a very different side of this scumbag you consider to be a saint.”
“What makes you so sure?” I challenged, tilting my chin. “If he wanted you dead, he could have killed you by himself. There was no need for him to drag me into it.”
“There was every need,” Alessandro stressed. “He needed your cooperation to get to my money, so he had to have something he could hang over your head to keep you in check and make you pliant to his demands. The fact you were pregnant played right into his hands and made it all the easier for him to manipulate you and convince you to take part in planning the accident. What better way to frighten and control a pregnant woman than threatening to expose her involvement in her husband's murder?”
“He has never once threatened me,” I argued.
“He never got the fucking chance to, tesoro,” Alessandro interjected. “The hindering issue of my survival messed up his plans, and he knew his days were numbered as soon as I regained my memory.”
I still refused to credit his words. “If that was true, he would have run...but he stayed.”
“That's because he’s a smart guy,” Alessandro retorted. “He understands that running is the first sign of guilt. Besides, it would be a bit heartless to pack his bags and leave his beloved father at my mercy.”
“His...father?” I breathed in a perplexed tone.
“The conniving butler...Henry,” Alessandro bit out, and I froze. “We were onto his practices way before the bodyguard entered the picture and Lorenzo has kept a close eye on him while I was in the hospital recovering from my injuries so he had no chance to disappear from our radar.”
I just stared at him blankly, at a loss for words. I was unable to accept Broderick had anything to do with Henry whom I absolutely hated.
“You still don't believe me, cara, do you?” Alessandro demanded in a soft voice.
I shook my head. “I can't. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding.”
Alessandro was silent for a moment. Then, he smiled as though he had reached a decision. “Very well. You might not believe me, but you will have to believe this.”
He scurried to his desk and pulled out an entire drawer. He snatched something out of