~ Massimo ~
The word Death hung in the air, heavy and chilling, until Neil finally found his voice.
He swallowed hard, his eyes darting between me and my father as he tried to regain some of that lawyerly composure all lawyers wore like a shield.
"What do you want from me?" he croaked, his hands still trembling against the velvet of the chair. "Tell me what you need first, then I'll decide if I'm helping you or not."
I didn't answer him immediately. I waited till he stewed in that fear for a second longer, before I looked over at Marietta, giving her a small, sharp nod.
She was the one who had brought up the plan, and she knew exactly how to lay it out.
Marietta told Neil everything. She didn't hold back—the truth about Matteo's paternity, the fact that I was the father, and the plan to seal the marriage using a backdated, fake betrothal agreement in order to remove the Irish and Russian claims on Niamh and Matteo.
