Shadow Storm (Shadow Riders 6)
Emmanuelle had been terrified for so long, afraid Eloisa would find her way into Val’s home and murder him to keep him away from Emme. She hadn’t wanted Valentino near her mother. She knew he would never tolerate the things Eloisa said to her if he knew. Even back then, when she’d been so young, Valentino had been protective of her.
She nodded her head. He would throw Eloisa and Henry out without thinking twice about it. She’d made certain none of her siblings—or her mother—could use the shadows to enter unwanted into her home. Ricco had invented a small device to put in the doorway to prevent a shadow from sliding under the door. She used them at every entryway and in every door. She had them in her vents. She took no chances at all. She would always be vigilant.
No matter how much she told herself to relax, that this was her home, her beautiful lake house, and Valentino was holding her hand, walking with his casual, lazy panther stride beside her, Emmanuelle found herself tensing up as she always did the moment she spotted her mother sitting in the comfortable lounge chairs beneath the umbrellas.
Tall frosted glasses of lemonade sat on the little table between Henry and Eloisa. Henry smiled at them in greeting. Eloisa scowled, her gaze sweeping over Emmanuelle in disapproval.
Valentino held the back of her chair as he took the one across from Henry. “Nice to see you both,” he greeted.
“Val,” Henry said. “You both look good. Married life suits our girl.”
Eloisa rolled her eyes. “Let’s not pretend we came here for pleasantries, Henry.”
Henry’s gaze swung to her. “We didn’t? I thought you said you needed to visit your daughter, Eloisa.” His tone was mild.
“Needing to visit my daughter means I have to talk to her about something important. It doesn’t mean I want to sit here and pretend we’re all going to be friends. I wish to speak to my daughter alone.” Eloisa’s eyes bored into Valentino.
Val lifted Emmanuelle’s hand from his lap to his chest, his thumb sliding over her wedding ring, back and forth, mesmerizing Eloisa, until she scowled at him. He appeared completely unaffected by her scathing look. “That’s not going to happen. If you want to say something to my wife, say it. Otherwise you should leave.”
Eloisa switched her venomous stare to Emmanuelle. Emme refused to flinch under her black gaze. She’d seen it enough times. “What is it you wish to speak to me about?”
“If you insist we do this with him present, then fine. You can’t possibly have children with him. You need to make certain, Emmanuelle. Have a hysterectomy right away.” It was a clear command.
Emmanuelle nearly fell out of her chair. It was the last thing she’d expected her mother to say. She looked up at Val because he was her only sanity in that moment.
Valentino leaned toward Emmanuelle. “Baby, is there something you didn’t tell me about your health?” He looked straight at Eloisa. “Is she at risk in some way if she has a child?”
Emmanuelle looked at Henry, the taste of betrayal in her mouth. He looked as shocked as she felt. Clearly, he really hadn’t known why Eloisa had wanted to come to see her.
Two bright spots of color dotted Eloisa’s cheeks, and she tilted her chin up. “No. She knows why she can’t have children with you.”
“I’m done here.” Emmanuelle stood. “Please don’t come back to my home. I don’t want to see you again ever, Eloisa.”
“I will take this above Stefano’s head, Emmanuelle.”
Emme didn’t turn around. She walked straight into the house, very aware Valentino didn’t follow her.
Eloisa, we should go,” Henry said.
“Not quite yet, Henry,” Val said. He reached out and lifted a plain manila folder that was lying on the table on the opposite side of where his wife had been sitting. “I think both of you will find this interesting. It’s a report on an incident involving Emmanuelle. Someone tried to kill her. As you can imagine, I take that kind of thing very seriously, as do her brothers. An investigation was launched by the Ferraro family as well as my people. We also found the would-be hired assassin. You’ll be happy to know Dario and Stefano interrogated him to ensure that there were no mistakes. Both families came to the same conclusion.”
He handed the folder to Henry. Eloisa tried to take it from Henry’s hands. Henry frowned at her. “What is this?”
Eloisa shook her head. “Don’t read that, Henry. Let’s just go. We have to hurry.”
He flipped open the folder and scanned the pages inside fast before lifting his gaze slowly to Eloisa.
She brought her hand defensively to her throat. “Don’t look at me like that. Someone had to do something. She’s a traitor. She can’t be with him. Stefano will never do what’s right.”