Chapter 3

The scent of leather and sweet hay usually grounded me. Today, however, the air was thick with the copper tang of betrayal.

I strode down the stable aisle, the sharp click of my boots on the concrete echoing the hollow thud of my heart.

I halted near the tack room. The door was slightly ajar, slicing a beam of light across the dust motes dancing in the air.

Alessandro was inside. With Aria.

He held a black velvet box in his hands, opening it to reveal a custom riding helmet. The De Luca crest was emblazoned on the side in gold leaf, catching the dim light.

With a tenderness he hadn't shown me in years, he placed it on Aria's head.

He fastened the chin strap, his fingers lingering on her jawline with a familiarity that turned my stomach.

"Perfect," he murmured, his voice low and intimate. "Now you look like you belong here."

I felt a phantom weight press down on my own brow.

Three years ago, he had crowned me with a nearly identical helmet. He had whispered, "Wear this, and everyone will know you are my Queen."

Now, my helmet gathered dust on a high shelf, while he crowned a whore in my stead.

I backed away into the shadows before they could spot me.

I needed to ride. I needed to outrun this suffocating grief before it crushed me completely.

I bypassed Obsidian's stall; I couldn't bear to look at the horse he had given me.

I went straight to the end of the row. To Fury. A temperamental grey mare that only the most suicidal or skilled riders dared to touch.

"Signora, wait!" the Stable Master called out, jogging toward me. "Let me check the tack first."

"No," I snapped, my voice brittle. "I'll do it myself."

My hands shook with rage as I threw the saddle onto Fury's back. I yanked the girth tight, ignoring the usual safety checks. I didn't double-check the buckle. I just needed to move.

I mounted up and kicked Fury into a gallop before anyone could stop me.

We thundered into the jumping ring.

Alessandro and Aria were standing by the fence line. They were laughing-a carefree sound that grated against my nerves. His arm was draped possessively around her waist.

They didn't even glance my way.

I urged Fury faster, letting the wind whip the tears from my eyes.

"Jump," I whispered.

We approached the high oxer. Fury launched into the air, a powerful arc of muscle and kinetic energy.

We hit the apex of the jump. Mid-flight, the world tilted.

There was a sharp, metallic snap.

The girth gave way.

I slipped sideways, gravity seizing me in an unforgiving grip.

I hit the ground hard.

The impact knocked the wind out of me, collapsing my lungs. Then came the sound-a sickening, wet crack that reverberated through my skeleton.

Pain exploded in my right leg. It was white-hot, blinding, consuming my entire world in a flash of agony.

I lay in the dirt, gasping for air, staring through the dust.

I looked toward the fence.

Alessandro hadn't moved. His gaze was still fixed on Aria, his hand brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.

I was lying broken in the dirt, ten yards away, and my husband didn't even turn his head.

He didn't notice the silence where the hoofbeats used to be.

"Help!" I screamed, my voice ragged and raw.

The Stable Master came sprinting across the sand.

Alessandro finally looked over. He frowned, his expression one of mild annoyance, as if I had interrupted a punchline.

An hour later, I lay in the sterile white of the estate's Medical Bay. My leg was encased in a heavy cast.

Alessandro walked in, holding a bouquet of lilies wrapped in cheap, crinkling plastic. Gas station flowers.

"You were careless," he said. No hello. No 'are you okay'.

He dropped the flowers onto the bedside table with a wet thud.

"The saddle broke," I managed to say through gritted teeth.

"Equipment failure," he shrugged, dismissing it entirely. "You should have let the Stable Master check it. You're always so stubborn."

He adjusted the blanket over my cast, his touch mechanical, devoid of warmth. He was irritated that my injury was disrupting his schedule.

"Rest," he commanded. "I have business to attend to."

He turned on his heel and left without looking back.

That night, the pain medication pulled me in and out of a restless, drug-hazed sleep.

I woke to the sound of hushed voices in the hallway.

"It wasn't an accident, Boss." Mark's voice drifted in, low and urgent. "The buckle on the girth was filed down. Someone tampered with it intentionally."

My heart stopped beating.

"Who?" Alessandro asked, his tone flat.

"Aria was near the tack room before Katarina arrived," Mark said.

Silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.

I waited for Alessandro's rage. I waited for him to storm out and demand justice for his wife.

"Bury it," Alessandro said.

"Boss?"

"It's just a broken leg," Alessandro replied, his voice colder than the grave. "Katarina has had worse. Don't make it a tragedy. Aria was just... upset about the credit cards. She wanted to teach her a lesson."

"A lesson?" Mark sounded incredulous. "She could have broken her neck."

"But she didn't," Alessandro countered smoothly. "Get rid of the saddle. Make it look like wear and tear."

He walked away, his footsteps fading down the hall.

I lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

The coldness spreading through my chest was far worse than the ice in my veins.

He knew.

He knew his mistress had tried to cripple me.

And he was protecting her.

A single tear escaped, sliding down my cheek. It was hot and angry.

I didn't wipe it away.

I let it dry on my skin like a war paint. A promise.

He thought I was nothing more than a decorative ice sculpture. He was about to learn that ice, when shattered, is sharp enough to slit a throat.