Velvet & Dagger Chapter 8: The Widow’s Gambit

By steamystoriesbysarahstormverified

Velvet & Dagger Chapter 8 : The Widow’s Gambit Confined to the Contarini palace under heavy surveillance, Isabella refuses to remain a helpless prisoner. When loyal nurse Lucia brings intelligence that a bitter former suitor, Niccolò Barbaro, is behind the poison letters and gossip threatening her ruin, Isabella plots a brilliant counter-attack. Feigning complete submission to Alvise, she proposes a lavish public endowment for the war effort at San Zanipolo—surrounding herself with virtue, power, and prestige to drown out the whispers of scandal. Inviting Niccolò to witness her public triumph, Isabella sets her trap, buying dangerous time with mirrors and smoke while Lorenzo and his secret riders prepare for war in the south.