Chapter 43 – Isabella
T he fist pounding against my door shattered the beautiful embrace of sleep. Groaning, I pulled myself out of bed. What fresh hell was this? It was late at night—or very early in the morning. But since I didn’t know what time it was, I couldn’t say how long I’d actually been asleep.
The voice of one of the houseguards snapped the last dregs of sleep from my mind. “Signorina, the don needs you in his office. Signorina?”
“Coming,” I gulped as I slid the bathrobe over my shoulders.
A myriad of what ifs bubbled through my mind. Most began and ended with my spectre. What if they caught Ilya? Cosimo saw us together and assumed something, so what if they were questioning the Russian? Their torture techniques were practiced and highly effective. What if he cracked?
He wouldn’t betray me unless they clawed the truth from his heart!
Forgiving him for any mistake he made, I scrambled to the door. The guard didn’t offer me a clue as to what happened, walking me down the hall and escorting me right to the door of Don Aldo’s office.
“Thank you,” I managed to breathe as I pushed inside—
Where my tribunal was gathered in a semicircle to meet me.
The only pair of friendly eyes were filled with sorrow. Alonzo mouthed a single word to me, and I managed to give him a small nod. Whatever happened wasn’t his fault. Truth be told, I was sorry too. The last thing I wanted was to make him look like that.
“You little slut,” Cecilia hissed.
I faltered, catching a response on my tongue before it could dig me a deeper hole.
“What?” the strega scoffed. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
“Zia,” Alonzo pleaded. “She doesn’t know what’s happened. How could she?”
“She knows exactly what happened,” the strega sneered.
“You shouldn’t listen to Fabrizi!” Alonzo jerked a thumb at Cosimo. “He’s a snake.”
“He’s the one who’s been watching her,” the aunt countered.
“And you’ve been making back door deals with him!” Alonzo protested. “Father, they’re scheming. Can’t you see that?”
The don remained silent, watching the proceedings unfold.
Small details settled into place. The malicious glint in Cosimo’s eyes. The stern hatred in the don’s. They wore most of their costumes from the ball, which made me wonder what time it was. The underboss was missing, but I didn’t have time to ask where he was before the accusation was laid before me.
“She’s been having an affair with the Russian street fighter my father is obsessed with.” Cosimo lifted a challenging brow, daring me to contradict him.
“You don’t have any proof,” my fiancé protested.
“Well, why don’t you look her in the eye and ask her,” the hateful spawn dared.
Don Aldo cleared his throat, cutting off whatever outburst his sister was about to unleash. “Cosimo laid a very compelling case. You were seen in close proximity to the associate tonight. And then, for forty minutes, no one could find either of you. This is your only chance to tell us the truth, Isabella. Where were you?”
Experiencing mind blowing, soul searing passion.
No—not just passion. Intimacy. Something far more powerful; something they could never take away.
How could they understand? They would only see my actions one way, so this beautiful thing I had with the spectre of darkness was mine. Precious and undeniable. I wouldn’t let them have it.
“I took a break from the tiresome drama of society to ramble about the historical house,” I stated. “Did you know that Consuelo Vanderbilt married a Churchill?”
The boom of the don’s palm slamming into the wood of his desk reverberated through my bones. I closed my eyes, knowing my time had come. I chose myself, and now Gio would suffer. Guilt flickered through my mind, but it wasn’t as piercing as the deeper pain of knowing I wouldn’t have my happily-ever-after.
“Were you with the Russian?” the don demanded.
I met his gaze, refusing to back down. There was no point hiding who I was. They couldn’t cow me or push me around. “No, signore. I was not.”
It was a lie, but I didn’t feel like giving them the truth to twist and warp.
“My father will be here any minute with the Moskal dog in chains,” Cosimo declared. “We’ll see if he’s touched our princess as well and make an example of him.”
“He has nothing to add to this conversation. We’ve never spoken,” I fired back, enjoying the shift of unease deep in his malicious brown eyes.
“Oh, really?” the strega sneered. “Well, we have a doctor coming.”
Her words were a dash of ice to my veins. I managed to hide my surprise as I slid my gaze to her. “What for? Is someone hurt?”
“I know you were with him. The way the barbarian looked at you.” Spittle flew from Cosimo’s mouth.
“We’re going to confirm your virginity,” Don Aldo said coldly.
The hell if I was going to have some doctor prod me! That threat was the last straw. I pulled myself up straight and let another piece of the truth free. “Now, why didn’t you ask that, Signor Bruno? I would have told you that I lost my virginity a long time ago.”
The insults were like a howling storm’s sharp caress. I braced myself, letting the terrible things the three of them screamed, roared, and shouted slide off me like water droplets. It was Alonzo who I looked to, his reaction the one I cared about.
The smallest of smiles played on his lips. It was there and gone, but in that brief second, we exchanged that comradery that bound us in friendship.
“It’s safe to say the wedding is canceled,” Cecilia sniffed. “We won’t have your tainted blood mingling with ours, puttana.”
Lifting my hands, I offered her a shrug. “I don’t feel bad, and nothing you can say or do will make me. My parents would have approved of my choices, if they lived long enough. That’s all that matters.”
Don Aldo threw back a tumbler of booze that hadn’t toppled off his desk when he struck it. “Your parents were idiots.”
“Is that why you killed them?” I demanded.
There wasn’t even a flicker in his face as he looked at me. “I wasn’t part of that plot, Isabella, but seeing how things played out, I wish it had been my knife that was planted in your father’s chest, not the impact from the collision.”
I planted my fists at my sides. “Very well then, we see where we stand. What’s next?”
Silence pulsed through the space.
It seemed that Alonzo wanted very much to say something, but mercifully he remained quiet.
“I’ll marry her.” Cosimo swept his hand through the air as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “I’m a capo now. I’ll…keep her in line.”
“I think that’s a fine idea,” Cecilia insisted, her response too immediate to not be premeditated.
A rough laugh escaped my throat. “What did Tullio promise you to take me off your hands?”
She narrowed her eyes, the hostility there only confirming the suspicions lurking in my chest. “You’ll want to beat this one regularly, Cosimo.”
The bastard chuckled. “I plan on it.”
“Father!” Alonzo rounded on the don.
Aldo raised his hand, looking shrewdly between his sister and the spawn of satan.
That’s right, don, see for yourself the treachery that lurks at your doorstep. I bit my tongue, not wanting to force the conclusion in his mind, but crossing my fingers that he found it nonetheless.
Don Aldo hesitated. “Alonzo shouldn’t be overlooked. He’ll be made a capo soon, and…he’s my heir to my estates, if not my title.”
He couldn’t sound any more reluctant if he tried.
“She’s damaged goods!” Cecilia cried. “She’s wild and loose. Let someone capable of handling her vices deal with her.”
“I don’t care for the mistreatment of women,” the don growled.
“Then don’t watch.” Cosimo closed the distance and grabbed my shoulder.
I struck, my fist landing satisfyingly high on his groin.
But his menacing grip only tightened.
“Look out!” Alonzo warned but too late.
An open palm cracked across my face. I cried out, stumbling but unable to move far.
Another merciless blow fell on my face.
“I didn’t say you could have her,” Don Aldo shouted.
“So try to take her from me,” Cosimo countered.
I struggled. The bathrobe pulled and tangled. I tried to twist away. Hot blood leaked from my lip, spreading the metallic tang over my tongue. Using my body’s weight, I sagged and bucked. Cosimo’s fingers scrambled to hold me. It was working! I stomped hard but missed his shoe. He dodged, freeing my arm.
Fight! I’m going to fight! I grunted, pushing to free myself.
There was another opening. I wound back my fist, prepared to punch the smirk from his smug face~
But the moment, I struck out, my fist connecting with flesh, a brutal blow knocked the wind from my lungs.
It was all I could do to raise my arms protectively near my face. Cosimo struck lower. The repeated blows were going to leave an array of bruises across my whole body. Focusing on anything but the pain, I watched Alonzo struggle in his father’s hold. Heard the tone of strict command, the harsh lecture in Italian. The heroic knight wasn’t saving me. Not today.
Not that he ever was….
Stars burst across my field of vision. I coughed, finally collapsing to the floor. For a twisted moment, the angry knocking seemed to come from my head.
But it was someone outside the room.
Please don’t be Gio! I couldn’t bear that.
“That will be the doctor,” Cecilia sniped.
“Come in,” Aldo growled, releasing his son with a final sneer of disgust.
Alonzo dashed forward, but Cosimo shoved him away.
“She’s my problem now,” he crowed.
I turned my gaze to the distraught soldier who stood stammering in the middle of the room. He was…wringing his hands. “The curse found us. Come and see, signori! It’s like a wild animal was unleashed in there! Everyone’s dead.”
“Everyone?” Aldo clarified.
“Everyone! It’s the curse, I tell you. The curse!” The soldier crossed himself.
Absently, my fingers ran over the horn charm on my necklace. The cornicello pulsed hot against my touch. What fresh hell was this?
It wasn’t so bad, however. The urgency stole both the don and newly appointed capo, which left me alone with my friend, and probably ex-fiancé, who helped me back to my room despite his aunt’s vehement protests. Good boy that he was, Alonzo didn’t cross my threshold. I doubted very much it had to do with his aunt’s waspish presence hovering behind him, and more from the lack of ferocity no amount of life would give to Alonzo.