60. Isabella
60
ISABELLA
“I sabella, why don’t you go find Lux. I need to have a chat with your boyfriend , and I’d rather you not be here for it,” Matteo says.
I’ve been vibrating with anger ever since my brother pulled a gun on Nicco, and that anger is about to erupt like a damn volcano as he tries to dismiss me so easily when everything they’re about to talk about has to do with me.
“I’m not a child, Teo. I’m staying for this conversation.”
My brother looks at me with a slight raise in his brow, but before he can argue, Nicco speaks up. “She’s staying. This conversation concerns my future wife, so she will be included in it.”
Enzo drops his head in his hand and mutters, “You just had to go and poke the damn bear even harder.”
“Future wife?” Matteo repeats.
Even with the disdain that drips from Matteo’s voice, my heart swells at Nicco calling me his future wife. He glances over at me and grabs hold of my hand, giving it a firm squeeze before guiding me over to the chair. He gestures for me to sit before sliding another chair over from the table off to the side.
“It’s not a secret that your sister and I dated while she was at CU?—”
Enzo scoffs. “It was definitely a secret for us, but sure, we’ll ignore that.”
I whip my head in Enzo’s direction and hiss, “Enzo.”
“Anymore,” Nicco finishes. “At least not with you guys. My dad doesn’t know it was Isabella I dated back then, and I’d prefer we keep it that way.”
Teo’s posture remains rigid while he studies Nicco, keeping his loaded gun so close it would only take him a second to have it pointed back on Nicco. “If you don’t want your father to know about you dating my sister, why don’t you just end things with her now?”
“Teo,” I snap.
“My dad thinks I’m getting Isabella to fall in love with me so she’ll end up wanting to get married.”
Teo’s jaw sets as he takes in that information. “He thinks he can use my sister to access my ports.”
Nicco nods even though it wasn’t a question. Teo knew exactly what he was getting at.
“The fact that your father would come up with such an idiotic plan?—”
“It actually ended up being a fucking fantastic plan,” Nicco interrupts.
My brother sits back in his seat, narrowing his gaze on Nicco with a slight quirk in his brow. A few silent beats pass between them before he nods for him to continue.
My brother can be intimidating. Knowing he’d have to take over for my dad as the don of the DiMaggio family, it’s always been in his blood. But Nicco can hold his own when it comes to Matteo. He’s not afraid to stand up to him, and I think that’s something my brother can quickly grow to respect.
“I love your sister, and when I had to break up with her and leave, I did it for her, fully knowing I would be back one day to make her my wife. No matter what.” He looks at me, giving me a small smile.
One thing I’ve always loved about Nicco is how expressive his eyes are. I can see the sincerity in them by the softening of his gaze. If I had just given him the chance to explain everything to me sooner, had I just opened not only my ears but also my eyes to his explanation, I would’ve known. I would’ve seen the honesty in his eyes.
Bringing his attention back to my brother, he continues. “It just so happens you sped up that process by taking over Mancini’s port. My dad is greedy—we all know that—so when he lost his primary source of income, he became desperate to get it back. I knew I’d be able to use that against him, so I took advantage of the situation when he came to me with the idea to get Isabella to fall for me, and in turn, marry me.”
“So what exactly is your plan, Niccolò?” Teo asks.
“I plan on taking over for my dad sooner than he thinks… with or without his permission.”
“And how the hell do you plan on doing that?” Teo asks.
“I’ve already gained the support from all of his capos except one. If you can even call his newest capo a capo. Mauricio is loyal to a fault to my dad, so I have no qualms with losing him.”
“Mauricio is his capo now?” Teo asks. “When the fuck did that happen?”
“Last week when I killed Alessandro Castello.”
Teo nods slowly. “So what’s your plan?” he asks, but I see the wheels turning in his brain. He already knows what Nicco is offering, he just wants him to say it out loud.
“I plan on killing my dad if he doesn’t step down respectfully from his position.” Nicco’s voice is steady as he lays out the threat against his dad on the table. “And I think we all know my dad well enough to know how that will pan out.”
“Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting,” Enzo says, sitting up in his seat.
“That’s not going to happen,” Teo says. “Your dad is mine to kill. I want to feel his throat constrict while I squeeze his airway closed and he takes his last breath.”
A chill creeps through me at the darkness of my brother’s words. I’ve always known the world we live in, but my parents and my brothers have always shielded me from the worst of it. It’s something I wish they never did, but I respected it. Hearing my brother go into detail about how he plans on killing Nicco’s dad is dark and scary.
Nicco considers Teo for a moment. “You want to kill him? Fine. But since I’m giving you what you want, you’re going to give me what I want.”
“Oh, is that how this is going to work?” Teo scoffs, a slight shock in his tone at the brazenness of Nicco’s words.
“Yes. You want something from me, and I want something from you.”
“Yeah, my sister, I get it.”
“That’s not it.”
“What else?” Teo grinds out.
“You want to dismantle my family’s organization, but I want a truce. I think you’d be wise to consider my family’s name as an ally.”
“What makes you think I need an ally, especially yours?”
“You know how our world is. You never know when another group is going to try to come in and take over. Strength is in numbers, Matteo. Take a moment and think with your brain and not your emotions.”
My breath hitches at the way Nicco is speaking to my brother, and I hold my breath, waiting for his reaction. He could get pissed at how direct Nicco’s being, or he could respect it. It could go either way.
“I’ll help you get your revenge on my dad, but let the ones who weren’t involved with his shit-ass decisions go. Don’t take down their livelihoods because of him,” Nicco says.
What feels like several long minutes pass while my brother’s gaze remains on Nicco. He finally glances at Enzo before sliding his gaze over to mine, and I finally release a long, languid breath. “Please, Teo,” I whisper.
He sits up, placing his forearms on the edge of his desk and turns his attention back to Nicco. “You really love my sister?”
“More than you could ever know,” Nicco states.
Teo releases a low chuckle, lessening the tension in the room. “I think I might have an idea of how much.”
There’s the big softie Lux has turned my brother into. I was hoping—no, praying —that he’d come out soon.
Teo brings his gaze over to mine, and I can already read the question behind his dark eyes. “Why didn’t you just tell me? We’re family . Why weren’t you just honest instead of sneaking around behind our backs this entire time?
“Teo, you held a gun to Nicco’s head,” I utter.
“Can you blame me? It was a bit of a surprise, especially coming from him. It would’ve been better had it come from you.”
My shoulders sag forward, and I drop my gaze to my fidgeting hands in my lap.
I feel bad. I do. This is never how I wanted this to come out.
Bringing my gaze back up to my brother’s, I say, “I’m sorry. I know it was wrong of me to sneak around and hide Nicco from you guys, but you have to understand I was just so…”
Matteo lets out a sigh and says, “Scared.”
I give him a small nod, and the anger that was in his eyes from me lying to him has been replaced with understanding and a hint of… sadness?
“I get it, Isabella,” he says. “I clearly haven’t been doing my job as your older brother if you’re afraid to come to me, but I get it. Niccolò’s family has done the worst possible thing they could do to us. If the shoes were reversed, I’m sure I would’ve had some hesitation.”
I sit up a little taller in my seat, relief settling in me as my brother expresses his understanding.
“You love him?” he asks, and I’m surprised it’s even a question. However, if I know my brother, he might know the answer but needs to hear me say it.
“More than anything, Teo. He’s the other half of my soul, and when he left, I’m not sure if you realized it, but something changed in me. I lost my motivation to do something with my life. I was just going to be the Mafia wife I was raised to be. But now with Nicco here, I just… I feel whole again. You know it was him who pushed me to start working with Liana, right? And I mean as more than just helping her out here and there at the boutique. He was the one who saw my interest and talent in college and pushed me to pursue it now to help her with the bridal collection.”
Teo studies me while he takes in my words. I feel vulnerable putting myself out there in front of my brothers like that, but he wanted honesty, so that’s exactly what I gave him.
“I tell you what, Nicco,” Teo says. “You leave your father to me, and I’ll let you keep your family business running.”
Without hesitation, Nicco extends his hand across Teo’s desk. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
My brother drops his gaze to Nicco’s hand and pauses before taking it and giving it a shake, but before Nicco can pull his hand away, Teo’s grip tightens and he leans in close enough that he could easily grab Nicco by the head and bash it into the desk.
Teo’s gotten less combative since meeting Lux, but when it comes to his family, he’ll do anything to protect us. I just hope he can see Nicco has never and will never be a threat to me or our family.
I snap a worried look to Nicco, but a smile forms, parting his lips.
“I know you just got hit in the face with a lot of information—information I’m sure you didn’t want—but just know I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere. Let’s put this bullshit aside for good and work together to take down the real problem,” Nicco says.
Teo slides his gaze from me to Nicco before saying, “You better pray you never hurt my sister again, because if you do, I promise I won’t hesitate to put a bullet through your skull.”
“Um, yeah, I already beat you to that,” Enzo says. “You’re going to have to get in line behind me.”
“You have my word, Matteo,” Nicco says before looking over at me. “I’ll never do anything to lose the only woman I’ve ever been in love with.”
Even though I’ve heard Nicco say he loves me multiple times before, it still brings a flutter to my heart. He and I will be having a conversation about him lying about this meeting after we’re done here, but I still can’t help but feel like a giddy little schoolgirl. How did I manage to win the man of my dreams?
“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Teo asks.
“No,” Nicco says. “I’ll keep you updated on the takeover, and from there, you can do what you want with my dad.”
“Great,” Teo says, and for the first time during this meeting, the corners of his mouth turn up and his lips part into a smile. “I look forward to it.”