8. Isabella
8
ISABELLA
I had honestly expected it to take weeks for the Guild to make their move.
In fact, I’d almost gone out for dinner instead of wasting another evening in front of my laptop, monitoring every branch of the Prince’s Guild.
There were others who switched out with me during the day, handing me reports of the general comings and goings with an impressive lack of boredom.
But seeing the look on Teo Vitale’s face was entirely worth all those grueling hours of monitoring nothing at all.
On my monitor, three men desperately look around the maintenance office for the camera, finally finding it tucked in the corner.
“If you wanted to get my attention, you could have just asked for my number,” I purr into the microphone.
There’s a slight delay before my words reach them. I know the moment they do, because Teo relaxes back into his chair as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“I’m assuming you can hear me?” he replies, a little louder than necessary.
“I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to hear those dulcet tones again,” I flirt back.
Across from me, one of the other IT technicians gives me a thumbs-up, a phone pressed to his ear.
Good. Backup has been notified.
On the screen, Teo smirks to himself. “Did you want something, Isabella?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“I’m a very rich man, Natali. Can’t blame me for finally wanting to blow off a bit of steam at a casino.”
I don’t let him hear my laugh. “Usually, our patrons don’t find themselves wandering through the basement.”
“Perhaps I’m feeling a little lost.”
I hum thoughtfully. “Well, maybe I could show you around sometime.”
“I suppose it’s the least you could do. I saved your life, after all.”
I don’t miss the way the other men in the room glance back at Teo in confusion. I realize one of them is Dante. The man that caught me at the wedding. Interesting…
“I think you’ll find that my life debt has already been paid,” I correct him.
A glance at the screen tells me I have three more minutes.
“First I’m hearing of it.”
“Leon was about to start a war to get me back,” I explain, taking my time not to rush my words. “You’re lucky I was there to calm him down. Otherwise, your head would probably be on a spike right now.”
“Why, Isabella. I didn’t know you cared.”
I watch as he starts to spin oh-so-casually in his chair. My eyes narrow.
It has to be something to do with infiltrating the system. If there was a device or a cloning system hacking into us right now, someone in this room should have picked it up right now.
The fact that none of the alarms are going off is worrying. I’ll have to reset the firewall immediately.
“You’re stalling me. Why?” I demand.
Teo’s grin only gets wider. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Perhaps I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Or you’re waiting for reinforcements to arrive and surround us.”
Shit.
I grind my teeth together before responding. “You don’t seem particularly put out by the possibility.”
I watch as he shrugs. “I figure you need something from me.”
“I figure you think too highly of yourself.”
On my screen, Dante approaches the door and glances out into the hallway before stepping back in. He approaches Teo, whispering something too low for the cameras to pick up.
Teo simply nods in response. “You have the upper hand here, belle. You may as well ask your questions.”
The IT tech waves for my attention and gives me a nod of confirmation.
“It’s not exciting now that you’ve taken all the fun out of it,” I reply childishly as I check the other monitors. Twenty or so men have now pulled up to the Princes’ Hand and are waiting for my signal.
“I’m sure I could still make it worth your while.”
I shove down the fluttering feeling in my chest.
“I wasn’t lying when I said my brother wanted war. In fact, I think it’s very possible that you owe me a favor. He wouldn’t have stopped at only taking your life. Your precious Dante was absolutely next on his list. Him and that insane redhead.”
Something visibly cools in Teo’s expression, even through the pixels on the screen.
“He would have been dead before he could touch them,” he growls back.
“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” I concede. “Either way, I think it’s in both our best interests to stop that from happening, don’t you agree?”
“If I don’t, will your reinforcements allow us to leave here alive?”
This time, I let him hear me chuckle. “I think you know the answer to that.”
“What do you want?”
“Dinner, eight o’clock tomorrow,” I all but sing, basking in the shocked expression on his face. “There’s this gorgeous place on Mia Park.”
“You want me to…take you to dinner?” he asks uncertainly.
“Of course. I think our next discussion about the future of our organizations should be done face to face, don’t you?”
The Eleven at Mia Park isn’t just gorgeous. It’s a Michelin-star restaurant that is more exclusive than even our private poker tables, with a waiting list that could leave you hanging for years.
This makes it quite convenient that the head chef is in a tremendous amount of debt to the Prince’s Hand, courtesy of said private poker tables.
I walk up the steps confidently, my short cream dress perhaps slightly scandalous in comparison to the other restaurant’s patrons attire, but they turn a blind eye. This is my domain, after all.
That’s the beauty of old money. Having it means that people are far more forgiving and, frankly, far more interested in getting on your good side.
“ Mademoiselle ,” the host greets me, almost bouncing in his excitement. “It is an honor that you will be dining with us again tonight.”
I hum noncommittally, “Is my table ready?”
“Why, of course. Please follow me,” he abandons his post entirely to escort me through the extravagant room, leaving more than a few disgruntled guests behind in his wake.
“Your guest has already arrived,” he comments softly as we weave around the tables. I note more than a few eyes on me as I go. Not-so-subtle husbands stare with longing in their sad little eyes.
One glance around the room tells me all I need to know. There’s no one here of my caliber this evening. A pity, really. I was really hoping I might be able to rile Teo up a bit.
I glance back at the host. He isn’t entirely unattractive, really.
But as we arrive at the private table at the very back of the room, the thought begins to feel laughable.
Another reason for bringing Teo Vitale here was to disarm him. I’ve read his profile. His parents left him penniless, and he had been a charity case within the Moretti family for seventeen years. Sure, he’s inherited the Guild’s wealth now that he’s don, but…but he was supposed to be uncomfortable in a place as extravagant as this.
Yet there he is, casually sipping red wine as if he was born with a wine glass in his hand. He seems entirely unperturbed by our surroundings.
“I hope you weren’t waiting long,” I greet him as casually as I can.
But my mouth instantly dries when he turns those endlessly dark eyes on me.
It’s unfair, really, how beautiful he is. His long hair should look scruffy, not tasteful, as it curls almost to his shoulders. His nose and jaw are refined in a way that even the ancient Greeks would struggle to recreate in their sculptures.
It also doesn’t help that he looks me up and down with that desperately hungry look in his eyes.
For the first time since suggesting this plan, I suddenly feel nervous that I might fail.
“I would wait on a woman like you for the rest of my life,” he flirts back.
I bite my lip, watching in satisfaction as his eyes drop to the movement, before taking my seat next to him.
“May I get you anything, mademoiselle?” the host says, drawing my attention away.
I make a show of placing my hand on his arm as I smile brilliantly up at him. “Champagne, I think. We’re celebrating, you see.”
The casual touch has its desired effect. The host’s face flushes brilliantly.
“Our anniversary, right, belle ?”
I snap my gaze over to see Teo glaring at my hand, a tight expression on his face. I blink, and then he smiles again condescendingly.
Two can play at that game. “Of course, darling .”
I release the host, not bothering to watch as he scrambles away in embarrassment.
“As flattered as I am, Vitale,” I begin, crossing my leg over the other, “you’ll forgive me for not wanting to be associated with you beyond this table.”
“Did I do something wrong?” he replies innocently.
“I’m not sure you’re capable of doing anything right.”
Teo narrows his eyes slightly. “Why am I alive, Isabella?”
Another server—the poor Host seems to have returned to his post—pours champagne into my glass over my shoulder. I wait until they’ve moved on before continuing.
“I’ve always thought diplomacy garners more effective results than throwing people down stairwells,” I reply evenly.
Teo smirks. “So, you’re here to bargain with me?”
“I know what it is you want, Teo Vitale. I’d rather have a civil conversation about it before our respective families destroy everything accessible by bridge and tunnel. See if we can’t come to some kind of…arrangement.”
He raises an eyebrow at that. “So your heart bleeds for the bystanders?”
“Isn’t it always the civilians that pay the worst toll?”
My words linger between us as two servers bring out the first course of the taster menu. I wave them away before they can begin with an explanation of the food in front of us.
“You want to know where my mother is,” I state as I watch him over the rim of my champagne glass.
There’s no mistaking the darkness that falls over his expression. “You can’t expect me to believe you’ll give her up so easily?”
I tsk and put my glass down. “You’re correct, of course. But I’ve never encountered a man with exclusively singular goals.” I let my gaze wander to his chest, where his shirt dips tantalizingly low. “There must be other things you’re interested in.”
He quirks his head. “Why is it that we’re having this conversation? Did your brother think he’d have trouble seducing me?”
“My brother is otherwise engaged at present,” I reply lazily, sitting back in my seat. “It seems all negotiations between the Guild and the Prince’s Hand lie with us.”
Teo acknowledges me for a tense beat, as if he can hear the way my heart is hammering in my chest. Or somehow knows that I can’t stop thinking about the way his lip felt against mine.
“I feel as if I’m at a disadvantage,” he says, finally.
“How so?”
“You know what I want. It’s what you want that I can’t get my head around.”
I give him a pointed look. “Oh, I imagine there are several things, Teo Vitale.”
“Besides your sudden interest in the well-being of civilians?”
I take another sip of champagne to buy myself some time. “I know that you’re tracking us.”
He looks somewhat impressed by this. “Know thy enemy.”
“I’d like you to stop.”
“Got something to hide, Natali?” He smirks.
I lean forward slightly on the table, very aware of its effect on my chest in this dress. “I think it’s more fun to show you my secrets myself.”
I try not to grin too hard when Teo licks his lips in response.
He’s clearly still distracted, so I continue on. “If we go to war, both of us will lose. But if you continue to keep me and my brother under surveillance, I won’t be able to stop him next time.”
“And if I’d rather take my chances?” Teo’s hungry eyes finally meet mine.
“Then I suppose I’d have to give you what you want.”
Teo’s chest begins to rise and fall more aggressively than usual. “Give me your mother’s location?”
I smile sweetly. “Of course not, darling.”
“What else could I possibly want?”
I bite down on my lip again. “Me.”