13. Isabella
thirteen
Isabella
When I came back to Italy and started to learn all the things I need to know to be a mafia queen, I doubted myself, but the grief and pain were bigger, and it was what moved me forward.
I don’t think I could have done it any other way; I made progress with the organization. Where I have influence, I made things better and found a way to make this job a little safer.
Now, I have control, and I decide how my life will end.
This is why I like this playroom. Watching the men fail and lose because they are too greedy and them thinking they can outsmart me is the highlight of my day.
It’s Friday, and once again, Gio has lost all his money at poker.
“I told you not to play, didn’t I?” I narrow my eyes at him.
He runs a hand over his face, sweat covering his forehead. “I have to play. I need that money.”
“What money?” I shake my head. “It’s money you don’t have. You keep losing. Be a man and accept you can’t play and save that money for your family.”
His head jerks back. “Don’t you dare speak about my family or what I should and shouldn’t do. If I want to play, I will.”
“I will say whatever I want to.” I lower my voice in warning. “Don’t forget who you are speaking to. Your addiction to the game has you speaking nonsense. Be careful.”
Pino tsks from beside me, his chuckle causing Gio to look at him. I watch his throat as he swallows hard and see his courage disappear.
When my father introduced me as his heir and announced that I would take over, Gio was the one who didn’t take it well. He is a little old-fashioned. Maybe too old-fashioned. Others were ready for some changes, sick of constantly getting arrested; either them or someone from their families. They realize it is time for changes, and they are ready for me and Pino to lead this organization into a better future. And we will. But first, I need to find the person selling information to the Carabinieri and get those papers signed by Salvatore.
I made a deal with him to help me out. That was the wrong choice since all I do is keep looking for him everywhere I go. However, he is the only one who doesn’t have anything on me, and he saved me from getting arrested. My father’s lawyer worked on getting me out of this mess, and they can’t find anything connected to me anymore. All evidence disappeared, and all data on me was erased from their servers. There is only one person who could do that.
My father doesn’t like the fact that there’s a rat in his organization. It’s not something new to him, though. He has dealt with more traitors in his time than he can remember. Their punishment? Well, in this world, the punishment for those who speak is that they pay with their blood. And my father is a ruthless man who, without any doubt, I believe has spilled the blood of his traitors.
This time is different. It’s about me. When he said he would take care of it, I asked him to let me handle things. I didn’t tell him I’m getting help from the husband I’m trying to divorce. This is my responsibility, and I promised my father I would ask for help if I needed any.
The support I have from Pino is everything I need. Pino has built a reputation for himself during the years I was living under another identity.
Ruthless, hard-hearted, and a piece of shit. That’s what Maria called him when he didn’t let her leave her mother’s house a few months ago.
After her husband’s death, she came back to her mother’s house, a small place within the villa. She was newly widowed when she came to live with her mother and had a baby. Now, her daughter is four. She wants to move away and build a new life. That conversation didn’t go well, but I only need to look at his track record of torturing people to know who he is and why everyone respects him. He is ruthless, but in this line of business, everything is fair.
Our little pact is working just fine, and as soon as I get my divorce papers, we can move forward with our plan. Before jumping to that part, though, I need to take care of the problem of today. Finding out who has been talking. The suspects are each of the men in this room. I didn’t just rely on Salvatore to find that out. Pino and I are also looking into the men, just differently. Salvatore has tactics, structure, and plans. He also has the world’s best hacker working for him. I have my curiosity and Pino’s ruthlessness.
My phone pings with a message. I send Gio a warning look before looking at my phone.
Salvatore: We need to meet.
I roll my eyes. Is he for real?
Isabella: Can’t, I’m busy.
Salvatore: Oh, you want to meet with me.
What I want from him is to sign the divorce papers and leave.
Isabella: Why would I want that?
Salvatore: I have something for you.
Has he found the traitor?
Isabella: Be specific.
Salvatore: You are no fun.
When did he get funny?
Isabella: Specifics.
Salvatore: I have the information you need.
Isabella: Spill it.
Salvatore: Sorry, honey. I will tell you when I see you.
Isabella: …
Salvatore: Should I come to you, or will you come to me?
Fuck. I look around the room; the men are all engrossed in their cards.
Isabella: Where are you?
Salvatore: In my car outside your club.
I don’t answer as I throw my cards on the table. “Keep playing. I have a private situation to take care of.” I turn toward Pino. “Stay here. I’ll take Raffaele with me.” He nods, and I turn and walk toward the door and leave.
I see him as soon as I exit the club, Raffaele behind me. He’s sitting in the car he rented. I open the passenger door and slide inside.
The spicy smell of his cologne fills my nostrils, and the memories of the last night we spent together play in my head like a movie.
It was closure. There is no going back. It was one last time. I shake my head and ignore how my chest tightens and how the storm rages through my body at his proximity.
I turn to meet his intense eyes, his gaze matching mine. I know that look; it’s the one I see when I look in the mirror.
Longing.
I blink and break the tension. “Why did we need to meet?”
He clears his throat and exhales. “Hi.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to hide a smile. I want to ignore his small talk and get to the point. Salvatore obviously has other plans. “Hi.”
A smile spreads across his face, and I return it with a small smile of my own.
His eyes sparkle as they burn my skin while they roam my body, from my face down to my cleavage and to my mid-thighs, where my red dress ends. I use his distraction to do the same; his casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his forearms showing the flex of his muscles. My eyes drop down. He’s wearing jeans. This is the first time I really notice his change in looks. This casual man is so different from the one I used to know. Maybe on the outside, but I’m almost sure he is the same person on the inside.
Is he, though? a small voice in my head asks.
“You look beautiful.” My eyes catch his. “Following you around and not being beside you was torture. A punishment of sorts.” He chuckles. “You don’t have to say anything. I know I deserve to be punished.”
I shake my head slightly. “I don’t want to talk about that. Why am I here?”
He inhales. “Fair enough. Even though it was painful to follow you around, I came by the information we were looking for.”
My brows raise. “You have the name?”
“Yes. That’s why you are here, no?”
I glare at him. “Spit it out.”
“I have one condition.”
I lean back in my seat and cross my arms in front of me. “I made the rules, remember? You don’t have the right to ask for conditions.”
“See, that’s not one of the rules. I want to renegotiate our terms. The rules can stay, but I want one thing.”
I search his face for an answer, but I should know by now that I can’t read his poker face. “What do you want?”
He smirks. “Now we’re talking.” He leans in closer to me. “I want to be the one to make him pay.”
I scoff. “You don’t have control here, Salvatore. You need to remember that. The only reason you’re still here and breathing is courtesy of me, otherwise you would have been dead or chased out of here the moment you stepped into our territory.”
“Hmmm.” He shrugs. “But if you allow it, I can do it.”
I take a moment before I answer him. I could allow it, but do I want to? Do I want him to slowly make his way back into my heart?
“This isn’t just about me, Salvatore. He betrayed my father. He has gone against my father’s wishes and, most importantly, he broke the code of silence. And we all know how that ends.”
“Let me participate at least.”
I exhale. “I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll see what I can do, and I’m only agreeing to this because I want this little game to end.”
He raises his hands in defense. “I’m not playing any game.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Is that so?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Wanna know who your rat is?”
“What do you think?” I glower.
“Giovanni Berti.”
“ Bastardo. I should have known.”
His eyes darken. “Why? Has he done something?”
I shake my head. “Other than being a chauvinistic pig and always contradicting my decisions? Is that not enough?”
“When you say it like that...”
I open the door, wanting to exit the car, but Salvatore’s hand on my forearm stops me. His hard gaze is focused on me. “Wait. I want to come with you. I know he’s upstairs.”
I purse my lips. “Fine, but you stay to the side.”
I let Salvatore follows me inside and upstairs to the poker room that is set in the secret VIP area.
When we enter, they’re still playing the same game, and all eyes land behind me on Salvatore. They all have questions. I can see it from the looks in their eyes; Pino too. I never shared with him what I agreed with Salvatore. Not because I don’t trust him. It was just that I was afraid they might kill each other.
“This is Salvatore, my soon to be ex-husband.” I emphasize the word ex . “Don’t let him distract you.” For the mafiosi, they look like idiots.
Salvatore rests his weight on the wall near the door and watches with a grin on his face.
Why is he grinning? I just said, ‘soon to be ex-husband, but when I turn to Pino, I see why.
Pino’s gaze radiates with violence toward Salvatore. However, it’s not the time for that. I approach Pino and sit on the chair beside him.
Keeping my gaze on the game in front of me, I lean into the Pino’s side as I speak to him. “That day when I almost got arrested, Salvatore saved me.” Pino inhales sharply, but I continue. “I agreed with him helping me find whoever is behind it. I know being a woman in this business, especially in ‘Ndrangheta, is new and was frowned upon before now. I didn’t want to show my father that there is a problem and that I suspect his men. Salvatore is an outsider. I knew he could find the person who is selling the information without anyone suspecting anything, so when Salvatore offered to help, I accepted.”
I turn my head to meet his hurt gaze. “You should have trusted me. Haven’t I always protected you?”
“Yes, of course you have, but I wanted to give you some space. I know you’ve been busy with other things. With someone else, Pino. I didn’t want to steal that precious time you had. I didn’t want anyone to suspect anything.” I steal a look toward Salvatore, who is keeping his eyes on the game, and then Giovanni. “Besides, Salvatore knows people with skills you and I don’t have.”
He huffs. “What skills?”
I smirk. “Hacking into ROS’s main server.”
“Anyone can hack into a server these days.”
“Oh, this is on another level, Pino. How do you think he found out who I was before I ran away? And he’s erased all the information that includes my name in the evidence.”
“Fair enough.” His eyes flash. “You didn’t say who the person soon to be dead is.”
I scan the men in the room. “Take a guess.”
He follows my gaze. His jaw ticks, matching the hard twitching of his hand. “Is it Mauro?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“He seems too agreeable about anything you say.”
“Do you think that’s bad?”
“No, but it’s either that or he has other motives.”
“Hmm.”
“What about Jacopo?”
“No. I think he doesn’t care much about who is the boss as long as he can play. And he likes the game and what comes after a little too much. Lidia, his usual girl, says he’s started to call her during the week.”
His eyes harden as he looks around. “Just say who the bastard is.”
“It’s Giovanni.”
Pino laughs. “Are you for real? Look at him. You mean to tell me that this greasy, short, round man is selling information? That he is our snitch? He looks like a clown and can’t match colors to save his life.”
I scan the bastard. “Yeah, but look at him. He’s desperate. He loses his money here, and the only girl taking pity on him after games is the one in most need of money herself. And besides, he’s the one who has been against any changes from the beginning.”
Pino shifts in his seat. “Yeah, but I thought he got over it after his slice of earnings increased. I guess I was wrong.”
“Don’t worry. We all make mistakes. For some people, it doesn’t matter how much money they have, it is never enough.”
I watch as Giovanni loses once again and Jacopo takes all the winnings. The vein on Giovanni’s forehead pops out, and his face reddens.
“Get ready for the action.” I smirk. “Lost again, Giovanni?” I raise my eyebrow as I watch him.
His gaze meets mine, and the sweat on his forehead drips down the side of his face. “He cheated.”
“Sure he did. Do you have something to say, Jacopo?” I ask, but my eyes are still focused on sweaty Giovanni.
“I’m sorry you think that, Gio. However, my luck has nothing to do with cheating but the lack of skills you have to play this game.”
Needing to get tonight over, I don’t let Giovanni react as his face turns red. I announce, “The game, for tonight, is over.” All eyes in the room turn toward me. “But first, I have matters to discuss with you.”
Pino stands and Raffaele clicks the door closed, taking his position in front of it. I glance at Salvatore, who is smirking, knowing what’s going on.
“As you all know, I was almost arrested last week when I was meeting with a person of interest who would help legalize our money. However, I was lucky.” I inhale deeply and avoid looking at Salvatore. “What I didn’t understand was how they knew my location and where to look for the goods. Luckily for us, Mauro had transferred the goods before the Carabinieri showed up.” I lean forward slightly and look each one of them in the eye. “Want to know the interesting part?” I don’t wait for their answer. “The interesting part is that only the people in this room knew the details.”
I watch as they start to sweat and look at each other, but my eyes focus on Giovanni. His eyes catch mine, and then his gaze raises toward Pino and to the other side of the room where Salvatore is still standing near the door. His face goes white. The commotion in the room subsides, and all eyes focus on Giovanni.
His voice shakes as he speaks accusingly. “You didn’t leave me any choice. You keep robbing me of money with this stupid game.”
“No one told you to play, dumbass,” Mauro scoffs.
He pushes from his chair, and it falls with a hard thud. His eyes fall on the money near him that Jacopo has won, and with a quick move, he grabs it and throws it in the air. “I just wanted to be more respected. No matter how hard I worked, I was always given shitty jobs. And then you came along.” He spits the words at me. “Long-lost daughter, who the great Domenico wants to be his heir, even if she is a woman. He forgot about our traditions and our values, and we just... what? Need to accept that?”
He pulls something from his pocket, and in a second, I see the gun is pointed at me.
I tilt my head to the side with a laugh. “You sure you want to pull that trigger? You think you have a shot to kill me and you’ll walk away alive?”
His nostrils flare as he sneers at me. “No, but at least I will kill you, and I’ll have peace of my mind before your dogs get me.”
He points the gun at each person in the room before pointing it back at me.
I stand, narrowing my eyes on him. “You think you have a chance? Do it!” I urge him.
His hand twitches, and the gun is fired. Not his gun, because he falls, crying out, on the floor. While everyone rushes toward him, I guess to keep him down, I look to the side from where the shot came. Dark, blazing eyes meet mine, and his jaw twitches as he shakes his head. He tucks his gun behind his jacket, and in a few steps, he’s in front of me.
“Are you out of your mind? Telling a man with a gun to shoot you?”
I shrug. “Well, he wasn’t supposed to have a gun in the first place. Everyone leaves their weapons outside this room.”
His nostrils flare. “But he did have one. And what would have happened if I didn’t act?”
“We would have handled it,” Pino says from behind him. “Besides, that gun he has had the safety on.” Pino steps in front of him. “As for you, I don’t think you should be here, but I answer to Isabella. If I it was any other way, you would already be dead.”
Salvatore’s jaw clenches, and before things escalate between them, I look at Pino. “I want to know what he told the Carabinieri, and if there’s anything else he’s hiding.”
He looks at me and then Salvatore before his eyes return to mine. “I’ll keep you informed.”
I turn toward Salvatore. “Now, take me home.” I don’t wait for his answer as I turn toward the exit because I know he will take me home.
It’s not like I don’t know how to get home or that I have no one to take me. I just need to say my last words to him before I make him leave.
I exit the game room, and all the way to Salvatore’s car, I repeat the same mantra in my head.
I’m okay. I don’t need him. He needs to leave. He will sign those papers.
Salvatore opens the door for me, and I slide inside before he closes the door and walks around the car. I watch him get in, and I see the questioning look on his face.
We drive in silence before he asks, “Your father’s place?”
“Yes.”
I open my mouth to say something else, but I can’t, so I focus on my breathing. The drive there isn’t long, but it seems like eternity when I reach the road that leads to the villa. Only when Salvatore has parked the car do I have the courage to turn to him.
“Thank you for driving me here. And thank you for tracing down Giovanni. I really appreciate that.”
“That’s a lot of thanking.” He grins.
I smile slightly. “But now is the time for you to leave. I want you to sign those papers and send them back to me.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s over, Salvatore. Leave the country.”
I don’t wait for his answer. I get out of his car and leave what’s left of my heart in it.