Chapter 25 I Won’t Be Letting Her Go
I Won't Be Letting Her Go
I’m lost without you. —Izzy
Enzo
I need to fix things. But I don’t know how.
Her words play on an endless loop in my mind.
I’ve been in love with you since I was eleven years old.
My heart fucking beats for you.
She loves me.
I don’t know why it’s so surprising, but it is. I’ve always assumed that my feelings were unrequited. How could a woman as perfect as her love a man as scarred—as broken—as me?
“Iz,” I call out, resting my head against her bedroom door.
No answer.
“Iz,” I call again, a little more frantic.
It’s been hours since she ran out of my office and I locked myself away, unable to face her.
Still no answer.
I try the door. The knob turns in my hand. It opens to reveal her room empty. The phone I gave her lies on the bed.
“Fuck!”
My feet pound against the floor as I fly back to my office, pulling open the security feed.
There she is. A backpack strung over her shoulder as she stops to chat to Paulo, my secondary receptionist. He looks uncertain, but then she’s gone, slipping out into the night. She left. She left me.
I didn’t even get a chance to tell her that I love her too. That I always have.
Anger burns through my veins that she’s being so reckless. Lucas is still out there. So is Marcus Whitfield. She’s not safe.
I hit call.
“Mr. Russo?” Paulo greets on the other end of the phone.
“What did Izzy tell you when she left?”
He pauses. “That she was running out to get milk.”
“And how long ago was that?”
Another pause.
“It’s been a few hours.” His voice wobbles.
“And has she returned?”
There’s an audible gulp. “No. I—”
“You’re fired.”
“Mr.—”
“Effective immediately. Get out.”
I hang up, hitting Dante’s contact.
“Boss?” The greeting is accompanied by a yawn.
“Round up the men. City wide search for Isolde.”
I hear some shuffling. “She’s been kidnapped?”
“No. She left.”
There’s a moment of hesitation. “Uhhh, are you sure this is wise?” There’s an incredulity to his tone that pisses me off. “Pulling in so many people for one woman?”
“Did I stutter?”
“No sir.”
“Then see that it’s done.”
“On it.”
She’s seen the darkness in me. She knows the monster I am now. Yet she still loves me. Love, not loved.
That means she’s mine. I won’t be letting her go.
Go on, Izzy, run. See how far you get before I find you.