Chapter 21
ISABELLA
I barely ate a thing from the smorgasbord my family managed to put out for us with only a day’s notice. Sebastian’s mother and grandmother brought a couple of dishes as well, and I realize the combining of a large Italian family with a Puerto Rican family will mean we will never go hungry.
“Belly,” Arianna says quietly. “Are you doing okay?”
We’re sitting on one of the couches in my parents’ oversized family room.
These couches have seen many family meetings, Christmases, and celebrations of birthdays and new babies.
I never thought we’d be meeting to discuss my safety and an ex-boyfriend who may or may not be out to get me.
Two large brown leather couches face each other, with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace covering the wall on one side.
Two small chairs with a side table surround the couches, and my parents have pulled every dining chair into the space for our large congregation to sit.
Alex’s oldest daughter, Abbie, corrals all the children into the basement so they’re out of hearing distance.
I watch as Camila excitedly waves to me before she takes Abbie’s hand and goes into the basement.
I sigh. “As good as I can, I guess. This is all incredibly surreal.”
She takes my hand, squeezing it. “We’re here for you, and we’ll get you through this. Well, whatever this is.”
I give her a small smile, but my insides are churning.
Mom sits on the other side of me, patting my knee reassuringly.
Sebastian watches from the other side of the room, surrounded by my brothers, as they pester him with nonstop questions.
His eyes warm as he gives me a small smile, and I notice his finger tapping along his hip bone, pointing to the spot where my tattoo is on his body.
My entire being relaxes, melting into the back of the couch.
I love that we’ve both marked the other on our bodies.
I love that, no matter what, I’m carrying him with me.
Looking back, I can see how he slowly infiltrated my heart.
While it may seem sneaky, I know it wasn’t.
He did it patiently, only when he knew I was open to it.
He’s always listened to me and respected my boundaries.
“Girl, you better quit looking at him like that, or you might end up pregnant right now,” Arianna teases. “Although I’d sure love another niece or nephew.”
“I basically just gave you a five-year-old niece. Can we maybe wait to breed me for a little bit? I’d like to enjoy Sebastian by myself right now.”
Mom sighs. “He is one attractive man.”
“Mom!” Arianna and I say simultaneously.
She shrugs. “What? I’m not allowed to look at the merchandise? It’s window shopping, ladies. It’s fine as long as I don’t touch or purchase.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Arianna mutters. “I think we got our ho tendencies from her.”
“Speak for yourself. I have never been a ho,” I tell her.
Arianna giggles. “Oh I definitely was for a hot minute, especially when Stone would piss me off, acting as if he wasn’t attracted to me.”
“You get your ho from Nonna ,” Mom offers. We both turn to her, horrified. “You don’t want to know the things I’ve heard about. You should be thanking me that I always made sure to lock the bedroom door.”
Hannah comes up behind me. “It’s worse for me. I married into it, and I’ve already experienced sexual situations with more than one of you hoodlums. So I appreciate a locked door.”
“Alright, let’s get started,” Sebastian says, clearing his throat. He looks so handsome and controlled. His aura takes over a room, commanding it. Even Dom looks smaller than my man. “How many of you met Isabella’s ex-boyfriend, Rick?”
Only a few people raise their hands. Looking back, I realize I didn’t bring him around to family events much because I knew it wasn’t a long-term relationship.
I think I was more embarrassed about him cheating on me with Amelia, than actually hurt by the action.
My decision to destroy his apartment was mostly due to it being the final straw.
I was so sick and tired of being stepped on by men.
Overlooked and discounted. Glitter bombing his space was me taking back my life, and vowing to never let a man become more important than me in my own fucking life.
Sebastian holds up a picture of Rick, then one of Rick and Amelia.
He looks at me apologetically. “This was taken yesterday. One of my guys followed them. They were loudly arguing about some missing items. While they never clearly said specifics, it was insinuated that the group Rick was distributing for is getting more aggressive with scare tactics.”
“It’s definitely drugs?” Dad asks, and Sebastian nods.
“We were able to access the doorbell camera footage from the person across the hall from Rick. Only thirty minutes before Isabella and Arianna entered Rick’s apartment, an unidentified person went in.”
“How did you access the camera footage?” Dominic asks.
Sebastian’s eyes meet mine, and I swear a slight hint of a blush creeps onto his cheekbones. “I, uh, well, maybe I shouldn’t say.”
Leo raises a hand. “Let’s just say it was liberated from the Internet, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Everyone turns to Leo, myself included. “Liberated it from the Internet? Have you done that before, Leo, or were you secretly involved in this project?”
His lips twitch. “It’s classified.”
I roll my eyes. “Uh-huh. Sure.”
My parents turn to Arianna. “You were there too?”
Arianna has the decency to look relatively embarrassed.
“Well, I wasn’t going to let Belly go there by herself.
Honestly it was so cool to see her stand up for herself.
The girl has massive balls for someone who stays pretty quiet and introverted.
No one piss her off, though. She’s pretty creative when she’s vindictive. ”
Looking around, I find all of my siblings staring at me with varying looks of amusement, but I can tell they’re impressed. Beaming, I look at Sebastian, and find the biggest smile on his face. Even without their pride, I know Sebastian will always be proud of me, and that’s all I want.
“The person who entered before my sisters. Male or female?” Leo asks. He stands uncomfortably by the staircase, using the banister to support his weight.
“We ran it through some software and found the person’s height to be only around five-six, and due to the overall size being thin and lanky, we’re safely saying it was a woman.”
“Did she enter by breaking in, or with a key?” Leo asks.
“The apartment complex is fairly new, and the doors have keypads where residents input a code. Whoever it was knew the code, and entered quickly.”
My mouth falls open. “Rick wouldn’t give me the code. I looked over his shoulder once to see it. He’d never give it out to anyone, not even his family. ”
Sebastian watches me. “Do you think Amelia might have the code?”
I ponder that thought. “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t even know how long they were sleeping together. Their interactions were few and far between. I don’t know if they knew each other before we started dating, or if I actually introduced them.”
Alex murmurs something quietly to Sebastian, and he nods.
“Moving on. We’ve managed to connect Rick to a drug distribution ring within the Denver metropolitan area.
It has connections to the Salazar Cartel in Mexico.
The main drug they transport is fentanyl, which explains why both Rick, and the man who broke into Isabella’s apartment, referenced tablets.
But Rick also asked where the Molly was, which is a version of ecstasy. ”
“Damn,” Luca mumbles. “When the quiet ones fall, they bring all the drama.”
“Luca!” Hannah hisses. “Way to support your sister.”
“What?” he says innocently. “I’m proud of Belle. She’s finally taking ownership of her life and making things interesting. Yeah, it’s a little more dramatic than we’d all like, but she’s happy. Look at her. Everyone, look at Isabella. Has she ever looked this fucking happy before?”
I watch, enraptured by all the smiles of my family members, as they all shake their heads.
“Exactly. Seb, and his family, are Belle’s perfect match. We could do without the drug thing, but it is what it is. I’m still just thrilled for my sister.” Luca looks pleased as he slings an arm around Hannah.
“So what happens now?” Stone asks, casting a quick glance at Arianna. I can see the worry in his eyes, whereas Arianna has no idea she might be in danger. Just for her proximity to me, and the fact that she was also inside Rick’s apartment, could mean these people come after her.
“We’ve contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, as well as the DEA and the FBI. And before you ask, I did a complete scan of my office before I made any calls, to ensure no one could potentially be listening,” Sebastian says, his eyes darting toward me every few words.
It’s as if a brick is dropped into my stomach.
If he’s worried about his office, could everything else also be susceptible?
Is Camila in danger? A sheen of tears covers my vision, but I feel Sebastian crouch in front of me.
If I brought danger into her innocent life, if I’m the reason why that sweet child experiences even a second of pain, the sheer torment I’ll feel will be immeasurable.
Sebastian’s hand cups my cheek as his thumb strokes across my skin.
“Baby, I’ve got it under control. Do you trust me? ”
I nod, but the tears spill onto my cheeks. I whisper, “If something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Nothing is going to happen to either of you. I swear on my life,” he says vehemently, taking my head in his hands, and swiping the tears from my cheeks. “It will be a cold day in hell before you and Camila are hurt in any way. My men and I guarantee it.”
“If you’ve contacted authorities, why call this family meeting?” Gianna asks. “Are we in danger too?”