13. Salvatore
thirteen
Salvatore
I went into the bathroom to tell her that her father wants to have a video call to make sure she is in the pictures we send him. I should have known she would be naked. But I’m a bastard. I wanted to see her, to see her reaction, and I got my answer. It was a power play.
The call will be on secured line and on the record. After Isabel has talked to her father, I need to make a deal with him.
I didn’t need to wait long for Isabel to show up. Dressed in an over-sized T-shirt and leggings, with messy hair that falls down her back and a clean face, she walks barefoot into the living room. Gone is the flush in her cheeks and the redness in her neck. Her face is straight, composed.
“Ready? I ask.
She crosses her arms in front of her, staring down at me. “Why does he want to talk to me? You sent him the pictures.” Her brows furrow. “I never agreed to this. The whole point of me marrying you is so I don’t have to see him again.”
“He wants to be sure we didn’t fake anything. For all he knows, you could be your doppelganger.”
She murmurs something to herself, shaking her head. “Let's get it over with.”
I tap the place beside me on the sofa, and she joins me. I press the call button and wait. Ruggeri answers after two rings. He doesn’t look as old as I expected. He isn’t alone. There is a man beside him. They both look at us in disbelief. Mostly, at Isabel.
“Isabella, mia cara. It is you.” A flicker of a smile crosses his lips.
Isabella stiffens beside me. “Papa.”
He leans closer to the camera. His eyes widen. “There wasn’t a place I didn’t search for you.”
“I’m sorry, Papa. I needed to leave. I couldn’t stay, not after Mama died.”
Ruggeri’s eyes darken and his nostrils flare. And even if I want to know more about why she ran away, now is not the time.
Curling my hand around Isabel’s shoulder, I pull her into my chest.
“Let’s leave the past where it belongs. Your daughter is safe. Now we need to negotiate what we talked about. If you want to be part of Isabella’s life and keep her out of harm and out of war your man is forcing on me, wanting my territory, I suggest an alliance is made.”
“See, Mr. Catalano, I’m very glad my daughter is fine, and you made an honest woman out of her, but you forget something.” He narrows his eyes. “Marriages made for an alliance are not forced on us, they are agreed by both parties. As for war.” He shrugs. “I have no clue what you’re talking about. I have no interest in your territory, not that I have anyone to leave it to. After all, my only flesh and blood ran away.” Beside me, Isabel stops breathing. Her body turns stiff. “However, your marriage to my daughter changes things. I will agree on a temporary alliance and investigate this war attempt you are talking about. And before anything is decided, I want to see my daughter. I want you both to come here to sign any alliance. No harm will come upon you while you stay here.”
Isabel’s body shakes and I glance at her blank face.
“Thank you for the invitation. Let me get back to you on details.”
“Yes, you do that.”
I disconnect the call without letting him say more to Isabella.
Isabel jumps from her seat and starts pacing the room. I don’t know what her problem with her father is. I said I’d wait until she tells me because I suspected she had run away because she didn’t want to marry or because of mafia life. Some girls here did it before in our organization and others. We all know about honor killing.
I changed that as soon as I took over. Any girl or a man who wanted out and didn’t take an oath can walk away. However, they are aware of the consequences if they speak.
Isabella rambles, “I can’t go back there, I won’t. And you can’t make me. That wasn’t part of our deal. The whole point of marrying you is so I don’t have to go back.” She is still pacing, her voice raising with every word. She looks like a caged animal freaking out.
I stand and reach her, grabbing her forearm and pulling her toward me. She slams into my chest. I grab her by her upper arms and lock her moist eyes with mine.
She looks frightened. From the first time I met her, I could see fear in her eyes. She didn’t look like that cornered on my desk in my office with my hand around her neck. She was fearless and self-confident.
I soften my voice. “I will be there with you and so will my men. I will not let anything happen to you.”
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I know what he did, and I disobeyed him. I wasn’t supposed to. He promised I would end up like her, like both of them if I did.” She is shaking so hard by the time she finishes. Even if I have no idea what she is talking about, I can tell it scares her a lot. Who are they? What has her father done?
Feeling she’s getting weak, I pull her into my chest and walk us back to the couch, where we sit. I take her face into my hands, forcing her to look at me.
“What did he do? What are you talking about?” I demand softly.
“He told me I would end up like her if I didn’t behave, and I ran away. I just did what she told me to do. What I promised her.” The tears fall from her eyes, and I wipe them with my fingers.
“Who is she?”
She looks at me and then, like she is in a trance, she shakes her head out of my grip. She tries to get up, but I grab her and force her to sit down.
“Look, I can’t protect you if I don’t know what is going on.” I try to reason with her. “And I need to know what I’m dealing with before we go to Italy. I need to know because if he tries to do something, I know how to deal with it.”
Her eyes, once filled with tears and confusion, now hold hate and anger. Remaining silent, she leans against the couch, curling up with her knees close to her chest, while gazing upwards at the ceiling. I watch her intently for a few minutes, never once averting my eyes from her captivating presence. Even with tears streaming down her face, she remained breathtakingly beautiful.
But this marriage is for tactical reasons only, and I need to know what she is not telling me so I can stay one step ahead of my enemies.
“I didn’t want to end up like she did, so I ran away and ruined all his plans. A chance for an heir.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What plans? You mean Sabatini?”
“Yes.”
I shake my head slightly. “Sabatini is just a church mouse who was left after his parents betrayed Camorra. His name meant nothing back then. He’s just using the opportunity that Camorra's boss is in prison and got on the first plane here for revenge.” I shrug. “He thinks the world owes him something, but he is just thirsty for power.”
She exhales loudly, groaning. She bites on her lower lip before she confesses, “That’s my fault. I should have listened.”
“What are you talking about?” She closes her eyes, avoiding looking at me.
“I worked undercover for six months in Chicago and gathered evidence to put the Camorra boss and his men in prison.”
“You did what?” My anger gets the better of me, realizing she is the one the Commission is looking for.
She stands and starts pacing again. “I wanted to do the same to you, but you were so careful that I couldn’t find a thing about you.”
“You what?” I stand, fisting my hands beside me. Is this why she was snooping in my office? Was I her next target? What a fool I am to think she is innocent. I should hand her over to the Commission. But something is stopping me Maybe it’s the scared look in her eyes, or maybe I just want to use her.
“I can’t do this. I need to run.” Her hands grip her hair. She has gone from zero to a hundred in seconds.
I have never seen this woman so afraid. Not when I caught her in my office, not when I sneaked into her apartment to scare her. Both times she held her own fearlessly, ready to fight.
I was fascinated by her, by her strength, but she is afraid of her father, and there must be a reason.
I grab her arms, pulling her hands from her hair, trying to calm her. “Stop it!” I raise my voice a notch higher, gaining her focus. “Why do you want to run?”
Unsuccessfully, she tries to pull her hands from me. “He’ll kill me. He told me if I ever leave, he will kill me.” I search her eyes for answers, trying to figure out what she’s talking about. “Not even you can keep me away from him. He will kill everyone in his way. He did it before. I should have known. I should have never agreed to this.”
“What are you hiding?”
“Let me go. It’s none of your business. Let go!” She struggles against me, but I hold firm.
“Why would he kill you?” I press.
Her brown eyes were wet with tears, filled with horror, look at mine, slicing my dark soul apart as she speaks. “Because he said that after he killed my mother. After he took me from the car she was driving, when she tried to escape him. I heard the gunshot that killed her when they dragged me back to the house.” By the time she’s finished, her skin is red and her cheeks moist, her body shaking.
I don’t think before I pull her into me, wrapping my arm around her, her face resting on my chest. “He can’t do anything to you. You are my wife now. I will not let that happen. When we go there, if we go there, we will be protected. I will never leave your side. And if he sets foot in my territory and tries to hurt you, he is a dead man. I gave you my word, and I meant it. From the day you said yes, you were under my protection.” I wait for her to say something, but she doesn’t. “Tell me you understand, Bella.”
“I understand.”
I expect her to pull from me, but she doesn’t and neither do I. She feels so good in my arms. Perfect. Like she was made just for me, molded for my arms. The moment doesn’t last when my phone interrupts whatever is happening. She pulls away, straightening her hair and avoiding my gaze. I stay still, not caring about the ringing, just trying to read her face.
“I’m tired. I should go to bed.” Without a glance in my direction, she marches to her room.
My phone rings one more time, Dante’s name on the screen, and I curse under my breath.
“Dante.”
“We have a problem.”
I place my hand on the hidden screen and take the elevator down to the level under my underground garage. The section is so well hidden that it’s not even in the hotel’s blueprint. It is amazing what money and power can do.
I open the soundproof room and brightness greets my eyes; I find Dante waiting for me.
“He is inside.”
I look toward the room where the mysterious guy is held. “Where was he?”
“We caught him on cameras trying to put a bomb under your car.”
I raise my brows. “How did he know which one is mine?”
“Because he knows you.” He points with his head to the door.
My eyes widen. “You.”
I gave the bastard a second chance.
A chance to live. I shake my head. It was all a lie. I also gave him a job, but he was an enemy from the beginning.
“I guess my distress won’t work this time,” the man says.
I grit my teeth. “No. I don’t forgive those who betray me. And you did, you little shit.”
“It wasn’t that difficult. I asked around the guys my age on the streets, the ones looking for second chances. They told me you take care of kids on the streets, so it was easy to fake a story that would win you over.”
My fist connects with his face. “Who sent you?”
He grins. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. So, I guess you’ll have to kill me.”
I grab his chin, squeezing it hard. “Tell me, who are you working for?”
There is no ounce of reaction on his face. The kid is a psychopath. There is no use in talking to him.
“I will not kill you. I have better things to do tonight. Dante here will carve every inch of your skin into tiny cuts that hurt so bad. You will bleed, thinking your end is coming, then you will be brought back to life, only to be tortured once again until you beg to be dead. You will die in agony,” I snarl at him and let him go.
His face remains expressionless as he swallows, the only reaction he’s had tonight.
Good.
I leave the room, closing the door behind me, leaving Dante to work his magic.
Fucking kid. I should have killed him the day I found him.