6. Isabella
SIX
Isabella
W hat the hell was I thinking? I crossed a line, and there would be consequences. He was perfect. The sex was incredible, but my father would have Dominic killed if he ever found out. I slipped out from under his arms and into my dress as quietly as humanly possible.
But the man stirred anyway, sitting up in the bed
He sat up in bed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “Stay,” he says. “It’s the middle of the night.”
My heart constricted at the need in his eyes, and for a moment, I almost caved. “I can't...” I said as I fastened the zipper on my dress, attempting to restore some semblance of control over my life. “My father will send out the soldiers if he doesn’t see me at breakfast.”
“Fuck breakfast!” he growled, grabbing my wrist as I reached for my shoes.“I know you feel it, too.”
“Of course, I feel it,” I retorted, meeting his gaze head-on. “I feel something for you, but how can we possibly be together? My father, Rico, they would never approve, and I... I just need to think.” I didn’t want to tell him the truth. Anything but that.
“Isabella?” he called out to me, but I ignored him. He climbed out of bed naked as the day he was born. “Isabella, I mean it, stay.”
I glanced over my shoulder and quickly looked away before I could change my mind. His tall, muscular body covered in tattoos and those gunmetal gray orbs piercing my soul were too much for me to take. This was the worst possible idea.
***
“Where have you been?” Rico slurred, his words thick and uneven, as he stumbled out of the den, catching sight of me walking past. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.I didn’t think he’d be home, let alone waiting up. Did he see me leave the club with Dominic?
I stopped, turning to face him.
“How is that any of your business, Enrico?”
His drunken glare sharpened, and he stepped toward me, his breath smelling of whiskey and bitterness.
“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on. You’ve been making deals behind my back. You’ve gone to Father—haven’t you? Trying to take what’s mine?” His voice rises, filled with a mix of rage and desperation. “I’m supposed to be the next Don. Not you. Me. Me!”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the words faltered before they could come out.
“Listen to me,” I finally said, “It’s Father’s decision. You know that. He’s the one who decides who runs this family. This isn’t even what I want.”
Rico laughed, but there was no humor in it, just anger—misplaced and dangerous. “So, that’s it, huh? You’re just going to sit back and let him do this? You think I don’t know what he’s doing? I could tell the Saviano’s what he’s planning.” His eyes darkened as he staggered a little closer.
A cold chill ran down my spine. The Don would never approve of treachery, especially from his own flesh and blood. And that would compromise the mission. My mission.
“Rico, don’t do this,” I pleaded, backing away from him. “You know the consequences.”
Rico laughed again, the sound maniacal and wild in the dimly lit hallway. “I might just take my chances. What about it, little sister? Ready to watch your precious family empire crumble around you?”
He swayed on his feet, his handsome features twisted in a mask of jealousy and hate. God, he was too drunk to reason with.
“No,” I said definitively, stepping before him and blocking his path. “I won’t let you do this to our family. I won’t let you throw away everything Father has worked for. I can’t let you ruin everything.”
In one swift move I’d practiced a thousand times, I delivered a well-placed kick to his solar plexus, causing him to double over in pain.“Don’t make me hurt you, Rico!”
He gasps for air, clutching his stomach as he falls to his knees. “You’re just like him!” he spat out between coughs. “Both of you! You're both fucking been playing me the entire time.”
I turned around, leaving him there on the floor as I walked away, hands shaking and heart pounding in my chest. I knew I should feel regretful for hurting him, but all I could think about was the look in his eyes when he threatened to ruin us. No one—not even my own brother—would stand in the way of taking the Saviano’s down. Not doing that would mean defying my father, and I was not ready for that war. Dominic was fun. But he was a distraction.
“Know this, anything that happens from here on. You brought it upon yourself,” he shouted as I continued down the hallway.