Chapter 17
ISABELLA
T he soft hum of the ceiling fan above was the only sound filling the silence as I sat curled up on the worn armchair near Anna’s window.
The morning light poured through the glass, brushing the floor in slanted gold, but it didn’t do much to ease the tightness coiled in my chest. My suitcase was by the door, already packed.
Kellan and Ash were downstairs, waiting in the car.
But I wasn’t ready to leave—not just yet.
Anna moved around the kitchen with quiet precision, the scent of coffee drifting into the room like a slow tide. Her silence felt different today. Not the comforting kind we often shared. This one was taut, like something unsaid was pressing against the walls between us.
I watched her, eyes narrowing just slightly. “You’ve been weird all morning.”
She didn’t turn around. Just reached for two cups and poured the coffee like nothing was off. “Weird?” she repeated, her tone light, even amused.
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Weird. Quiet. Like… more quiet than usual. And you keep looking at me like you’re memorizing me or something.”
Anna finally turned, her warm eyes landing on me. Her lips curled into a soft smile as she crossed the small space and handed me one of the cups. “Maybe I’m just going to miss you.”
I snorted and took the coffee, though the weight of her words hung heavier than they should have. “It’s a trip, Anna. I’m not disappearing.”
She nodded, but her fingers tapped against her cup too quickly. “Still. Italy is far.”
There it was again. That pause. That flicker in her gaze.
I tilted my head. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said too fast. Then added with a softer smile, “I just worry about you. That’s all.”
I frowned. My gut twisted, not painfully, just… unsure. “You’re sure that’s it?”
Anna sat across from me, her hands wrapped around her mug. Her posture was casual, but her eyes didn’t match the smile on her lips. “I don’t like that look on your face, Isabella. You’re reading into things again.”
“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t look like you’re about to tell me I’ve been adopted or something.” I laughed, but the sound fell flat.
Anna’s smile faltered for a second, almost too fast to catch, but not fast enough for someone who watched as closely as I did.
My chest pulled tight. “Anna…”
She leaned forward, her voice soft. “You’re overthinking again. You always do that when you’re nervous. You’ve got a lot coming up—this trip, whatever’s going on between you and Rafael…”
I looked away at the mention of his name, heat rising in my chest. “That’s complicated.”
“Of course it is.” Anna exhaled, and her expression shifted into something knowing. “But just remember something, okay?”
I looked at her again.
“You’re stronger than you think. And not everyone who gets close to you is trying to hurt you.”
That… hit something. I didn’t answer right away. Just sipped the coffee, now slightly cooled, and tried to breathe through the sudden weight in the room.
After a moment, I forced a smirk. “You sound like you’re sending me off to war.”
Anna smiled back, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Just be careful, Bella.”
I nodded slowly, glancing out the window. The car was still there. Kellan was probably tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, counting down the seconds before storming up here to get me.
“I should go.”
Anna stood as I did, pulling me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes for a second, her warmth sinking into my skin like it had the first day I met her. Like safety. Like comfort I hadn’t known I needed until she offered it.
“You’ll come back, right?” she whispered.
I pulled back, smiling despite the unease curling in my stomach. “Of course.” But for some reason, I didn’t believe it.
I stood up, smoothing my palms down the sides of my black pants, the material sharp and tailored, matching the coat Rafael had left hanging for me that morning.
He said nothing about it. Just laid it over the chair, tags still on, folded with a kind of quiet command that didn’t need words. Like everything he did.
Anna moved around her apartment slowly, her bare feet soundless on the floor, the hem of her silk robe trailing behind her like smoke. I watched her fuss with something on the kitchen counter—too long for it to be anything meaningful. Her hands were fidgety. Nervous. Strange.
“Anna,” I said gently, tilting my head. “Are you sure everything’s alright? You’ve been… off this morning.”
She turned, the corners of her mouth tugging into a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m fine, tesoro. Just a little tired. That’s all.”
Lie.
I opened my mouth to press, but she stepped forward instead, her fingers reaching into the pocket of her robe. “Before you go,” she said softly, “I wanted to give you something.”
I blinked as she held out a small object between her fingers.
A pendant—silver, old, a little tarnished.
Oval-shaped, with delicate engraving that caught the sunlight pouring through the window.
There was something timeless about it. Like it had stories tucked inside it that no one remembered anymore.
“What is it?” I asked, stepping closer.
“A lucky charm,” Anna said with a small smile. “It’s been in my family a long time. I thought maybe… it could protect you.”
My fingers curled around the cool metal, the chain slipping into my palm. The engraving looked like some kind of symbol—intertwined letters, maybe? I couldn’t tell.
“Anna, you don’t have to?—”
“I want to,” she cut in, voice gentle but firm. “You don’t have to wear it. But take it with you.”
Something about her tone made me stop arguing. I nodded, slipping it into the inside pocket of my coat. “Thank you,” I said, and meant it.
Anna stepped forward, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear like I was a child again. Her hand lingered for a second longer than normal, and when I looked into her eyes, something passed through her—like grief disguised as affection.
I didn’t understand it.
“Go,” she whispered. “Kellan’s probably pacing outside like a bodyguard with control issues.”
I laughed under my breath and turned toward the door. “You know him too well.”
“I know the type,” she murmured behind me. I didn’t ask what she meant.
I pulled open the door, pausing one last time to look at her, silhouetted by the soft yellow light of her kitchen. “I’ll call you when I land.”
She nodded, but didn’t say anything as the door closed between us.
The stairwell was quiet. My shoes echoed faintly off the tile as I descended, the faintest weight of the pendant pressing against my coat like a whisper I couldn’t quite hear.
When I pushed through the building doors, the sunlight hit me like a slap. It was too warm for what I was wearing, but I didn’t shrug off the coat. I felt like I needed it now. A layer of something to hold me together.
Kellan leaned against the car door, sunglasses perched low on his nose, arms crossed. Ash sat behind the wheel, tapping at his phone with mild irritation.
“Took you long enough,” Kellan muttered, pushing off the car.
“Nice to see you too,” I said, opening the back door and sliding in. “I was saying goodbye.”
He didn’t answer, but when I glanced at him through the rearview mirror, I saw the way his gaze drifted to me. Down. Over the coat. The silence stretched, filled with unspoken questions. I didn’t offer answers.
“Let’s go,” I said, eyes shifting to the sky. It was starting to darken around the edges. And we were going straight into the storm.
The engine hummed low beneath us, the city slowly giving way to wide, open stretches of tarmac and fencing.
I leaned my head against the window, my eyes tracing the blur of steel and sky outside.
The seat beneath me was warm, the hum of the car almost soothing, but nothing could stop the slow churn in my chest. A kind of anticipation I didn’t know how to name.
My fingers fidgeted with the small pendant Anna had pressed into my palm just minutes earlier.
Cold, metallic, a strange comfort I couldn’t explain.
I hadn’t questioned it when she gave it to me—she just smiled softly and said it was a lucky charm.
Something she always kept close. Something she now wanted me to have.
It had felt… final. Like a goodbye she wasn’t ready to say out loud.
I shook my head slightly, curling my other hand into my lap. No. That wasn’t Anna. That wasn’t today. It was just a charm. That’s all.
“You’ve been quiet,” Kellan said beside me, pulling me from my thoughts. He didn’t look away from the road, but I caught the careful tone in his voice. Always watching.
Ash snorted. “She’s probably mentally preparing to be stuck with Romanov in a flying metal tube.”
I glanced at them both and gave a dry smile. “Maybe I’m just imagining how peaceful this trip would be without the two of you hovering over me like bodyguards.”
“Funny,” Ash said, tilting his head toward me, “because we are your bodyguards. Sort of. Occasionally. Against our will.” He muttered something under his breath after that, and went back to scrolling through the dash board while Kellan kept looking at the road, like it had all the answers he needed, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the soft leather like he had too much energy and nowhere to put it.
I leaned back in my seat, letting my head rest against the leather, and stared up at the ceiling. The tension I’d been feeling hadn’t gone away. It had just settled into something heavier. More silent. Like a storm waiting for the first crack of lightning.
Maybe it was Naples. Maybe it was knowing I was willingly flying into the center of a world I didn’t belong to—his world. Maybe it was the strange way Anna looked at me this morning, her gaze lingering too long, her words chosen too carefully. Or maybe it was the pendant.