ISABELLA POV
Adrenaline fills my entire body and my skin covers in goosebumps as I turn around without thinking It through. “No please!!” I hear the deep voice yell out again and my feet carry me towards the door at the edge of the room. I grip the metal handle, afraid of what I could possibly see, but I pull the door open, my eyes landing on a site that makes me wish I never opened the door. “Ahhhhh!!” I yell out as the man's neck is twisted to the side. His body drops to the floor with a heavy thud revealing the tall and muscular man standing in front of the now dead body. His eyes turn cold as they land on me, A scream erupts from my mouth, my heart thumping in fear, he runs towards me, his fingers clamping across my mouth immediately The scent of his perfume, A rich and smoky scent that reeks of luxury and sophistication slides through my nostrils immediately calming me But the sight of the dead Body dropping to the floor shocks me and the adrenaline in my system kicks in again. My eyes widen as his fingers clamp around my waist pulling me closer to him allowing me to feel the hard muscles of his body. “Keep quiet if you don't want to die!” he says harshly, his deep and baritone voice vibrating around my body but the threat that comes with it slams me out of my imagination. I immediately bite down on his hand making him pull away, I turn around ready to run out of the room when he grabs onto me, pulling me towards him, he slides us behind a rack of shelves, balancing me on the shelf with his legs in between mine. “Fuck!!” we hear a deep voice yell out from behind the shelf My heart pounds in my chest, my cleavage rises and falls in fear, as we hear them hit the table in the room aggressively. “Let's check the club,” one of the men says and they quickly run past us through the open door. We pause in the darkness a second longer, my eyes turn to him, his bright blue eyes still reflecting back at me even in the dark. My heavy pants fill the room as we pause, our eyes heavily crashing making my heart pound louder. I immediately come to my senses over what just happened pushing him off me He stumbles, his mouth pulling open in shock. “Did I just push Dominic Deluca?” I lift a brow at myself in shock, not realizing I said the words out loud. “Yes, you did” his baritone voice fills the room making me shake in my 6-inch heels. He walks out of the dark, fixing his fingers in his pockets. He turns his head slightly to me, pulling out a hand to push his dark hair to the side underneath his hat. “You just..you killed” I whisper in shock, fear coursing through me as I stumble out from the shelf My eyes land on the dead body on the floor again and my finger shake in fear, sweat covers my forehead and runs down my back. He strides past the body simply, like the dead man on the floor was not just screaming out for help a few moments back, “You shouldn't have been here” he whispers, the words send shivers down my spine. “You killed him” I whisper, gulping down the lump in my throat but I suddenly can't as my words hook on my lips. He shrugs with no care in the world, his expression unchanging, “He owes me and Debts need to be collected” he says, his tone detached as if this was some simple business transaction He moves towards the window pulling open the blinds a bit to peek out. “You killed him because of money?” I yell out in shock my eyes widening at the thought of it He turns to me, his lip in a straight line, “I always take back what belongs to me, people have to pay whichever way, even with their life” his deep voice fills the room, pausing as his eyes meet with mine, burning with intensity but he swiftly turns his gaze back to the body on the ground. He turns to the door in the room as it bursts open, four men pouring through. My heart stops as my eyes lands on the guns in their hands ready to protect their master. “Boss!!” one of the men yells out and upon spotting me, he turns the gun to my face immediately I jump in shock, my heart pounding and sweat dripping down my face, probably ruining my makeup. Dominic's voice cuts through the room filling with tension with every second, “Luca, Miss Isabella is not the concern here” he says as the room falls into deep silence, all eyes turning to him. He lifts his hand pointing to the body on the floor and to the door behind me, “Get rid of this, and his men went outside, get them for me” he points to the other guards. “Luca, escort Miss Isabella home” he says simply, he pulls on his hat, a smirk on his lip as he walks past me, he disappears through the doors and the man in the middle, Luca I think walks towards me. “You should not tell anyone about this,” Luca says with a fake smile on his face as he leads me through the doors, the sound of deep bass music booming in my ears, blocking out the rest of his threat. He escorts me back to the crowd of club goers and I stand there in shock at what I just witnessed, as I move through the throng of people to find Bianca my heart stops “He called me Miss Isabella,” I swallow my eyes moving around the club disoriented. Realization fills me and everything And everyone around me blurs out “He knows my name” I say suddenly, my heart dropping into my chest.DOMINIC POV “Miss Isabella Mariano” I whisper looking down at the picture of her on my table, the smell of cigars and cinnamon thick in the air. “Sir, your next appointment is here” My assistant walks into the room slightly, a brow lifted. “Send him in” I smirk pulling the cigar to my lips, the door pulls open and an older man walks in His face is heavily wrinkled, sweat drops down his face and he looks to be physically drenched in sweat, shaking slightly as he enters the room. “Mr Deluca, you sent for me” he gulps turning his eyes to me I grip the picture of his daughter, throwing it across the table, the piece of paper lands right in front of him and he looks down in shock. “Bella?” he gulps turning his fear-stricken eyes to me. “You have to repay your debts today Mr Mariano, and I know the perfect way you can do that,” I say, my deep voice filling the room He shakily picks up the picture, turning his eyes to me, “Mr. Deluca, please” he starts to beg “I will be marrying you
ISABELLA POV I lick my lip, my head spinning from the blow my father just delivered to me. I pace down the Hallway sweat dripping down my back even as the space is cold. My heart slows, my footsteps are loud in my ears and my fingers in my mouth, my mouth drys up in fear and I pant slowly into my cupped hands. The door opens, and my mother coming out, her brows relaxed, and her eyes holding sadness, “Bella” she breathes out, her voice cracking “I'm not going to do it, Mom, I can't!” I ignore her still pacing down the hallway. “I mean how could he agree to such an arrangement? He knows my dreams, he knows how much I wanted real love, like yours” I pause swallowing. The words cracking as I speak. “And my new Job, I was just getting everything right, why did he have to agree to some Marriage arrangement with some monster!” I say my words drifting out in pants, anger in my veins, but most importantly fear. How did I meet that man yesterday? Watch him kill some man and then shock
ISABELLA POV I gulp, my gaze settles on his frosty eyes, my brain screams at me to speak, give him a reply but my heart pounds in my chest urging me to flee. I take a deep breath steadying myself, “I... I don’t” I stutter my voice barely a whisper. I gulp again, daring to meet his icy gaze, his eyes narrow crossing his hands across his chest, his expression still, watching me. I shrink back in fear, looking back down at the folder, as my father's new finance officer, I knew this would be an impossible number, yes we made money, and yes I come from a family with money but not this much money. “I’m sure you know what decision to make Miss Isabella,” he says his voice low. He turns around, leaning forward to grab his phone, distracting himself a bit, allowing me to finally catch my breath. His taut back moves swiftly as he walks past me. I pause, the scent of his perfume filtering into my nose making my heart race. “You can stay as long as you desire, enjoy the facilities,” he s
Isabella POV “Oh my gosh!! that’s Mr DeLuca” Bianca almost screams to herself. “Don’t act like a fan girl Bianca, he’s different from what you think” I reply sipping on the glass of wine, my mind reeling back to all our encounters, from scary to egoistic to a very sly man. “Oh my gosh,” her eyes turn from the flowers to me and then him again “Wait, what’s going on??” She says, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water “Long story” I reply about to relay everything that has happened in the last 48 hours but I’m stopped by a strong smell of a smoky Cinnamon perfume filtering into my nose, followed by black shoes stopping right in front of us. “Isabella” he calls out my name, his voice deep and husky, making my heart skip a beat “De-Luca” I reply looking up at him “Bella” he calls out my name in a hushed whisper, almost intimate, “you should get used to seeing me around” he smirks turning to Bianca leaving me a blushing mess “Dominic De-Luca” stretches his hand
Isabella POVIn shock, I turn around to the deep voice my eyes meeting with Dominic again, but everything becomes blurry and I stumble falling forward but he grabs me in his arms on time.“Hmphh” he makes a sound grabbing me, he sees my legs are unstable on the floor and he carries me in his arms princess-style “Are you the Prince Charming coming to rescue me?” I say drunkenly to him, giggling to myself after the statement “Hmm,” he says, his chest vibrating“You have quite a wide chest you know” I mumble as a car comes to a stop in front of us “I do?” He replies fixing me into the car and following me inSoon the car comes to a stop and again I’m carried bridal style in his strong arms, he’s quick and efficient, I hear an elevator door ping and the rise and fall of the elevator which makes my eyes spin.I feel vomit come up in my throat “I think I’m about to puke,” I say drunkenly “What” he says watching the elevator door ping open, we enter the room and he places me on my feet.
Isabella POVThe sun is bright and blinding on my face when I wake up, my mind is distorted but I know my room has curtains because I hate being woken up by bright lights.My eyes pull open and the ceiling is a dark onyx color, reflecting at me, I frown “My ceilings are white” I frown my eyes moving to the left where my eyes meet with a strong, muscled, and olive-toned back but not next to me, on the couch his legs folded to himself and a black blanket around his hips and legs.I frown “Oh my gosh I’ve been kidnapped” I whisper to myself my feet meeting with cold wooden floors, I look around the room, ready to grab a weapon when he moves.His arms are first, my eyes are wide and I grab the first thing next to me, a vase with roses in it.The roses fall to the floor the vase right over my head and he turns around his bright blue eyes wide and staring at me In shock.“Dominic?” I call out which is followed by a loud screech from me the base falling to the floor.“If I knew you would try
Isabella POVAs soon as I hear the elevators ping I dive for my phone, my finger scrolling through the messages, some from work, one from my mother“Have fun” the message is followed by a winking emoji, I don’t know who taught her that.I immediately go to my contact session dialing Bianca's phone but it goes straight to voicemail.“Bianca I swear you won’t believe where I ended up last night. At Dominic DeLuca’s penthouse!! Call me back urgently!” I say into the phone ending the phone recording.Soon I hear another pink, and I immediately walk out of the room, My eyes meeting with the first balcony inside the house, I look down my eyes coming in contact with a maid.“Good morning mam, I’m here to set your bath and with your clothes” She raises a blush pink suit in her hand at me.“I’ll be right down there” I stop her walking down the stairs, “Thank you but I can set my bath myself,” I grab the suit and I notice in her other hand a pair of stilettos red bottoms “Okay mam, the chef w
Isabella POV2 pm comes faster than I can imagine and I’m reeling in my seat.“what is he going to do?”“Will people be there?” I bit my lip, my heart pounding in my chest, this man showed up out of nowhere and now controls my every thought.I frown, packing up all I have left for the day, my assistant walks through the door.“A driver is here for you mam” she explains“Okay, I’ll be right down, you can go home,” I tell her grabbing my bag and heading outside, I slip into the car again and this time there’s another bottle of champagne and a champagne flute waiting for me.“Again what’s this man’s plan?” I frown to myself avoiding the drink.We stop in front of a boutique and I’m led inside by the driver to a woman in a blood-red suit.“Hello, I’m Sandra and I’ll be your stylist for today” She sends me a smile“Stylist?” I frown to myself, I’ve been styling myself my whole life, does this mean he agates the way I look? Is he trying to change me?My frown deepens, I’m marrying a control
GRACE POVHe turns back to the guard“Call the boss” he sighs heavily turning back at meI smile widely, “That’s good, you can explain to Dominic himself why you are treating me like this,” I say with confidence.I hear the phone ring in the background and I immediately take that as my clue.“Ahhhh, it hurts!!” I yell out my voice over the top“It hurt so bad!! Aaaahhh” I continue to yellThe guard turns to me with wide eyes, “you can’t do that mam” he says shaking his head.“I can and I will, let’s see who Dominic will defend!!” I smirk looking up at him.The other guards nod at him, a worried look on his face.“Don’t you think we should just let her in? Is she really worth all this trouble?” He whispers next to him, his hard expression falters filling me with hope “You should really listen to your friend, just let me in and we can all go on our merry way” I smile sheepishly from the floor.“I mean what do you have to lose? I will even consider not firing you when Dominic and I marry
GRACE POVI sigh heavily pacing my living room as I think about what to do next.“Ringggggg!!!” A sound blows from my couch.I immediately leap to my secret phone, gripping the metal I see it’s Rafaelle “Hello” I whisper into the phone, my lips shaking in fear as I hit my lip.“Why are you whispering?” He asks his deep voice turning icy, “Are you around Dominic?” He quickly asks“No…no” I cough shaking my head, my voice rising as I speak.“How is the plan going along?” He says and I can just imagine him pacing with a glare on his face.“Uh..well” I mutter under my breath, biting my lip slightly “What? I warned you, Grace, you didn’t have Dominic underneath your thumb for long enough” he snickers into the phoneI roll my eyes, “I will get it done Tonight and you can finally leave” I say pacing my living room.“Do it quick and do it smoothly, I need to be out of here in a few hours or they will figure it out soon,” he says worry in his tone“Bella is still drugged but she will wake up
DOMINIC POV The car comes to a stop in an old warehouse, the stale air and smell of garbage filtering into my nose. I spot my men surrounding a gate that leads to junk yard. “Well? Where is the car?” I ask walking toward them in long strides “Sir we found the truck but,-“ one of the men starts, pushing himself to the side revealing an already smashed car. “What’s this?” I frown looking up at him, irritation my forefront expression He sighs, “sir seems they are three times ahead of us, before we can make any move, it seems they have made the move already,” he says quickly casting his eyes down, his shoulders slouching from exhaustion. I look up at the smashed car, a million things running through my mind, I turn to him calmly, “What about the car plate number?” I say “The owner of the car?” “The woman with the heels? We can still get more information from there” I spin around allowing him to follow me “We are currently tracking down the owner of the car sir, and t
DOMINIC POV I snort in disgust as Grace spins around leaving immediately as I ask I sigh turning back to the video, “Does this mean he’s working with a woman? Because I know that’s not Bella” I say turning back to him, a bit of confidence in me. At least now there’s a lead to my missing wife and Rafaelle. He nods, we think so, and the truck is currently being tracked as we speak. I nod, send me the location when you find it, don’t approach till I’m there” I instruct my voice cold, “I really want to be the one to kill Rafaelle” He nods at the instruction, “Okay sir, and the other file?” He lifts a brow at me. “You can go, I will call you when I need you,” I tell him standing up He waves goodbye leaving me in the living room alone. I sigh gripping the files in my hand, I don’t know why I don’t want to rush, I guess I’m still processing the betrayal from Rafaelle. I head into the bar, pushing the glass doors open, I put my drink, and the first scene to pour into my mi
GRACE POV “Grace?” His deep voice calls out. I lick my bottom lip staring at him from top to bottom, his wide shoulders, and strong legs deliciously covered by a black suit. I swear I will have this man to myself, not only is he handsome but he is rich as hell, I can’t believe I made the mistake of ever cheating on him. “What are you doing here Grace?” His voice calls out hard and irritated “Is that how you will welcome the former love of your life?” I call out trying to follow him into the house. But he spins so fast I stumble, and he doesn’t steady me, his eyes light up with a fiery intensity, his fists clenched in anger. “What the fuck are you doing here Grace? Get out!!” He yells pointing his finger at the door I sigh, okay so seems he is very angry about Bella’s kidnapping. I feign innocence my eyes dying out, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I frown trying to move closer to him, my fingers rise to touch his cheek but he immediately moves back in anger. “Bella wa
DOMINIC POV I frown running up the stairs, in seconds I reach him and he guides me through a door to Rafaelle’s closet “Well, what is it?” I call out watching him in the small space He smirks pushing over the dressers to the side revealing a door. He turns the handle and the door opens revealing a dark room. I follow him into the room as he turns the lights on, the lights reveal something so daunting and disgusting. My eyes open wide as I look from the tiled floor covered with dead flowers and ribbons. My gaze moves across the floor to the wall covered in different and numerous pictures of my wife plastered to the wall. “Bella” I whisper looking up at what looks like an obsession “Sir I think he is obsessed with your wife,” The man next to me says and the other men crowd into the room watching in shock I move forward, goosebumps covering my entire body, “How-?” I whisper to myself gripping one of the pictures, it’s a picture of her at work, looking down at her lapt
DOMINIC POV He gulps, his eyes moving around the room, the atmosphere tense.“Mr DeLuca, as much as we enjoy your support-” he starts “I don’t want any excuses Devon” I call out his name, “I put you in this seat to do my bidding, I give you the lifestyle you enjoy now, my money and power make the city, I don’t want excuses,” I say coldly “Seaports I can shut down sir, flights I can delay but for only twenty-four hours sir or it will cause a ruckus,” he says shaking his head “The people will wonder why” he tries to explain further “I don’t care what people think, my wife is fucking missing!!” I yell out causing everyone to jump in fear “Everything will stay closed down for the next twenty-four hours and I need my men stationed at every entry, Rafaelle must be caught!” I yell anger filling my veins “Of course sir!” He nods bowing his head slightly he turns to his assistant barking out a few orders. I simply ignore him walking past him and back into the cool evening. My heart
DOMINIC POV “Find that man even if it is the last thing you do!!” I yell out in anger at Luca, my second In Command as I walk out of the empty warehouse “But boss how did he know we were coming already?” he says next to me a confused look on his face and his gun fixed to the back. I sigh no words leaving my mouth as I stand confused also, we were supposed to get him, I was meant to teach him a lesson and now he has disappeared with my wife and unborn child. My emotions get the best of me, anger filling me up as I punch into the wall next to me. Blood oozes from my finger from the hard punch, but it's not compared to whatever pain Bella must be going through now. “Where should she be? What did Rafaelle want?” I sigh heavily sliding into the car, banging the door behind me. I roll the window down to talk to my Luca, I want you to find out if there are any cameras around here, private or government-owned, and get a hold of them. Find the car or truck they used and we can track th
DOMINIC POV “What do you mean she is not there??” I yell out my voice harsh and filled with anger. “Sir she’s not here, we pinged his phone and this was the location we got but-“ He says into the phone apologetically “Uggrhhhh!!” I yell out gripping the phone tightly, I throw it across the marble floor watching it break into pieces I watch the phone shatter, pain, and anger engulf me, “I can't believe this happened, how-?” I stand there confused and shattered “Dominic, please you need to calm down,” my mother says trying to move closer to me I turn to her my eyes narrowed, “Don’t fucking tell me to calm down!!” I yell out my voice rising with each word “My wife who is pregnant with my heir, the heir to the entire Deluca empire is missing!!” I yell pointing my finger sternly at her “How do you expect me to feel?” I frown heading towards the table by the side, I grip my second phone when a video pings into my phone I gulp, pulling open the video, Rafaelle appears on my scr