CHAPTER 4

Isabella’s POV

The cappuccino in front of me had gone cold. I hadn’t taken a sip in over twenty minutes, but I kept staring at it as though the swirl of foam might hold an answer.

People outside the café walked past laughing, shopping bags swinging at their sides, faces bright with ease. Ordinary and Free.

As though the world wasn’t crashing down around me.

As though I wasn’t being led to the slaughter.

Gia. My best friend, sat across from me, her chin propped on her hand, watching me the way she always did when she sensed I was two seconds from breaking.

Finally, she set her cup down with a sharp clink.

“Spill it,” she demanded. “You’re holding something back, Bella. And I’m not letting you leave until you tell me.”

I dragged my fingers through my hair, a sigh escaping before I could stop it. Sunlight poured through the windows, throwing a golden glow across the café. It was warm, beautiful even, but it did nothing to ease the hollow pit in my stomach.

What could I even say? How did I explain the noose tightening around my neck?

“I’m getting married,” I blurted.

Gia blinked, stunned. “Married? To who? You’re not even seeing anyone—”

“It’s not like that.” My laugh was sharp, bitter. “It’s not love. It’s business.”

Her brow furrowed. “Business?”

I forced myself to meet her eyes. “Mafia business. My father decided I’m to marry Leonardo Ricci.”

For a moment, her face froze. Then the color drained from it. “Ricci?” she whispered. “The almighty Leonardo Ricci? The boss himself?”

“The one and only,” I said, my throat tight.

Gia leaned forward, her voice low and urgent. “Isabella, that man is—he’s dangerous. Everyone knows it. He’s—”

“A monster,” I cut in. “Yes, I know.” My fingers tightened around my cup, though my hands trembled. “I don’t need reminding.”

She stared at me as if searching for a punchline, as if this could somehow be a sick joke. But when she saw no humor in my face, only the exhaustion, her shoulders slumped. “How could your father do this to you? How could he just—sell you off just like that?”

My throat burned, and I bit my lip to keep tears from slipping free. “Because that’s how it works in our world. What I want has never mattered. I’m a pawn, Gia. Nothing more.”

She shook her head fiercely. “No. No, there has to be another way. You don’t have to do this. You could leave—”

“Run?” My laugh was hollow. “If I ran, Ricci would find me. And he wouldn’t just punish me. He would punish my family. My mother. My brothers. Especially my father.” I let out a shaky breath. “I couldn’t live with that blood on my hands.”

For once, Gia was silent. Her fingers drummed against her cup, restless, useless. I knew what she wanted to say—that I should fight, escape, resist. But how could she understand what it meant to live under men like Ricci? You didn’t fight them. You survived them.

The café’s door chimed as people came and went, laughter drifting in. I stared at the window, at a group of teenagers who shoved each other playfully, carefree, untouchable. “I wish I could disappear,” I whispered. “Start over somewhere far away. Where I’m not the daughter of a mafia boss. Where I’m not about to marry a monster.”

Gia reached for my hand, her grip firm. “Then let’s do it. I would help you, Bella. We could figure something out—”

The buzzing of my phone on the table cut her off. I froze, dread coiling in my chest before I even looked. My father’s name lit the screen.

My hand shook as I picked it up. Gia mouthed, don’t answer, but I already knew better. Ignoring him would only make it worse. I pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Isabella.” His voice was calm. Too calm. That familiar tone that chilled me more than shouting ever could. “You’ve been quiet. I trust everything is going as planned?”

My mouth went dry. “Yeah. Everything’s… fine.”

“Good.” His tone hardened, razor-sharp now. “Remember, this marriage isn’t just about you. It’s about the family. You will do what is necessary.”

The words lodged like ice in my chest. My lips parted with the retort burning on my tongue, but I swallowed it. There was no point. “I understand.”

“Good girl.” He hung up.

I lowered the phone slowly, staring at it as though it might burn me. Gia’s eyes were wide, full of concern. “What did he say?”

I shoved the phone into my bag. “Nothing. Just a reminder of what’s at stake.”

“Bells—”

“I don’t have a choice,” I cut her off. The finality in my tone made her flinch. “I can’t run. I can’t fight. This is my life now.”

The words felt like the slamming of a door.

*********

By the time I left the café, night had draped itself over the city. The streets glistened with rain, lamps throwing long shadows across the pavement. My heels clicked in a steady rhythm as I walked, each step echoing louder than it should have.

I wasn’t alone.

The sensation crawled up my spine, subtle but undeniable. A prickle at the back of my neck. The sound of footsteps a fraction too measured, keeping pace with mine. I glanced over my shoulder, heart hammering, but the man in the dark coat didn’t look my way. He pretended to check his phone. Another stood at the corner, lighting a cigarette, though his eyes flicked up the second he thought I wasn’t looking.

Ricci’s men.

He already had me watched. Already had me caged.

I wrapped my coat tighter around myself and quickened my pace, but it was useless. They didn’t approach, didn’t speak. They didn’t have to. Their presence was enough. A silent reminder: I belonged to Ricci now, whether I wore his ring yet or not.

When I finally reached my building, I hesitated at the steps. My reflection stared back at me in the glass door, pale and haunted, eyes rimmed with exhaustion. For a heartbeat, I almost didn’t recognize her.

I pressed my palm against the cold glass and whispered, “Survive him, Bella. Just survive him.”

But even as I said it, I felt the rebellion inside me stir again, faint but alive. A dangerous ember refusing to die.

Because maybe…just maybe—surviving wasn’t enough.