CHAPTER 3- Confrontations And Dollar Tree Men In Black??

Isabella POV

The minute my parents left I started packing, all traces of tiredness and hunger were gone, call me crazy, but I wanted to leave as soon as tonight because who knows what tricks my parents had up their sleeves to get me to bend to their will. If they got my brother to come and convince me to marry that douche then I knew my resolve would crumble. I would do anything for my brother, he was the one person who has always protected me and was there for me.

I tried packing light, but how do you choose which Louis Vuitton bag to take or which Gucci belt looked better, the deep black one or the raven black one! So, in the end I had three suitcases filled to the brim with designer items that I just couldn’t bear to part with.

However, in the middle of my packing I realized something, how did my parents know I was going to be home early today? I had never told them, and that too I was home 3 hours earlier today, so where they expecting to just wait three hours or did someone see me leave and then tattle. That was impossible though, only one person knew I was leaving.

Wait……did Arianna tell them? Was she working with them? Did she know about the whole marriage bullshit?

But how could my best friend of 6 years betray me like this? I trusted her! I loved Arianna like the sister I never had and she repaid me by betraying me.

I was shocked by my revelations and decided it was time to confront Arianna, I had to know if she was loyal to me before I left. So, I did the only logical thing and called her since it was getting pretty late and she was probably home or on the way home right now.

The phone rung for what felt like an eternity before she finally picked up.

“Hey Bell, how are you doing? Finally got that nap you’ve been craving”

“Hi Ari, yeah I’m good…” I took a deep breath before continuing

“I actually called because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, you know you can ask or tell me tell me anything.”

“Did you know my parents were here when you made me come home?”

“Isabell, I have no idea what you’re talking about, did something happen?”

It was then that I realized that she was lying, Arianna always slipped up and called me Isabell instead of Isabella when she was trying to hide something from me.

I closed my eyes to help control my anger before I started yelling at her for being such a fucking backstabber when I fucking trusted her with all my secrets.

“Arianna, just stop, I know you’re lying. I don’t know why you did it, but I forgive you either way and I’m sorry our friendship has to end this way.”

I hung up before she could come up with any more excuses, there was no point anyways since I was leaving and hopefully never coming back again.

I just sighed and made another call to my bank to get my money transferred to my untraceable second account so I had some cash and so my parents didn’t steal my hard-earned money that I got from my own business.

Soon I found myself in a cab heading to the airport, what happened next was all a blur, I hardly remember checking in or boarding or even the flight itself. I felt as if I was working on autopilot, and it wasn’t until I was standing in the middle of Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport that I came back to my senses.

Suddenly as I was collecting my luggage, I saw some men in black looking around for something…. or someone. Now I may not be as involved in the mafia as the rest of my family, but I knew that the compass tattoo on the back of their necks meant that they were part of the Italian Mafia.

I tried to quietly turn away and keep walking in the opposite direction, how the hell did they even know I was coming, assuming that they were here for me. Well, okay that’s a stupid question, gossip spreads as fast as a forest fire in the underworld, everyone knows everyone’s business.

Fortunately, I got to the taxi station outside the airport without being seen, but unfortunately my luck must have run out back in America because as I was loading my suitcases in the trunk one of the burly men from before spotted me and signaled the other men to close in on me.

I quickly slammed the trunk closed and told the driver to hit the gas, thankfully he didn’t ask any questions and did what I said, but of course my life had to be difficult and we ended up being chased by 3 black Mercedes Benz on the highway which was crowded with civilian cars.

I gave the driver instructions to my hotel and eventually we managed to lose them in one of the alleys. I made sure to pay the driver extra for that and because he seemed like a genuinely nice person.

I checked in and once my suitcases were brought to my room by the bellboy I got to work. I closed all of the curtains and got my laptop out. I had been coming to Italy secretly ever since the Mafia Association ball a few years ago and had made a few friends and connections here in case something ever happened.

I decided my best course of action would be to call one of the most amazing people I had the pleasure of meeting, so with that thought I reached for my burner phone and dialed a familiar number that I didn’t think I would ever have to use in a situation like this.

“Hello?”

“Hey Ava, it’s Isabella…..”