IsabellaMy heart fell when I heard about the Paganis. I remembered that all their children were older than me, but the older couple was nice to me. I looked for them when the manhunt started, and their butler, Jones, hid me and then smuggled me into the lower city.I reached up to my face when I felt tears flowing down my eyes to my chin."Should I stop?" Damon asked me with concern on his face. I shook my head. "No. I need to hear this," I said as I wiped my eyes furiously."When Rodrigo took power, he purged Marcel's sympathizers until the point when hearing Marcel's name was enough to purge an entire family. That time was called The Bloody Triad. In some way, because of the fear that some of the opposing houses would die, thru kept quiet bringing a strange period of peace.Eventually, the peace he created didn't last long. He started to do things without the ruling council being brought in. He opened pleasure houses around the upper city where he started seeking his own personal d
IsabellaI must have stood there staring at the letter for a while because Alessandro suddenly took a step towards me and snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, drawing me back to reality."Is everything alright, princess?" Alessandro asked when my eyes finally focused on him. I forced a smile and stretched out my hand, not wanting to speak. He placed the letter in my hand and turned to leave. I shut the door and leaned against it. Damon was still on his phone call. I wanted to call him and tell him that I had a letter and that I was scared of opening it. But he didn't look like he was going to be done anytime soon, so I pushed myself back to my seat.After taking a couple of calming breaths, I opened the envelope to reveal a folded paper. With another deep breath, I opened the letter to read words I wasn't familiar with:"Dear Isabella,Do you love him? The man who raised you. Do you love him? Do you see Pablo as a father? Because if you do, I'm sure you would like to save his lif
Damon I didn't want to find him. I didn't think he was necessary. The man's attitude was pathetic, and he only cared about money. In my mind, there was a high chance this was a lie, a charade created by him to get money from Isabella. "We're going back to Avalia," I told her. Her eyes widened, and her hands came up to cover her mouth. She shook her head and reached out to me. I got up from the chair and walked towards the window, not wanting contact. Contact would make her convince me. She would win this time, just as she won the last time. I turned back to her to find the mask of betrayal on her face as tears welled up once more. "It's more worth risking anything to find that man," I told her. "It's best you forget about him, and we prepare to go back to Avalia. All the bullshit would stop once we get there. Cassandra wouldn't have to send people to abduct people, you know. He would fight you bare-fisted openly. Doing that would—" "I don't care," Isabella said, her voice stro
Damon As I planned to go back upstairs, Miguel walked in. I turned to Alessandro. "Brief him," I said as I turned to walk up the stairs. Isabella had moved from the couch to the window I had been standing at earlier. Her back was to me, and I couldn't help but glance at her shapely figure in the dress she wore. It did wonders in showcasing her delectable curves, and my arousal stirred inside my pants. Now was not the time for such distractions. I knew we would likely argue, but we needed to address the issue of Pablo. "We're going back to Avalia," I repeated. Her head whipped around, making her ponytail sway before cascading down her back. "Pablo?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes. I shook my head. "We're not going to save him. He doesn't deserve to be saved." Isabella bit her lip and turned her head away, as if she couldn't bear to look at me. "Why?" she asked in a breathy voice. I walked over to her bed and took a seat. I explained the time I went to Sicilia to look fo
IsabellaHer ghost had disappeared. She was in the mirror as Damon was talking about Elena. Her lifeless eyes stared back at me. Her face was gray, and her mouth leaked muddy water.Finally, after I was calm, I looked back at the mirror and didn't find her there. Damon led me to my bed just as rubbed my back until I pulled away from him."Please Damon. You can't just leave him. Please, you have to save him from Cassandra, he doesn't even need to know I'm involved. You can't just leave him. This is all my fault. Damon, please."Damon didn't look moved by my pleas. He frowned as he didn't meet my eyes. He soon got up and walked out, leaving me in tears.I felt a pang in my chest as my heart shattered into a million tiny pieces while watching the door close. I pulled up my legs, curling into a ball on my bed, and cried. Perhaps I was mourning for Pablo or the real Elena; I wasn't sure. Nonetheless, Damon's refusal to help was at the forefront of my mind. Why was he being like that? Why
Damon I felt exhausted. Watching Isabella have a panic attack had taken too much from me mentally. The question, however, was whether or not I would find Pablo for her. I wasn't interested in wasting resources, neither did I want to have her devastated, but I wouldn't tell her. It looked like I had come to a decision. Isabella had swayed me yet again in a direction I didn't want to go. That woman was dangerous. She didn't know it, but the power she held over me was strong. "Alessandro," I called him from the top of the stairs. "Yes, sir," he said once he came into view. "Put a hit on Pablo. Looks like we're going to have to find him after all." Alessandro looked confused. I didn't blame him, after all, I had told him not so long earlier that we wouldn't be finding Pablo. Besides, it was late. Nighttime was the time the mafia in Rome wanted to play. It wasn't a time that I was fond of working. I knew there would be too many restrictions on movement. "We will move in 10 minutes
Damon"Who put you up to this?" I asked. "Don't come any closer!" the man yelled in response. I was beginning to get sick of these Sicilian rubble. They didn't understand how to answer questions; otherwise, this would have been a walk in the park."Who put you up to this?" I asked again as I took a step forward, daring him. The man made a funny sound as sweat trickled down his face."You aren't going to kill him. You were most likely instructed to keep him alive for the next couple of days. So tell me, who put you up to this?" I asked him again, feeling my patience wearing thin. The man said nothing. I put my hand into my jacket and pulled out my pair of guns, ready to waste him."I got a call," the man said as his hands suddenly shot up. The knife clacked on the floor, accompanied by the whimpers of the man who was held captive. The boss shook as his hands were in the air."Please don't kill me," he said. "They called me from Rome. They said I should capture a man called Pablo. That'
Damon The suite was an aftermath of a war zone. The door had been broken down and was hanging off the hinges. The expensive furniture inside the living area had been upturned and used as a makeshift barricade. Behind the largest couch were a few droplets of blood. Corpses littered the floor and the walls bore bullet holes and bloodstains. On the stairs lay another pile of bodies, one hanging off the railings, looking like it would fall with a slight nudge. Behind me, I could hear my men turning the bodies around to see if they recognized any. More bodies littered the hallway to the suite. The pristine white marble and walls were stained with drips and puddles of blood, while bullet holes decorated the walls at strange and abrupt places. The chandelier that once beautified the hallway lay shattered on the floor. I stood at the end of the hallway, staring out at the stained glass into the street below. I knew I wouldn't find Isabella in her room, but my hand twitched desperately to o