~ISABELLA~ When we got home, I ran straight to my room, locked the door behind me, and cried. I wondered if my father even cared about the things that had been happening to me ever since he sold me to Antonio. I wondered if he knew how miserable I was and wanted to escape. At this point, I wasn't even sure that I would be able to get away when I tried to escape from him. I guessed that Sarah was right. I should have never gone to the club. Antonio would have never found me. I would be somewhere far from him. Safe. I jumped when I heard a knock on the door. I got up from the floor, wiped my face, and opened the door. "May I come in?" He asked. He looked at me with an annoyed expression. I wondered what he was annoyed about when I was the one who was supposed to be annoyed at him. I just rolled my eyes, stood aside, and opened the door for him to come inside. I closed it, folded my arms on my chest, and waited for him to say whatever he wanted to say. "Do you real
~TOM~ After knocking off work, I went straight to Nightingale Club in hopes that I was going to see her. I found myself thinking a lot about her in the past few days, and I couldn't get her off my mind. I figured that if I found her in the club and talked her out of what she signed up for with Antonio, I was going to run away with her. It wasn't an option for me to take Antonio on because he had more power than I did. He knew people who could make my life a little difficult, so I was not prepared to risk anything. Isabella and I loved each other and had been through so much together. When her father found her a job at the club, I reacted like any normal boyfriend would. I hated to see my girl working in an environment where every man would glare at her body and fantasize about her. But when I got inside the club around 7 PM, there was no sign of Bella. When I spotted her friend, Sarah, I walked behind her at the bar and tapped her on the shoulder. She was getting drinks
~ISABELLA~ The following night, around 7 PM, I went out of my room in hopes that Antonio wasn't around. I needed something to drink and didn't want to bother the lady who was assigned to help me with whatever I needed. But to my unfortunate surprise, I found Antonio in the living room on a call. I realized that it was too late for me to turn back and decided to rush to the kitchen. I thought that I was going to get myself a drink, maybe a snack, and then rush back to my room. But when I heard his footsteps behind me in the kitchen, every bone in my body froze. "You haven't said a word to me after the incident. Are you angry at me?" He asked. I closed my eyes and wondered how the fuck I even got here. I wondered how I was even going to get myself away from him for good. I turned around slowly and looked at him, "I'm not mad, Antonio. I'm not mad that you're a murderer." He scoffed as he walked to me, "I wouldn't have murdered them on your account if you didn't run
~ISABELLA~ When Antonio and I got back from seeing my father, we found the dinner table ready for us. He insisted that we have dinner before he left for the club. It was awfully quiet, and the room was only filled by the clinking of our forks on the plates. I kept thinking about Tom and what he said. He offered to help me get away from Antonio, but I didn't know if I could trust him. "Do you like the food?" Antonio asked, obviously attempting to start a conversation and break the tension in the air. "Good. It's always good." "Tom... What did he want?" I looked at him across me, picked up the glass of wine, and sipped. "He was my boyfriend." "Was. Exactly. So, what did he want?" He asked again. I swallowed and placed down my glass of wine. "He wanted to see me." He placed his fork on his plate and looked at me. "I heard him, Angel. He wants to take you away from me, doesn't he?" "Then why did you ask?" He smirked, "I wanted to see if you were going to be honest
~ANTONIO~ "Dante was very, very angry when he went to the location where you said you would be having a transactional business, but couldn't find you. He believes that you're up to something and might be aware that he's keeping his eyes on you." Gio explained as he sat in front of me in my club office. "He's plotting something right now with his brothers, and I don't know what at the moment because they won't let me be in their meetings. But they're plotting something big against you." My hand was on my chin as my mind wandered. Instead of focusing on exactly what Gio was reporting to me, I thought of my moment with Bella at the restroom the other night. It was hard to believe that I had her, and she was mad at me for it because she had no idea that it was me. I chuckled and straightened up in my chair. "Sir, what are you going to do now?" Gio asked. When I realized that what I was discussing with him was a matter of life and death, I cleared my throat and refocused my a
~ISABELLA~ Dante seemed to be everything that I had to stay away from. His very demeanor resembled Antonio's. He looked way different than the usual men who hit on me regularly. There was something dark about him, but I couldn't place my finger around it. He was wearing black trousers and a black shirt. He also had a scar on his left cheek. When I saw the keys he placed down on the table, I realized that he had come to the restaurant by bike. So, he was a very bad boy. "Tell me how a woman as beautiful as you isn't in a relationship with a man to take care of you like you deserve?" He flirted. I tried not to let my intrusive thoughts ruin the moment and chuckled softly. "I choose my men like I choose my clothes," I winked at him as I picked up my glass of wine and sipped. "Tell me more about yourself, Miss -?" "Isabella Albero," I placed down the glass of wine on the table and smiled at him. "Does your husband know about our little affair?” My face instantly cha
~ISABELLA~ The next morning, Antonio joined me for breakfast in the dining room. I was surprised because he usually slept until 11 a.m.-ish. He either came back early from the club last night or woke up early to keep an eye on me so that I wouldn’t go on another date. With one of his enemies again. “Good morning,” he greeted me as he fixed his eyes on me. I smiled, “Good morning, Antonio.” “We need to talk about what happened yesterday,” he poured himself a glass of milk and then looked at me. My heart instantly skipped a beat, and I swallowed, “I thought we were done talking about yesterday.” “You don’t get it, do you? Dante Conti is my rival and will use anything to get to me, including you. So, I want to know if you conspired anything with him.” It was at this moment that I realized how serious this was. If this was the only way for me to get away from Antonio, then maybe I needed to give Dante a call. “I didn’t conspire with anyone. Dante and I went on a harmless
~ANTONIO~ When I got to the club, I called Melo from home. I had a feeling that Isabella was going to try to do the opposite of what I advised her. She was a very stubborn creature, and I didn’t want to gamble on that and see what she was going to do. Since she promised to burn the house down, I knew that she meant every word and was not going to sit around in her room and do nothing. As stubborn and frustrating as she was, I loved her. I loved her so much, and I was not going to let her get away from me that easily. Melo picked up his phone on the second ring. “Make sure that she doesn’t leave the house. If you can, I want you to lock every door in the house and turn on the security alarm in case she tries to escape. I want you to guard her with your life, Melo. If she escapes from the house, just know that you will be as good as dead.” I hung up the call and went through my emails. One of my friends was planning to meet up with me later during the day about a business
~ISABELLA~A week after Antonio had brought me back home, I spent it in the garden, my mind wandering and not a clue of my next plan. I was expecting myself to be excited to be home. To be with Antonio after almost a month, I had been taken by Tom. But after finding out that I was pregnant, things changed for me, and I didn't know what to do if the father happened to be Tom since I slept with him also. I was so afraid of staying with Antonio and raising Tom's baby with him. Even though I was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, I felt like I had cheated on Antonio and didn't know how to tell him that I was pregnant and wasn't sure if we should continue living together.My father gave me the money that Antonio's contract stated that I would need to pay him to free myself from him, but I didn't know if I needed to use it or not. A week ago, before Antonio found me and rescued me, I was so sure that I wanted to be with him.I was so sure that I wanted to start my life afresh with him a
~ANTONIO~"I think we've found them. I know someone who provided me with inside information and confirmed that they left for Canada late last night," August informed me on the phone after booking in at a guesthouse in Mendoza for the evening. "They're in Canada? Where? I need specifics, August. It will take me the whole year if I look for her in every Canadian province," I sighed as I opened my hotel room and headed inside. The guys with me also booked double rooms for themselves so that they would share. There were 8 men in total.We were exhausted and had been looking everywhere for Bella and Tom without any luck.Now that August had a lead on them, there was a little hope that I was going to find her. But I also didn't want to get my hopes too high. It had been a long week looking for her, and I was close to giving up the search altogether."I'll call the guy and confirm with you. He helped them get passports and fake identity cards. If there's anything else he knows, I'm sure h
~ISABELLA~Just as I suspected he would, I woke up and couldn't remember the last thing that I did, which meant that the motherfucker drugged me. I didn't know how long I had passed out when I woke up in another different room, except this time, he was right next to me sleeping. I looked around and knew that he had moved us and we were somewhere else again. Probably in another country or continent. My stomach sank when I thought about Antonio. I thought of how he might have been looking for me but couldn't find me after Tom moved us again.I got up from the bed and went to have a look outside the window. There was all snow, causing my heart to skip a beat, and I felt like I was suddenly hyperventilating. "You're up," his voice echoed behind me. I turned around and looked at him, my face covered with tears and my heart hurting that he moved us way too far. "Where are we, Tom? Was this your plan all along? To separate me from all the people that I know and keep me hostage somewher
~ANTONIO~"Where are they, Andrea? Are you sure that I would be able to find her and bring her home?" He nodded. "Yes, but only if you go there on time. Tom has his people lay an eye on me. I think they've told him of my coming here since I was supposed to be moved to a new place after getting my things at my house. You need to hurry." "Are you sure that they've been following you?" "Tom is a very smart man. I don't think that he would release me back here and not keep an eye on me. I made a deal with him that I would keep quiet about their whereabouts if I wanted to see my daughter again. But I've risked everything by coming here because she's better off with you than with him.""Thank you, Andrea. I was starting to lose hope of ever finding her again. I'll arrange my trip to Brazil as soon as possible," I said as I turned to go to my office to make a few phone calls when Andrea stopped me in my tracks. "When she comes back, I'd like to offer you the 37.5 million dollars that you
~ISABELLA~"Don't worry, my love. You and I are going to be happy together. No one is ever going to come between us again," Tom whispered behind me in the shower. I closed my eyes and braced myself for what was going to happen.I hoped that my father was going to do what was right and lead Antonio to where we were before Tom moved us again. I was tired and didn't want to have him inside me, but I had no choice if I wanted to convince him that I was into him as well. "What's going to be my new name?" I asked, trying to distract myself from what he was doing or trying to do to me."Whatever name you choose will be yours, love," he said as he nibbled on my neck. He knew that it was my weak spot, and even though I was trying so hard not to be turned on by it, he grabbed my boobs and squeezed them while he kissed my neck. "What if I want to keep my name?"Tom suddenly stopped what he was doing, grabbed my neck, and tilted my head so that I would look at him. "What do you think Antoni
~ANTONIO~"I have a new lead on the Conti brothers," August reported as he sat down on the chair in front of me in the office. I groaned as I looked at him. "I want you to find Tom. I don't care about the Conti assholes!" I snapped as I banged my hands on the table. I was angry, and it didn't help that August wasn't fully focused on finding Tom and Isabella. I was going out of my mind thinking of the number of weeks that had gone by without me seeing her. The three weeks felt like years, and I couldn't bear it anymore. I had to find her."Yes, I get that. But we are working on it. You know that they both disappeared into thin air. His father is also missing, including Isabella's father." "You need to get more people and get them to leave no stone unturned until they find my wife," I seethed. August sighed as he stood up from the chair and looked down at me. "You know that I am doing everything I can to find her. But you also seem to forget that she and Tom were once involved, a
~ISABELLA~I was sleeping when I was woken up by a door slamming closed outside. I gasped as I woke up, my pillow drenched with tears and sweat as I sat up on the bed. I felt a horrible headache as the events of earlier flooded my memory. I hated Tom, for sure, and was never going to forgive him after what he did and put me through. My heart was broken, and nothing was ever going to mend what he had done to me. I felt violated and dirty after what he did to me.I wanted to escape and make sure that he never had a chance to abduct me again.I dressed up, and just as I was about to sit down on the bed to have a moment to think, I heard screams from the hallway, and the voice sounded very familiar.I remembered that Tom told me that he would bring my father over because I was being difficult to him, and my heart started racing as I rushed to the door. I tried to open it but realized that it was locked. "Tom, open this door!" I screamed as I banged on the door, crying.I kept bangin
~TOM~I stood near the bed and watched Bella struggle to regain her consciousness as I buttoned my shirt. I knew the consequences of what happened might backfire since she didn't consent to sleeping with me. What made it worse was that I spiked her drink. I wanted her so bad that I couldn't handle the thought of her rejection and decided to spike her drink so that I would be able to slide inside her.But now that things had gotten thus far, I decided to let it off my mind and try to patch things up with her when she woke up.When I was done dressing up, I went to my room and made a call to my father to find out how long it was going to take for Bella's father to be brought to our location.Andrea Albero was the only person who was going to give me leverage over Bella. She loved her father, and if she had to keep him alive by agreeing to be with me, then that she was going to do."Father.""Son, how are things over there? Are you both safe?""Everything's going well so far, Father.
~ISABELLA~When Tom was done making the call to have my father brought to our location, I was taken to a room and locked up inside because I wouldn't stop shouting and fighting him for what he was doing.It felt like hours when I was locked up inside, and I didn't even know how to feel or what to do. My mind was all over the place. At the back of my mind, I realized how horribly things have gone my way, and I wished that they could have gone differently.I kept thinking about Antonio, wondering to myself if he had any plan to get me back before Tom ended my life. "Are you ready to behave?" Tom asked outside the room. "I brought you food," he said as he walked inside with a tray in his hand and a bottle of water.That's when I realized how hungry and thirsty I was."You have to let me go," I sighed as he closed the door behind him and walked toward me, placing the tray and bottle of water on the table next to the bed."Why do you want to act like you, and I never wanted this? You don