~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~ “You are playing with fire, Bella. Antonio will -” “I am the one who was auctioned, Sarah. So, if there is anything that I can do to get away from this man, then I will do it. Regardless of the consequences,” I interjected her. “I am just saying that you should be careful. Both of these men are dangerous. I would understand if Tom was the one coming to help you,” she answered. I honestly understood her concerns, but Tom was not going to help me. Not when this place had a heavy security system, and there was Melo around the house to make sure that I would never be able to escape. As much as I hated this, Dante was the only way out of Antonio’s life. He was the only one capable of getting me out. “Tom could never be able to get me out of here. Dante can. As soon as he helps me out of here, I will run somewhere else, I promise.” Sarah sighed, “Alright, fine. So, what’s the plan?” “I will go to my cousin in Ansley Park. She’s very kind and won’t mind accommodat
~ANTONIO~ "Find her, Melo. Spare no effort in your search!" I shouted as I entered inside my house and found all my security guards dead. I quickly contacted August, convinced he had assigned incapable men to guard my house during my absence. "What's wrong?" He asked after answering. "Dante has killed all the guards and abducted my wife," I growled. "He's killed everyone in the house?" He questioned. I felt irritated by his question when he would have known that the men he sent would make it so easy for my wife to be kidnapped while they were armed and trained to protect her. "Yes. All the guards are dead, except for Melo. He spared his life," I frowned, eyeing Melo as he strode towards the entrance. A part of me wanted to finish Dante's unfinished business. "I will assign the rest of the men in training and bring them to you. After that, I will try by all means to find him and Isabella," replied August. "It is important that you do everything within your power to fi
~ISABELLA~ "I bought clothes for you." "You bought clothes for me? Do you think that clothes, handbags, and shoes will compensate for kidnapping me?" I asked him as one of his housekeeper's carried in the shopping bags. Dante merely offered a sly grin as he leaned towards me, prompting me to gulp. He was tall and had a presence that made me weak in my knees. His eyes were green and whenever I locked with them, I felt my throat getting dry. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I had daydreamed about him the night before we met for our first date. I couldn't take my eyes off him for hours and when he confirmed our date, I was over the moon and couldn't wait for him to be the one to sweep me off Antonio's snares. And he did. "I thought you liked clothes." "I value my freedom above all, Dante! For how long do you intend to keep me here?" I snapped while approaching the table to look inside the shopping bags. "I believed we had reached an understanding that I would gra
~ISABELLA~ Antonio: "I will find you, and when I do, you will be grounded." I looked at Antonio's text as I sat down on the toilet seat. Dante was in the dining room with his brothers. It took a minute before I decided to text Antonio back. It wasn't part of my plan to leave Dante and go back to him again. I wanted to leave them both behind for good. After my chat with Gabriele, I realized that both men were not safe for me. But here I was, desperate for Antonio to get me back. I couldn't handle being around Dante and his brothers anymore. Me: "I dare you to find me, Antonio, and in return, I will make your life hell." I smirked. I hoped that he would take my sarcasm as a joke. I was desperate for his help. I gasped when I heard a sudden knock on the door. "Bella, are you alright in there?!" Gabriele asked. I quickly turned off my cell phone and got off the toilet seat. "Yeah, I'm fine! I'll be out in a minute!" I flushed the toilet and turned the tap on. Her footst
~ISABELLA~ "Where are you taking me, Dante?" I asked as he drove out of the gate. He was driving fast, which made me anxious. I couldn't read his thoughts or intentions. For all I knew, he was probably driving me to a place where he was going to kill me. His older brother despised me, leaving me to wonder about their plans for me. As events unfolded, Gabriele's words echoed in my mind, affirming that I was precisely what they needed to take over Atlanta. They had no intention of releasing me until Antonio arrived to rescue me. He was my only hope. "Don't worry, princess, I'm not going to hurt you. Relax and enjoy the ride," he smirked as he increased the speed, passing by the lonely road in the middle of the forest. I was desperate to slip out my cell phone and turn it on so that Antonio would be able to find me more easily. But since I was his wife, I knew that he was not going to stop searching for me. Especially since he knew who took me. "Can you slow down a bit?
~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