~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?