~ISABELLA~ When I woke up in the morning, my head was throbbing, and it felt like I had been out for a long time. The door swung open, and Dante walked inside, causing the vivid memory of what happened yesterday to sit me up on the bed. "You punched me in the face, Dante. How dare you?" I snapped as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to me. "We have to move you, princess. It seems like your husband knows where we are." "He does?" My heart fluttered. "Yes, get up. We are leaving for my safe house in an hour," Dante informed me as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. If Antonio had found the location, it meant that maybe he was able to track my phone's location when we were talking. When I realized that I couldn't find my phone, I cursed under my breath and threw a pillow on the floor from frustration. I quickly got dressed and planned to see Dante when I walked to the door and realized that it was locked. "Oh, come on!" I snapped angrily as I
~ANTONIO~"You're not allowed to go anywhere, Bella. You wanted this, and now you got it.""You can't do that, Antonio! You can't keep me locked up in here after I have just returned from another prison! What is this? Is this why you bought me at auction?" She asked.I sighed and turned around to face her. "I didn't buy you, Bella. If you can't realize how I feel about you by now, I don't think you ever will.""If you feel anything for me, you will let me go. You would ask me on dates instead of treating me as your prisoner.""If you were responsible and kept your distance from Dante as I warned you to, we wouldn't be having this conversation!" I snapped."Forgive me, Antonio, that I won't fall head over heels for you after you bought me for millions of dollars and ruined all the plans that I had for my life!" She shot back."Name whatever that you want, and it will be yours!" I hissed as I closed the gap between us.I felt disappointed that she couldn't realize that I'd do anything fo
~ISABELLA~"Bloody shit. You will regret this, Antonio. You will regret this," I muttered to myself as I paced around the room.The door creaked open, and I turned around with a shocked expression."Who are you?" I asked the strange guy as he walked inside.Since Melo was dead, this was probably another Melo sent to keep an eye on me in case I made a run for it again."Morning, Miss Albero. I am Kyle. Mr. Rodriguez instructed me to be your bodyguard and your chauffeur," he answered."My chauffeur?" I asked as I walked toward him.He nodded. "Yes.""I want to go somewhere right now. Will you take me?" I smirked, still shocked.When Antonio left a few hours ago, he was determined to keep me locked up in the house for as long as he wanted me to be.I had no idea what had changed his mind, but I was happy he did."Yes," Kyle answered as he stood aside for me to lead the way out of the room.I already had my bath and only needed him to take me to Sarah. She and I had a lot to discuss even t
~ISABELLA~ I was startled when I felt a hand on my shoulder in the hospital. I was sitting beside my father in his wardroom. The doctors had performed an emergency surgery on him when he was admitted. Luckily, when the Conti struck him with a knife, none of his organs were badly injured. "Hey, Isa. I'm sorry about your father," Sarah said to me as I got up and wrapped my arms around her. I couldn't hold it in anymore as I wept on her shoulder. If I hadn't arrived on time, my father would have bled to death in the hands of the Conti. I was so angry that Dante and his brothers could do something like this after they killed my mother without any mercy while she was pregnant. I was angry that they had to involve him in their war with Antonio when my father had nothing to do with what was happening between them. "Thank you for coming, babe. This means a lot to me," I sobbed. "Let's go and grab a cup of coffee for you," Sarah suggested when I pulled away from her and wiped m
~ISABELLA~"No, Bella, I told you to stop messing with Antonio! He won't like this one bit!" Sarah protested on the phone."You're not listening to me, Sarah. This is my only way to get myself away from Antonio. My father is out of the picture right now," I answered as I paced around the room.On my other hand, I was holding a piece of paper with Peter's cell phone numbers written down."I am listening, and what you want to do is suicide. Abort that mission," she insisted.I took a deep breath as I stopped pacing and looked at the piece of paper in my hand.I was still convinced to call this guy. If Antonio found out that I was interested in someone else, he wouldn't have any other choice but to let me go."I am doing this, babe. I don't want to spend a week under the same roof as Antonio. It's not different than being held hostage by Dante. They are the same person with the same agenda to use me."Sarah exhaled on the other end. "Fine. I hear you, and I want you to be free from all th
~ISABELLA~"Did you want to kill him, Antonio?" I turned to him after Tom had been taken away by the security guards.Even though he was no longer one of the people I wished to see again, he was still a very important part of my life."You did not expect me to let him leave with you, did you?" Antonio retorted as he closed the small gap between us."He had every right to come here to claim me just like you did after you and my father drugged and auctioned me.""Wasn't I the one who defended you when that boy wanted to humiliate you in front of his friends? I think I did you a very good favor to take you from him, Bella, and you should be grateful," he sneered."I will never be grateful that you bought me against my will, and because of you, I am stuck here like a prisoner who has to get permission from you to even breathe!" I snarled."What is it that I haven't allowed you to do in this house, Bella?! I treat you as I would treat my wife!""But I'm not your wife, Antonio! I will never
~ISABELLA~A few days later, I had already made up my mind and was going on a date with Peter.He and I managed to talk on the phone until we agreed that we would go on our very first date.I didn't even want to bother thinking about Antonio and his threats because the goal was to get far away from him.When I was done getting ready, I made sure that I looked way too pretty for Peter to even be able to control himself around me.After an hour, I was already at the restaurant where Peter and I were meeting.As soon as I walked inside the restaurant, I spotted his handsome face on the table near the window.He smiled warmly at me when our eyes met, and I quickly instructed Kyle to wait for me in the car.When I got to the table, Peter got up and pulled out the chair for me to sit down."Thank you," I thanked him as I sat down."My goodness, you are so beautiful, Isabella. I can't believe that you're here with me. I might as well be dreaming," he complimented me as he sat down.I blushed
~ANTONIO~"How far are we from finding those Conti cunts?" I scoffed as I asked August.It was around 11 p.m. when he came to see me at my club. We were sitting at the VIP having a bottle of bourbon."We will find them. It will just take a little bit of time, Antonio. You have to remember that Dante is a very smart and strategic man," he answered as he took a sip from his glass."They need to be dealt with, August. They could have killed Albero but didn't. I think they wanted to send a message," I sighed as I leaned back in my chair."You need to stop worrying so much, Antonio. Dante knows better than to attack you unannounced. He knows the risks and is smarter than that."The only person I was worrying about was Isabella. I didn't know how to protect her when she wouldn't stop fighting me or trying to piss me off by making me jealous."While we wait for them to show their faces, I need men to watch Albero. He's my father-in-law, after all. I can't risk his life," I said as I poured my
~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