~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~I got up at 4 a.m. and took a bath because I wanted to be out of the house before Antonio came back.I wanted to go to Sarah's place and spend the day there because I couldn't imagine myself seeing Antonio's face after he shot Peter in front of me like he was some chicken."Where are you going at this time, miss?"I gasped when I heard his voice as I walked out of my room. I rolled my eyes as I wondered if he ever slept."Fuck, Kyle. Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked him, irritated."I woke up when you did," he answered as he looked at me wearing a whole suit."Gosh," I muttered. "You can stay behind if you want, Kyle. I don't need you to come with me anyway. If it weren't for you, Peter would be alive," I sneered as I closed the door and headed toward the stairs.He walked behind and didn't say a word. When I stopped, he did, and when I continued walking, he did.I groaned when I realized that I couldn't avoid him. If he wanted to tag along, then I didn't have a problem,
~ISABELLA~ Antonio and I didn't say a word to each other in the car to the house. I was busy pouting while he was tapping on his phone and probably satisfied with himself that he dictated my life in a snap of his finger. I was beyond angry and couldn't believe his nerve to fetch me from Sarah's apartment. But when I looked out of the window, I realized that the car wasn't exactly going to his house. We were taking a different route, and my heart skipped a beat. I didn't trust him with my life anymore. If he had the guts to kill Peter in front of me, then he wouldn't hesitate to do the same to me. "Antonio, where are we going?" I asked as I turned to him with a horrified look plastered on my face. My heart was beating fast. The memory of him shooting Peter was still fresh in my mind, and I saw it every time I closed my eyes. "Here I was thinking that you were going to ignore me all the way to our destination, Bella. Don't worry, we will be there soon," he replied with a smile.