"Then why haven't you told him?"
"Because Isabella—" I stop. "She's determined to go through with this wedding. She thinks the family needs the alliance. And she's probably right."
"So change her mind."
"I'm fucking trying, man."
"Try harder." Rafael pushes off the workbench. "You have five days, Enzo. Five days before she marries someone else and this becomes permanent. Whatever you're going to do, you need to do it now."
He walks out and leaves me standing in the garage with grease on my hands and five days on the clock and the particular kind of desperation that comes from knowing you're running out of time and options.
I need to tell Matteo.
I know I need to tell Matteo.
But first I need to make Isabella understand that marrying Vittorio is not the only option, that there are other ways to secure the alliance, that sacrificing herself for duty is not the noble thing she thinks it is.
I have five days.
I go inside and find her in the library with a book she's not reading, just holding open on her lap while she stares at nothing.
She looks up when I enter and something in her expression shifts when she sees my face.
"What happened?"
"Rafael knows," I say. "Salvatore suspects. Matteo is going to figure it out, if he hasn't already. This is unsustainable."
She sets the book aside and stands. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"Change your mind. Tell Matteo you're not going through with the wedding. Let me talk to him. Let me find another way."
"There is no other way."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do." Her voice is firm. "I heard him, Enzo. I heard him say it. Without the De Luca alliance we can't handle the O'Rourkes. People will die. I'll not be responsible for that."
"So you're just going to let Vittorio touch you for the rest of your life." The words come out harsh and raw. "You're going tolet him put his hands on you every night and pretend it doesn't make you sick."
Her face goes pale. "That's not fair."
"None of this is fair." I take a step toward her. "You're asking me to watch you marry someone else. You're asking me to stand there while he makes you his wife. You're asking me to live with that. Nothing about this is fair."
"I know." Her voice breaks slightly. "I know it's not fair. But it's what has to happen."
I stare at her and I feel something snap inside me, some last thread of control finally giving way under the weight of everything.
"Five days," I say quietly. "You have five days to change your mind. After that, I'm telling Matteo everything whether you like it or not."
I leave before she can respond.
I go to my room and close the door and stand in the middle of the floor with my hands curled into fists and my breathing ragged and uncontrolled.
Five days.
I can change her mind in five days.
I have to.
