ISABELLA
The door crashes open, startling me awake, terror coursing through me. Are we under attack?
Alessandro stands in the doorway, his shoulders filling the frame. The air crackles with electricity, but not the kind that usually sparks between us. This is dangerous. Lethal.
"Pack your things," he says. His voice is colder, angrier than I’ve ever heard. "You're going back to your family."
I blink, certain I've misheard. "What?"
"I won't repeat myself.” He crosses the room and pulls me from the bed by my arm. “Pack your things and get the fuck out of my home before I… "
He doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t have to. He’s looking at me like he might strangle me to death.
I stumble to get my feet under me. "Alessandro, I don't understand?—"
"Don't you?" His laugh sends a chill down my spine. “I nearly believed you."
I’m terrified, but I also know whatever reason he’s angry, I’m not a part of. I can only guess my father or brother or both have acted against him. "What do you think I did?"
"I have a video of your brother destroying my warehouse tonight. Using my personal key to get in." His eyes bore into me. "The key that was in my office."
Understanding crashes through me. "You think I took it? I would never?—"
"Save it." He leans in close to me, and any affection I might have seen in his eyes before is gone. All I see now is hate. "Go back to your family. Tell your father his plan failed. Tell him the alliance is over. If he wants war, he’s got it."
"Alessandro, please." I reach for him, but he jerks away and stares at me in revulsion. "I'm your wife. I love you."
His eyes flash with even more anger. "I don't want your lies."
“I didn’t betray you. I wouldn’t.”
“This isn’t a fucking discussion. Pack or not… you’re out of my home now.”
I stagger back, pressing my hand over my stomach, over our child. A child he still doesn’t know about. Should I tell him? Would it make a difference?
I’m not interested in being a father.
No, the news won’t save me or my child.
"Fine.” The fight drains out of me. "I'll go. But please, send me anywhere but to my father. I'll go to a hotel, another country. Anywhere but back to him."
"Why?" His voice is filled with contempt. "Afraid Daddy will be unhappy with your work? The warehouse was destroyed, but I'm still breathing."
I stare at him, wondering how he could possibly believe I’d betray him.
"You deserve your family," he says coldly. "And they deserve you."
“Do you really believe that?”
For one moment, I think I see his resolve waver. But then it's gone, and his eyes are empty again. "You have forty-five minutes to pack whatever you can carry. Security will escort you out. Georgio will drive you home."
I watch Alessandro's back as he walks away like I’m nothing. Like the moments we shared were nothing.
My legs wobble, but I can’t afford to break down.
Two men appear in the doorway, their faces expressionless as they watch me gather what little I can into a small suitcase. My hands shake so badly, I can hardly zip it closed.
"Mrs. Dante. It's time."
