Page 13 of Accidental Alliance

Isabella is far from that.

She knows the cost of what she is asking for—our bloodlines, our syndicates, our fathers who have planned our futures well before either of us were ever born.

She knows what would happen if either of our families understood the depth of what has taken root between us tonight.

And still… she says it anyway.

For the first time in my life, I actually believe it may be possible.

Suddenly, I cannot remember why I ever thought the path before me was the only one that existed.

My older brother has always been my father’s heir, not me.

And now I can see with terrifying clarity that walking away from the syndicate and letting my father’s empire continue without me would only lead to a minor fallout.

I could see myself giving up everything for her and taking her somewhere the names Conti and Russo mean nothing except for what we choose to make of them.

I could do it if it meant keeping her in my arms like this.

That thought should fill me with shame and reflexive contempt that I have always reserved for men who lose empires over women.

Instead, it fills me with something quieter and far more dangerous.

Hope.

I look at her, really look at the steadiness in her eyes and the confident certainty she is offering me as what I can only perceive as a lifeline.

In this very moment, I would burn down every expectation placed on my shoulders if that was the price of keeping her.

“Walk away with me,” she whispers.

I have inherited expectations so heavy, they might as well have been shackles forged into my bones.

I have been told since boyhood what belongs to me, what I am owed, what I am meant to protect, expand, and eventually pass on.

None of it has ever touched me like this.

None of it has ever made me look at the woman in my bed and feel my entire body revolt at the idea of stepping away from her warmth.

Here, in the dark, she is only Isabella.

Not Amos Russo’s daughter, not a bargaining chip wrapped in cream silk and family expectations or the dangerous temptation I should have crushed the moment I understood what she could become to me.

Just Isabella.

Mine, some savage part of me whispers.

My hand slides to the back of her neck, holding her there gently. “Okay.”

For the first time, I can see an edge beyond the empire.

And on the other side of it, I see only her.

3

ELIO

The call comes at 3:17 a.m.