My mood has soured and it gets worse when her conversation turns to her grandmother.
“When my parents died, I couldn’t believe what was happening. The police came to the place we were staying. I didn’t even know they had left because I was fast asleep, but the knocking on the door in the early morning told me something had happened. I fully expected them to answer it but it soon became apparent I was alone.”
She turns and looks away, and I see her struggling to get her emotions in place. I know that feeling, so I reach across and grasp her hand and say in a dead voice, “You don’t have to explain, I know how it feels.”
She looks at me and I see the hurt in her beautiful eyes and I almost lose my mind. “How?”
Her voice is soft and anxious, and I grip her hand hard. “My mother killed herself, she left us, the four of us with our grandmother and our despicable father who caused her to do it in the first place. I know how it feels to lose someone who meant everything to you. You don’t have to explain.”
She swallows hard and looks out of the window, and I feel like finding the man who arranged her parent’s death and gutting him like meat. The fact the trail would most likely lead back to our organization makes me feel sick and disgusted. We did this, we arranged for the drugs to be brought here and the man who sold them on gave us a cut of the profits. We are responsible for so much shit and this is the result of it. A beautiful woman destroyed and alone.
Chapter 23
Isabella
It’s all too much. This evening has messed with my head and brought back memories I try hard to keep buried. Dante has opened a wound that never really healed in the first place and now he wants me to go further. I can’t deal with my grandmother’s memory. It’s too painful. But he won’t let me hide from it as he says firmly, “Tell me about your grandmother, why do you hate her so much?”
I want to run and hide but his hand is holding mine and his voice compels me to look at him and for some strange reason he gives me the courage to continue. I’m safe with him. He gives me strength because Dante is like a force of nature that no mere mortal would go against. He rips through life like a predator and I know he would hold back the shadows to let the light in. He would also imprison me in those shadows if he wanted to which I suppose is half the attraction. He’s a man of extremes and having been held back for so long, I am keen to experience everything on offer to make up for lost time.
He is waiting for me to tell him something I don’t want to hear myself and yet I know he won’t let me get away with it, so I take a deep breath and say bitterly. “My grandmother was everything my mother told me she would be. I was a grieving teenager sent to live with a virtual stranger, and she didn’t make that easy on me. There was no love or compassion, just a sense that I didn’t measure up. She actually burned my clothes and made me wear things she chose, so, you see, I know nothing else, which is probably why I accepted your own rules regarding what I wear.”
I look at him for some sort of reaction but there’s nothing there at all, just cold dead eyes that look as if he’s hiding something.
“I was made to sit tests that showed her I was way behind academically, which didn’t surprise me. I was never professionally schooled and learned everything in the good old books of life. It’s no wonder I couldn’t do algebra or speak French because what use were they on a hippie commune? I was a disappointment, she told me that every other sentence. She bad-mouthed my parents and told me they were drug dealers. Can you imagine the cheek of the woman? My parents were not dealers, they were kind, considerate, happy and generous. What planet was she on if she thought I’d ever believe her lies?”
“So, what happened next?” Dante appears thoughtful and I can tell he is hanging onto every word and I shrug. “She told me I was a lost cause, worthless and would never amount to much. I was also her only heir apparently and so she had no choice but to leave her wealth to me. I was summoned and told I would have to earn it though and she enrolled me in Eden Manners and sentenced me to three years of hard labor. It was only just before the graduation ceremony that I learned I had to work for a family for a year to gain my inheritance, and I was almost tempted to ignore the request and take off, anyway. I wasn’t bothered by the money and just wanted to get my hands on it, so I could piss it away by spending it on everything she would hate to get my revenge.”
“How did she die?”
I smirk. “Heart attack, apparently. At one of her famous ladies’ luncheons. It was all over inside of ten minutes and when Mrs Hastings summoned me to her office and told me, I couldn’t care less. They asked if I wanted to go to the funeral, but I declined. Why would I? She was nothing to me and wouldn’t even let me attend my parents one. Instead, she told me she had them cremated with just a priest to pray for their souls as they traveled to hell.”
The bitter tears won’t stay hidden and I brush them away furiously.
“I hate her.”
I whisper the words, wishing she could hear them. I wanted to tell her so many times and never got that chance. She took away a huge part of me in denying me the opportunity to say goodbye to my parents, and I doubt I’ll ever forgive her for that.
Dante waves the waiter away who hovers nearby and I look up in surprise. I forgot where we were for a moment and the sight of those black eyes staring at me so hard causes me to shift on my seat.
What does that look mean?
“We’re leaving.”
He stands and I look at him in astonishment as he throws a wad of dollar bills on the table and reaches for my hand. The waiter looks as if he may pass out at any moment as he stutters, “Is everything ok, sir, was there a problem?”
Dante ignores him and as we move past, I see two of his guards closing in behind us and two more step in front. We are surrounded as we leave the restaurant and I wonder what the hell just happened?
It’s not until we are in his car and tearing through the night that he speaks. “We need to talk.”
“I thought we were.”
“Not there, it was too public. We need to talk privately and we can do it at my apartment not far from here.”
“But I thought…”
“I don’t always live at the mansion, Isabella. That may be my home, but I need my privacy sometimes. We all have other homes because in case it’s escaped your notice, things are pretty intense at the house. We need an escape and this is mine.”
I look with interest as we pull into a side turning and down a ramp, the gates closing behind us as we pull up in an underground car park. There are only a few other cars here, and I stare in amazement at an empty cavern.
“It’s not very busy is it, you don’t exactly have to fight for a space?”
“It’s all mine, these other cars belong to my men.”
I stare at him open-mouthed and he actually smirks. “Perk of the job.”
Now’s my chance and I say quickly, “What is it you do exactly, other than torture people who piss you off?”
“Dark things, Isabella, very bad dark things that you really won’t want to know about.”
That shuts me up because I kind of guessed he wasn’t in insurance, or an accountant.
The thought amuses me and I must have a smile on my face because he stops and looks at me hard, “What’s so funny?”
“Picturing you as an insurance broker or accountant, I can’t see it somehow.”
He just rolls his eyes and drags me toward a waiting elevator in the corner.
As soon as we’re inside, he inserts a room key into the side and we head off at speed toward what I’m assuming is his own private apartment.
“Do other people live here?”
“No.”
“What nobody, in the whole building?”
“No.”
“That’s a bit lonely, isn’t it? I mean, I know you said you liked some time on your own, but come on, this is just weird.”
“I don’t care.”
The elevator stops with a thump and as
the doors open, I look in amazement as we step into an absolutely huge loft style room that appears to view the whole city. All around are windows and the subdued lighting makes it breath-taking as it contrasts with the twinkling lights outside. The whole room is made up of chrome and mirrors with white furniture and just a splash of color on the paintings and cushions dotted around. I walk inside with my mouth wide open because where his family home is grand with all its antiques, this place is modern and fantastic. I absolutely love it and can’t even speak as Dante throws his jacket on the side and tears off his tie. He turns to me and says briskly, “Make yourself at home and I’ll pour us a drink. You’ll need it when you hear what I have to tell you.”
I swear my legs shake as I do as he says and curl up on one of the oversized couches and almost get swallowed up in comfort.
He hands me a glass of amber liquid and says sternly, “Drink this and then prepare to hear something that will destroy your life.”
Chapter 24
Dante
Isabella looks scared and she needs to be because the story she relates through rose-colored spectacles is about to be destroyed. She needs to know; Lucian is right about that and I will do everything in my power to protect her, but somewhere during dinner, I made the decision. She needs to know the facts and the decision will be hers. This is too big for me to gloss over and I need to go in hard. I want Isabella to fully know what she’s getting into and then make her an offer she can’t refuse.
She looks so small on my couch and my cock physically aches for her. It can’t understand what’s taking me so long and neither can I. I’ve never treaded so carefully with any woman before and I expect it’s because she has choices that may not involve me. I can’t lose her, but I can’t pretend either. She deserves to know the truth even if it destroys her. But I’m here to catch her when she falls. I will pick her up and dust her off and make everything better. At least that’s my plan, it may not work out that way, which is what’s scaring me the most. For the first time, she’s in control and it’s killing me.
Taking the seat beside her, I take her hand and say calmly, “I want you to listen to me and not interrupt. What I’m about to say will be hard to hear, but you must understand it’s the truth. At the end you may ask me questions but hear the facts first. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Her voice is soft and breathless and her eyes wide and fearful. Just seeing her like this feeds the beast as it roars inside me.
Shaking away the image of what I really want to be doing, I say coldly, “Your grandmother was right, your parents were dealers.”
She makes to pull away and I grip her hand hard and growl, “Hear me out.”
“Lucian told me the name of their supplier and he works for us. Your parents sold his merchandise to their hippie friends, which is why you traveled so much. The reason they’re dead is because they stole from him and he arranged an accident. I’m sorry, Isabella, I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s a fact.”
I think she’s going to be sick and holds her hand to her mouth and I see the tears falling across her fingers. She shakes her head and her eyes are filled with pain but I carry on, eager to get this over with.
“Your grandmother was right to be angry. They fed you lies about her from the moment you were born. She only had your best interests at heart and I have since learned tried to get custody of you for years through the courts. She almost succeeded a few times, but your parents always managed to find a loop hole and keep you with them. She only wanted the best for you, which is why she enrolled you in that school. She paid them to take you because you had no qualifications and the one-year extension was to pay them back for their help.”
“No, please stop.”
Isabella is openly crying and I carry on, regardless. “When your grandmother died, she left you a very wealthy woman, that much you know but you don’t know exactly how much. You will soon be the fifth richest woman in America and that comes at a price.”
She tries to stand, to run, but I hold her down and say cruelly, “You will listen to me.”
She begins to shake as the shock hits her and I carry on relentlessly. “When you leave here, you will inherit billions. The companies your family own are all solid investments and run by carefully selected board members. It’s doubtful you will ever have anything to do with their running, but will be ultimately responsible. You’ll have a team of advisors and staff. There are many houses all around the world and it will be your job to oversee them. The staff that run them rely on you and you will be a target for every gold digger out there. Security, bodyguards and a life spent in a gold-lined prison. Word is, they are already lining up to win your hand in marriage because the rewards are high. You can’t just give away the money, it has been tied up in red tape preventing you, so you see, your grandmother walked a very fine line herself and knew that you were unprepared to take on the job. She did the best she could and hid you away to grow up and become the woman you need to be. The year of employment was to shape you in a society you would rule over one day.”
She breaks down before my eyes and I can do nothing but hold her. As she sobs and trembles in my arms, I wrap her in protection. As Isabella Grey learns her destiny, she shatters once again into a million pieces and I can do nothing but hold her until the storm passes.
Isabella cries herself to sleep. Her head hits my chest and the sound of her breathing evens out and my heart settles. She needs this, she needs to sleep and then wake up and come to terms with her situation.
Maybe I was wrong to tell her everything at once, but I’m a great believer in getting everything out on the table. Only then can you move on and I hope that Isabella lets me help her through.
It must be 3 am before she stirs and my arms ache from holding her.
She pulls back and the sight of those beautiful gray eyes shrouded in pain makes me feel so helpless. “Dante.”
Her voice whispers my name and I nod. “I’m here.”
She leans on my chest and I see a tear splash onto her hand and she says in a shaky voice, “I can’t face it. The future, the past, everything. What shall I do?”
I stroke her hair and whisper softly, “Do nothing. You have one year to come to terms with this. Stay with me, with Luca, and we will work it out together.”
She pulls back and stares up at me, the tears sparkling like diamonds in her eyes and looks so scared it makes me want to kill for her. If she ordered it, I would hunt that dealer down and string him up and kill him in a slow and painful way. I would do anything for Isabella Grey because somehow, along with my son, she is the most important thing in my life. I want her to be my future—our future, but that is a decision she must make for herself.
She shocks me by reaching up and touching my face, and I swear I stop breathing. The still of the middle of the night is all around us as we share a moment both of us need right now. It’s a beginning, an end to the past, and yet the future is not opening up a path we need to tread. A crossroads, a decision and a place to come to terms with loss and betrayal. We are two souls meeting with shared experiences and will help each other to heal before we can move on.
I know I’m opening a wound I have tried to close because the last woman I loved left me and took my son with her. She tortured him and kept him a secret, and when I found her, I killed her. Will Isabella leave me too, it’s a risk I have to take because Riley’s words struck a chord?
‘Make her fall in love with you.’
Is that possible, could she really love a monster? I’m not so sure, but I need to try at least.
It takes me by surprise when she leans forward and her lips touch mine. They are hesitant, soft and taste of tears and shattered dreams. It’s a moment when something so good, so pure, connects with evil and I’m hooked from the first taste of a woman I can’t seem to shake.
She pulls back and her eyes glitter with determination as she whispers, “I want to change my answer to your question.” Her eyes flash as she whispers, “I want to
take you up on your offer, I will stay for Luca and for you. I want to experience the dark side and I want you to be my first. If I have nothing else to look forward to but a life of control and looking over my shoulder, I want to remember the time when I was reckless and wild. You are that man Dante Romano and I’m guessing being with you would be one thrilling ride, so what do you say, will you show me how it’s done?”
Chapter 25
Isabella
I can’t believe I just said what I did. It took a lot for me to ask him to take my virginity, and I think I hold my breath as the seconds tick past as I wait for his answer.
He looks shocked which surprises me because I thought he would jump at the chance but something about the look in his eye unnerves me. Have I got this wrong, does he even want me anymore?
Then he speaks in a softer voice than normal and reaches out and strokes my face in a surprisingly gentle way. “You know I want nothing more, Isabella. For some reason I want you more than any woman I’ve ever known, even Luca’s mother. But I can’t, not like this, under these circumstances.”
I make to pull away and he holds me firmly in place and says gently, “You’re in shock, you have a lot to deal with and offering me your virginity is just a reaction to that. I’m guessing it’s the rebel in you hitting back at your grandmother, doing something you know she would disapprove of if she were here to witness it. You’re lashing out and think this is the best way to bury your demons but I won’t be that man that takes advantage of this situation. I want you, Isabella, so much I can’t believe it myself but not like this, not now. Come to me again when the dust settles and you’ve had time to think on this. Make your decision based on what you truly want and I’ll be waiting. Know that I have your back and if a friend is all you need, count me as your best one. If you want more than that, well, we’ll deal with that if the situation arises.”
The Throne of Hate: A mafia romance (The Romano's Book 2) Page 11
