Bella: The Ending: A Sagatori Family Saga

by Kimberly Soto

  “I don’t even know who you are, Jax!” I felt the silkiness of the tear fall from my eye. I felt naked and weak; everyone could see the pathetic weak girl who had no business being there in the first place. I wanted a simple life. I wanted to love and to be loved. I wanted normal, but was forced into this and now I was just as weak as everyone I knew. Everyone had known I fought it, but as the tear fell from my eye, I knew it too. I drew in a deep breath feeling as if my heart would abandon ship and jump from my chest.

  “Get the fuck out!” He rushed to my side coveting me from everyone in the room.

  “Boss?”

  “Get rid of her, NOW! Leave us.” Jax was angry as his words cut through the room.

  He covered my body completely, wrapped his arms around mine, and pulled me to his chest. I could hear the click of the door, the silence that followed, and the heartbeat against my ear.

  “You can’t know what she has to say, Bella.”

  “Why?” I spoke into his shirt.

  I felt the heat from his breath on the top of my head and the slowing of his heart as he held me within the protection of his chest.

  “Because she’s gonna turn your life upside down. You’ll question everythin’ you once thought you knew.”

  I leaned away. “Will I question us?”

  When his eyes lifted to the ceiling, I knew the answer. I knew it was bad, whatever it was she had to say; it would rock my world. “Let go of me.”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bella, I can’t do that. You belong to me.”

  “You do not own me, Jax!”

  His lip quivered. “Yes, I do.”

  The way in which he responded to my statement was so matter-of-fact. Not like the response from a man in love, but something else—something more.

  His fingers swept the hair from my face. “I own every piece of you, Isabella. Without you in my life I’d be nothin’. There’s nothin’ more to me than you. You bring me to my knees, and I’ll fight, kill, and destroy for you. I’ll destroy anything and everyone, and that’s why you can’t know. You’ll be caught in that war, Bella, a war you know nothin’ about; a war that I’m going to keep you safe from.”

  “How is any of this about me?”

  His eyes penetrated my own, his words grim. “Everythin’ surrounds you, Isabella, everythin’ is about you. The secrets that live in the walls of hell and will ruin this family are because of you and only you.” He gently swept another loose strand of hair away.

  My mouth opened. I wanted to speak. I wanted to question what he’d admitted, but the words wouldn’t come. My throat was dry and cracked as the questions attempted to escape my lips.

  “You once trusted me, you trusted me with your life, do you remember that?” I hesitated but nodded a second later. “You trusted that I was lying to you about wanting her earlier because you knew I loved you, right?” I nodded again simply because he was right; I did trust him. “Then trust me now, Bella. Trust me when I tell you that you can never know these things she wants to tell you. Rebecca’s words are nothin’ but venom. They will only hurt you and ultimately destroy our family. I know you want answers, Bella, but you need to listen to me now if never again. Do not pursue these answers she promises you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

  He stroked my hair. “I know and that’s how it must stay.”

  I closed my eyes. I was married to a mobster, a clever man, a man I loved with every cell of my soul, but I couldn’t let this go. I simply couldn’t do as he’d asked me to. I wasn’t built for obedience. I wasn’t built to be the good girl who did as I was told, not even for Jax, but for now, I’d say what I must. “Okay, Jax, I’ll leave it alone.”

  His head fell. “You hesitated earlier when I asked if you trusted me.”

  I blinked, stuttering over my words, “I—”

  “You don’t like secrets, anything that keeps you in the dark, and I get that. But, Bella, this is a life run by men, not women. Men are supposed to protect their families, not the other way ‘round; that’s how this life works. You go questioning my authority in front of my men”—he paused—"that’ll get me dead real quick. Do you understand that?”

  I nodded.

  His finger swept my cheek where the ghost of a tear lay, wiping it away. “I need you to go home and take care of yourself and our son. Can you do that?”

  “What will you do with her?”

  “Rebecca?” He narrowed his stare.

  “Yes… what will happen to her?”

  “She’ll never bother you again, and that’s all you need to know.”

  “You’ll kill her?”

  “Do you want me to kill her?” he whispered.

  “No”—I lowered my gaze—“I don’t know. I just want to know her secrets.”

  “You know nothin’ about her secrets.”

  She said she was my sister and while that sounded beyond insane, I needed to know what she was going to say. Clearly, Jax wasn’t going to allow that, but I needed to ensure she’d be around when my opportunity arose. I drew a deep breath. “No, you’re right I don’t, but she’s a human being, Jax, and I want you to let her go. I insist on it, actually.”

  “You have no say with this.”

  “I want to believe that you’re trying to protect me, I do, but if you hurt her, I’m going to assume it’s for your own selfish gain and nothing more. I don’t know how I’d forgive that.”

  He blinked and shook his head, lifting a hand to his jaw. “This is where I tell you to leave it be, Bella”—he lowered his hand and lifted my chin—“because I can only protect you if you allow me to. You’re not the hero here. There’s nothing you can do to stop what needs to be done. I allow you to speak to me like you do and make these ridiculous demands because I love you, but if you push me with threats”—he leaned in close, the warmth of his breath caressing my cheek—“I’ll have to take other measures, measures I don’t want to have to take, but I’ll do what needs to be done to protect you.”

  Jax had spoken to me in ways I’d never thought possible. He’d said harsh things, made me feel inferior like I’d never felt before. But that all changed when we were married… for real. I supposed he’d saw me differently; our love or whatever causing him to see past the bullshit rules of the family. He’d shared secrets with me from time to time and trusted me with delicate information, but today I saw someone I didn’t recognize, someone who didn’t trust me at all. He was the boss of bosses at that moment. He’d spoken to me as if he’d paid for me and held the documents in his palm, flaunting them for everyone to see.

  “I understand.” I gave in to his threats, not because I intended to obey, but because I planned to go behind his back to get the information I wanted. I couldn’t be kept in the dark, if what he’d said about this all being about me was true.

  “Good girl. Now I’ll have Dominic and Tony see to it that you get back to Chicago. I want you to go shopping and finish the baby’s room. Splurge on yourself, go to the spa and relax, but do not go anywhere without your guards and that isn’t a request.”

  I nodded as a tear threatened to fall again. I didn’t want a life where I was the ignorant wife who waited patiently for her husband to come home, or spend my days ignoring reality in a spa gossiping with my friends. I wanted to be someone who mattered in this life, and as I stood there I saw that I, in fact, didn’t matter at all. I was everything I didn’t want to be.

  I loved my husband, but at that moment I couldn’t get away fast enough. I was suffocating from the thick air of resentment. I smiled dutifully and nodded. “Of course, I promise I’ll take them everywhere I go.”

  He gave a sturdy nod and kissed my lips, but I didn’t kiss him back. I knew he’d feel the disconnection, but I was tired and wanted to go home.

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I smiled. “Just tired.”

  “Get your things and leave today.”

  “When will you come home?”

&nbs
p; “I don’t know. I have a few things to see to first.”

  I nodded and smiled. “Okay.” The truth was I didn’t care when he was coming home, and the faster I could get away the better.

  He pressed his hands to my cheeks. “I love you, Bella, more than anything.” A cold chill ran through my body. Could I believe that he really loved me?

  “I love you too.”

  He ushered me to the door where Dominic waited just outside. “You and Tony take her to her father’s house to retrieve her belongings then to the airport. I do not want her goin’ anywhere without you and Tony. Don’t make me kill you both.”

  I didn’t like the tone he’d taken with him. I understood he was at his wit’s end with me running off, but it wasn’t their fault.

  “Yes, boss.” He gave a curt nod.

  CHAPTER TWO

  —Jax—

  “FUCK!” I yelled as I watched Bella leave the hotel suite. “They’re all gonna die!”

  Casconi shook his head as he walked to the striped chair a few feet from me. “No offense, but I’m glad you got that one.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “Don’t,” I warned as the pulse in my temple throbbed harder and harder. “I know what you did to her.”

  He sighed. “Yeah.” If I didn’t know better I’d say I saw regret. “Moretti, I’m surprised you let her get to you like that. I expected something different. But I’m more curious about Becca’s motives.”

  I loosened my tie, unbuttoned the first few buttons on my shirt, and wondered why I hadn’t killed this asshole yet. “You have no fucking idea.” I nodded.

  “Why would she say she’s Bella’s sister?”

  I locked my fingers together trying not to gut him, knowing what he did to Bella. “Why do you ask so many fucking questions?” I pushed my chest out. “Where has she been all this time? Did you know she was alive?”

  Casconi shook his head. “I didn’t know. I thought she was dead too.”

  I reached into my pocket retrieving my cell.

  “Wyatt?”

  “Yeah, boss?”

  “Deliver the package to the Sagatori estate.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Sam chuckled as he pulled a cigar from his suit jacket. “I like your style, Moretti.” He lit the cigar.

  I turned to him.

  “You know she’s a fighter.” He puffed on the expensive tobacco.

  “Which one?” I blew out a breath.

  He laughed again. “The woman who has you so fucked up that even you don’t know your next move.”

  I bobbed my head and sucked in a breath. “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Eh, it’s not such a bad thing, she’s got good genes, and she’s strong.”

  “Casconi, I’m gonna come to you with a favor at some point, and because I let you live after what we both know you did to Bella, I expect you to be ready to do what the fuck ever I need done.”

  He held the cigar away from himself as he watched it burn. “This favor for you or her?”

  I dropped my eyes to my shiny shoes. “Her.” I stood. “It’s only ever been about her.”

  “Then I’ll be there.”

  I turned away as I began my approach to the door and closed my eyes. “I know.”

  “Moretti?” He stopped me. “You gonna tell me what this is about?”

  “If I told you I’d have to kill you.” I stood silent another second then reached for the doorknob. “Like I said… I’m gonna need a favor. Won’t do me much good if you’re dead.”

  “Yeah, I figured you’d say somethin’ like that.”

  “Then why the fuck did you ask?” I stepped into the hall hearing the heavy door click shut behind me. When I was alone I released a growl of pain that had been sitting in my chest. I was gonna lose her. One way or another, shit was gonna get all fucked up.

  The cleanup crew would be at the hotel to get rid of any evidence left behind, but there would be no forgetting what I’d done to Bella. I’d seen the way she looked at me, and I knew I’d lost her in ways I’d never get back. I did what I had to do for her safety. She could hate me if that was what she needed, but I would always love her.

  Once inside the car, I unlocked my phone and dialed a series of numbers.

  “Yeah?” the elusive voice answered.

  “It’s time, old friend.”

  The phone went silent, as he was already prepared for my call.

  I shifted into drive and peeled out of the hotel parking lot toward the Sagatori estate.

  Dominic sent a text that they were on their way to the airport when I was a mile from the house.

  The gates opened. “I’m expecting a guest, you’ll offer your respect.”

  Benny, one of my guys from Detroit, nodded. “Sir, of course.”

  I rolled the window up and continued toward the house.

  Albert waited inside the garage, acknowledging me as I stepped out of the car. “Boss ”

  “Are the others downstairs?”

  “Yes, sir, everything’s as you’ve requested.”

  “Good.” I entered the house and headed toward Mr. Sagatori’s office. The old-world style smelled of his power. His determination to be respected had made him a success. He was ruthless in every way that mattered. Unlike me, he didn’t take prisoners; he executed them.

  I opened the cabinet door against the wall five feet from his desk. Once the door opened, I saw it; the envelope that I’d kept secret all this time. The answers I knew existed, the promises I’d made, and my life I’d swore to sacrifice were inside the letter I had slipped from the cream envelope.

  Jax,

  As you know I’m dying and can no longer protect my precious Isabella. I leave you everything: my legacy, money, power, territories; you can have it all if you’ll protect her with your life. I’ve arranged several offshore accounts to ensure she has everything she’ll ever need. But let me be clear, if she discovers the secrets I’ve kept from her all this time, she will be destroyed, and I cannot allow that to happen. The day will come when you must make a decision; this may be the hardest of them all, but you must make it—for her. You will be well compensated for your trouble. Never forget, Jax, Isabella must never learn that she is in fact, Nadia Mikhailov, the Russian devil’s daughter. Protect her with your life, Jax, just as I have.

  AS—

  I reached into the drawer retrieving the Zippo lighter. The ember flame danced wickedly along the edges of my betrayal, and I kicked the metal trashcan away from the wall before dropping the letter now ablaze inside.

  I kept the lighter in my hand, opening and closing the lid as I walked toward the cellar door. I descended the stairs, reached the landing, and turned right walking past the hundreds of bottles of wine. I turned left and opened the large metal door that held Rebecca.

  “Boss.” Another loyal soldier nodded, offering respect while he stood outside the door.

  I pushed against the heaviness of the door opening it. “There you are.” I smiled, remaining silent while I flicked the lighter’s top in between my fingers.

  “You come to make good?” she snapped.

  Bella had no idea who she’d almost let inside her head, but I knew. “Nah, I want to know what you want with her though.”

  “Anthony Sagatori was my father. Jax, you know that. He was sleeping with my mother, and she deserves to know what kind of man he really was.”

  “First of all, you have no proof.”

  “Please, it wouldn’t be hard to prove.”

  “But you said you worked for her father, what was that?”

  “I wanted to fuck with her head. Honestly, Jax, I didn’t mean any harm, I swear.” I crossed the cold room to where she sat. Fear swam in her eyes as she fought the restraints that tied her to the chair.

  I sucked in a breath. “See, here’s the deal, Becca. I don’t believe a word you say. You know what I think?”

  “What, Jax?”

  “I think you’re workin’ for someone. Someone who wa
nts to destroy her family.”

  Her body shook from terror. “No!”

  “I think you’ve been workin’ on this for a while. Why not? After all, you knew I was gonna kill you; that left nothin’ to lose.”

  She shook her head fighting harder against the zip ties that held her in place. “No, Jax, no!”

  A knock pounded on the door, and her eyes widened as Victor entered quietly holding a large black bag in his arms.

  “What are you gonna do, Jax?” Her eyes jumped between the two of us.

  “Me? I’m not gonna do anything.”

  “But…” She swallowed hard.

  I took a long glance and walked out closing the door behind me. “Let me know when it’s finished,” I said to the soldier in the hall.

  “Yes, boss.”

  The screaming echoed as I ascended the stairs.

  I suspected for some time that Rebecca had been alive. I saw her everywhere chopping it up as guilt, guilt for what I’d really done or, rather, what I’d had done to her. But there she was, alive and well. If there was any information in that head of hers, Victor would find it; he always did.

  —Bella—

  I leaned my head on Tony’s shoulder letting my eyes rest for a few minutes before the plane landed.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” I whispered so that the two new guys on board couldn’t hear me. They had no ties to me and therefore, no loyalty. Their loyalties would only be with Jax.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Would you tell me if you did?”

  He stilled. “No.”

  I closed my eyes tight. “I know.” Tony and I were close our entire lives, but he was bound by blood and an honor I wasn’t part of.

  “I’m sorry, Bella.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know, Tony. It’s okay. I understand there’s a code and all that.”

  “Yeah,” he answered gruffly.

  “He was so different today. I-I’ve never seen him like that.”

  “I know.” He leaned his head to mine. “Just remember, he’s got a lot goin’ on right now, responsibility you know nothin’ about.”

  “How am I supposed to remember that? I’m kept in the dark. I have no clue what he’s got going on.”