Bella: The Begining (Sagatori Family Saga #1)

by Kimberly Soto

  We were two streets away from the restaurant her car was traced at, and I grew more unhinged with every moment I didn’t know if she was safe. My face heated with fury waiting for the last one hundred feet to pass. I didn’t even consider waiting for Wyatt to open my door like I usually would have, instead, I jumped out. The dark wooden door of the restaurant opened quickly with a couple exiting. I moved to the side letting them pass; it was the mayor and his arm candy, who was a well-connected call girl. He didn’t speak to me, and of course, I didn’t waste my time with him as I turned my head entering in after him.

  The hostess greeted me as soon as my feet crossed the threshold. “Welcome, how many will be in your party this morning?”

  “I’m looking for my wife, Bella Moretti.”

  “Oh, is she dining with a party?”

  “Alone.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, there isn’t a single—woman dining with us at the moment.”

  “You mind if I take a look around?”

  “Umm.” she watched me hesitant.

  “It’s alright, Amber. I promise I’ll be quick.” I said after glancing at her name tag.

  “Oh— Okay, sure I suppose that will be fine, but there isn’t anyone here matching that description.”

  “Thank you, I’ll be quick.” I entered the dining area seeing only a few groups of people, mostly businessmen and a few couples but no Bella. Her car sat out front, but she wasn’t here. This was the only place I could think of that she’d be.

  I ignored the hostess and left through the front door. I stepped out underneath the awning letting my eyes roam the street; it was busy at eleven am. Her Jag was four cars down on the opposite side of the street, windows up.

  “Boss?”

  “Not in there.”

  “Her car is locked. I got in it and didn’t see anythin’, there’s not even a receipt.”

  The sun beat down as the day began to warm up. I opened the car door and reached in for my sunglasses and slipped them on, then reached into my pocket for my phone, dialing Bella again.

  “Where are you?” I growled into the phone.

  “You think someone could’ve taken her?”

  “Yeah, I’m beginning to.” I reached back into my pocket for my phone. I had Sal workin’ on somethin’ but this shit took priority over that any fucking day. “Hey,” I said.

  “Boss, is that Bella?” Wyatt asked while he pointed to my left on the other side of the road.

  “Yeah.” Bella was walking outside with a man holding onto her. “Come on!” I stepped toward her, halting the suburban that came at me, and ran across the street. A man held her arms and her face looked pale. I reached into my jacket, pulled my gun out, and pointed it at his fucking head. Wyatt grabbed him by his arms, pulling him away from Bella. I slipped my gun back into my jacket and punched him in the jaw. Blood slung from his mouth as his head flew back from the impact.

  “Jax! What the hell are you doing?”

  “Baby, are you okay?” I held her shoulders.

  “No, I’m not! This nice man was trying to get me to my car.”

  “Boss.” Wyatt held the guy’s wallet in one hand while trying to hold him up with the other. “Russian.”

  I snagged the wallet from his hand and glowered at the fucking idiot he held onto. If he was Russian, he was a dead man. “Gusev, that’s definitely Russian.”

  “What do you want me to do, Boss?”

  “What is this place, Bella? What the hell have you been doing?” She watched me with disdain, but I didn’t give a fuck. She had no business comin’ out here alone.

  “Boss?”

  I rubbed my chin. “Take care of him, I’ll drive Bella home.” I turned my attention back, reached for her arm, and slipped her into the passenger seat of the Jag. Once I was seated inside, I watched as Wyatt walked the Russian to the car. “Do you know what was about to happen to you?”

  She huffed and turned toward her window. “What the hell do you care, Jax?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Turning to me with hatred in her eyes she said, “I’m sorry, were you not there in the bedroom when you yelled at me? That’s right, I must’ve imagined it all. I want you to know that I can’t live my life like that.” She took in a deep breath.

  “Like what? You have everythin’ that you want. Must be a difficult life, Bella.”

  “Sarcasm will get you nowhere, Jax.”

  “You’re being very difficult, what do you expect?”

  Her sharp tone surprised me. “Difficult? Fuck you!”

  “That dirty mouth will get you nowhere with me, Bella.”

  “Hmm.” She turned her attention to the window again. “Was that guy really a Russian?” I could see her eyes fall.

  “Yeah—” In this life you could take no chances, if there was a chance he was Russian then we called him a Russian until we knew different.

  “How do you know he’s with the Bratva?”

  “I don’t, but Wyatt will deal with that shit. What were you doing here?”

  “I was looking at maternity clothes.” Her hands pressed against her swollen belly.

  “What the fuck was this guy doing here?” I ducked down seeing the mannequin in the front window displaying a pregnant woman. “What’s a guy doing at a fuckin’ maternity store? Alone, I mean.”

  “I— I don’t know. I started feeling really sick and dizzy. When I went looking for the sales girl, I couldn’t find her. That’s when he approached asking if he could help—” she shrugged “— I asked if he could get me to the car not thinking anything of it.”

  “Are you kidding me? I get that you didn’t feel good, but fuck, Bella, have you forgotten who you are and what we’re up against?”

  “No, Jax, I don’t know what we’re up against because you don’t tell me anything.”

  “’Cause it’s none of your fuckin’ business.” Anger raged inside of me. She fought me on everythin’. I pulled onto the street, fighting to get out of the traffic.

  A few minutes passed before she spoke again, “It is my business. I’m not some dumb wife, Jax. I can hold my own pretty damn well, actually. I’m not a porcelain doll. I think I took care of things pretty well when you were in the hospital.” She slipped her aviator sunglasses on.

  “You almost got yourself killed—is what you did.”

  “Please, if a woman ran things it would all be different.”

  “Different?” I laughed. “Did you or did you not bump someone off?” I eyed her as we sat in traffic.

  She shrugged. “That’s different, that asshole was in on my kidnapping.” She huffed.

  “Baby, you’re right. It is different ‘cause I would’ve cut his fucking balls off and watched him eat ‘em.” I fumed with anger that they hadn’t paid more for what they’d done.

  She laid her hand on mine, “Oh trust me, they’ll all get what’s coming to them in due time.” She assured.

  “What makes you so sure?”

  She shrugged. “Bad guys always lose.”

  “We are the bad guys, Bella.”

  We continued driving until we reached the penthouse. There was no more conversation the rest of the way home, and when we arrived Bella rode up in the elevator without a word. The silence was killin’ me.

  “I don’t want you leaving this house without two guards.” I held up two fingers making sure she understood my statement was final.

  She continued with the silent treatment and walked past me when the elevator doors opened.

  “Bella,” Tony hissed when we walked inside.

  Bella ignored him and headed up the stairs to our room.

  Tony, Dominic, and Sal stood in the entryway watching as she disappeared up the stairs. I slipped off my jacket ready to fire all of ‘em. “If she ever—” I loosened my tie. “— leaves this house,” I pulled my gun from its holster, “— alone,” I cocked the gun, “—again,” I aimed it toward Dominic, “— I’ll kill each one of you, one by one.” I released the gun, “—
Have I made myself clear?” They each nodded. “Good, I’m glad we understand one another. “ ‘cause when I got to her some Russian fuck was escorting her outside of a baby store.”

  “Who was it? Anyone we know?” Sal asked.

  I shook my head, “I’ve never seen him before, but Wyatt is taking care of it. Go give him a hand, will ya?” I said with annoyance before he quickly nodded and disappeared out the door. “As for you two worthless fucks, Bella loves you, so I won't cut your dicks off just yet, but let me assure you I won’t hesitate next time.” I disappeared into my office.

  Now that Bella was safe there was another matter, a ghost I needed to see about.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  —Bella—

  Two weeks later…

  I wrapped my arms around my chest as I watched out the window of the bedroom suite. My emotions had been all over the place. I would deliver our baby in a few short months and yet my parents wouldn’t be here to see Ennio. They wouldn’t get to hold him or see him grow. I also wanted them there for me. I was an adult and didn’t need my parents to coddle me, but I wanted them to. I missed my father’s protectiveness and my mother’s softness. Jax filled a great deal of my emptiness, but there would always be a place in my heart for them.

  Ennio kicked my tummy as I smoothed my hand in a repetitious circle replacing the sadness in my chest with a smile. “Mommy can’t wait to see you.” I released a relaxed breath.

  Jax had been gone for only two hours for New York and yet it felt as if he’d already been gone a week. The more he traveled, the more restless I became. Expecting a call from him every few hours wasn’t rational, but I hadn’t been rational since his attempted murder. I worried every second that something horrible was coming. The Bratva had made it clear they’d kill anyone Jax cared about, and that caused me to become a prisoner inside of my own home. Normally I would’ve left and demanded that I’d do what the hell I wanted, but I had Ennio to think about now.

  Today, however, I needed to meet with Megan Busto concerning the cancer gala. She said she wanted me to be apart of the next event, but since I was trapped in the penthouse until further notice and Ennio was expected to arrive so close to the gala’s date, I volunteered to do the simple tasks, things that wouldn’t mean I’d have to leave the penthouse. Megan said she’d be bringing someone new on board to help as well. I felt a bit guilty that I wouldn’t be able to help to the extent that I’d wanted to, but it was simply out of my hands and left me with very few options at that point.

  She and her friend were due to arrive any time for lunch. I was required to make excuse after excuse as to why I needed to stay home and why we’d need to meet here. This likely caused suspicion being as my name was Moretti and Jax had been a local on the news the last few weeks, but I was proud to be his wife. My reasoning was that I was on strict orders from my doctor to stay home. It seemed to be an effective excuse and was not questioned like I feared it would be.

  “Isabella?” I heard Alessandra call on the intercom.

  “Yes?”

  “Lunch is prepared and your guests are due any moment.”

  “Thank you,” I sighed into the wall beside me.

  I slipped on my flats I’d chosen because of the swollen feet I’d had the last few days, and left the room heading for the stairs. Tony stood on the last stair, leaning on the wall with a phone to his ear.

  I flashed a raised eyebrow his way as I passed and stepped down onto the floor and felt as he follow close behind. “Was that Jax?” I asked without looking behind me.

  “No,” he answered.

  Once we were at the entrance of the kitchen I saw Dominic seated at the table. I’d decided I didn’t want them hovering over me while the ladies were here. I didn’t need the stares or questions.

  “I’m glad you’re both here,” I began.

  “Of course, you are.” Dominic scrunched his brows together with a cocky grin.

  “Yeah, yeah, I have a few ladies arriving any minute, and I’d really like for them not to see that I have two guards following me around like puppy dogs.”

  “I’m seriously offended.” Dominic feigned offense holding his hand to his chest. “Puppies?” He looked at Tony. “I’m clearly a Rottweiler,” he laughed.

  “You want us to leave or somethin’?” Tony asked. “Cause we can’t leave,” he said with certainty.

  I shook my head. “No, of course not. I was just thinking you could hang out in Jax’s office for an hour or so?”

  “Leave the poor girl to be alone with her friends,” Alessandra interjected.

  The two shrugged.

  “Yeah, that’s cool we can do that,” Tony agreed after Alessandra handed him a plate of her delicious Cannoli. “An hour?” His eyes watched the plate with hunger.

  “Yes,” I laughed.

  The doorbell rang, and Dominic opened the cabinet to check the security monitor.

  “I asked that they were sent up.”

  Tony’s eyes glared down at me. “Bella, don’t do that again.”

  “It’s fine.” I waved a hand at him.

  He tugged on my arm as I crossed the threshold from the kitchen on my way to answer the door. “It’s not fine! You have no idea what’s going on right now, what kind of danger you’re not only putting yourself in, but Alessandra! And all you continue to do is make one stupid mistake after the other like a child.”

  My eyes slid to Alessandra who stood behind the counter with a towel clutched in her tiny hands. I tucked my head down shamelessly as what he said sank in.

  Tony released my arm and sighed, “Look, I get that you want a life and friends and all that other shit chicks—” he cleared his throat, “—ladies, what ladies want, but you’re not negotiatin’ your safety and that, you need to get.”

  I couldn’t see my face or the expression I held on my ice-cold cheeks, but I imagined my eyes were wide and my mouth gaped open.

  “Look, Bella, you need to be more responsible right now. For all we know the Bratva could be on the other side of that door. We know they want to hurt Jax and his family, and what better way to do that than hurting his unborn son? Don’t you remember what they’ve already done and tried to do since then? You can't possibly be this naive.”

  I hadn’t realized the velocity of this situation until then. I hadn’t realized that at any moment even in my own home my son could be harmed because of who his father was. Why hadn’t that really stuck with me? Maybe I was acting like a child. The doorbell rang again just as I sank into the chair at the table.

  “I’ll get it,” Tony spoke.

  “Isabella, this life—” Alessandra pressed her hand along my cheek, “—it’s tough, but you’re the toughest girl I know.”

  I could’ve put her in harm’s way and yet she still believed in me. “I’m sorry.”

  She smiled softly, “Ah, we’ll have none of that.”

  Dominic watched me from the other side of the table, and I could see he felt bad for what had been said, but in all honesty, it wasn’t what was said that upset me; it was what could’ve happened. Tony was right, after all; I hadn’t been thinking clearly, and I needed to make sure that I didn’t put my family at risk again.

  I stood, rubbed my belly, and nodded to Dominic and then Alessandra before leaving the kitchen to see about my guests.

  “Tony, thank you.” This thank you was about more than helping my guests inside; it was about being the voice of reason when my other half couldn’t be here to keep me focused. The only things that mattered in my life were my husband and those that waited for me in the kitchen, and of course, my baby boy tucked safely inside of my belly. I was as stubborn as they came and needed a good kick in the ass every once in a while, especially when it came to keeping my family safe.

  Tony didn’t smile or try to apologize. I knew he wouldn’t, and I didn’t need him too. He walked past me with only a glare.

  I swept my hands over my cheeks, and pulled a smile from nowhere and a deep breath from the
bottom of the hole I just climb out of to greet my guests. Meghan stood staring at the photographs of Jax and me while another woman stood next to her, her back to me. Long blonde hair tucked to the side, long legs, and pristine attire in the form of a Christian Dior dress.

  “Hello, ladies, welcome to my home.”

  Meghan quickly turned to greet me while ushering her friend to turn around as well.

  “It’s been too long.” Meghan reached in for a hug. “This is Sarah Radcliff, she’s recently moved here as well and is eager to get involved.” Sarah smiled, her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulder.

  “This is a beautiful home, Bella.”

  “Thank you so much.” I smiled.

  “Bella is due to have a baby in a few months so her physician has ordered her to stay home. She’ll be helping out with tasks she can complete here.”

  Sarah and Meghan smiled.

  “Shall we begin with lunch?” I offered my hand toward the dining room.

  Once we were seated at the table, the two women looked around, investigating each piece of artwork that held a spot on the walls. Mesmerized as I had once been.

  “Are these originals?” Sarah asked.

  “Some, so what’s on the agenda?” I asked as Tony entered with a bottle of wine for our guests. I eyed him curiously wondering where Alessandra was, but of course, he didn’t seem to notice. After pouring a glass of water for me, he disappeared from the dining room.

  Meghan began telling of her plans for this year’s gala theme, which would be Moroccan.

  “You and your husband must be very excited about the baby,” Sarah sipped on her wine. She hadn’t touched her lunch and with the figure of a nail, I imagined she didn’t eat much of anything… ever.

  “Oh yes, he’s definitely going to be spoiled rotten,” I giggled.

  “Babies tend to have that effect, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they certainly do. Do you have children, Sarah?” I asked seeing that she wore a wedding ring large enough to float her across the Chicago River.

  “No, I’m afraid I lost my child early on in my pregnancy a year ago.”

  My heart sank for her, as I was simply unable to imagine how devastated she must’ve been and how difficult— I was certain— it was seeing another pregnant woman. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” I breathed.