LOGINIsabella turned around at the sound of her phone ringing. She could feel it being handed to her, but she didn't care; it had to be Delaney. She picked the call immediately.
“Hello,” she said sleepily, her eyes still closed. “Sister, did you remember the textbook I told you about last week? Today is the last day for submission. I have to pay today.” Jason’s voice jolted her from her sleep, and she jerked up only to see she was in a strange room. She turned and screamed, her phone dropping from her hand when she saw a man in bed with her, just staring at her. “Sister, sister, are you okay?” Jason asked, bringing her back to reality. She took the phone, her eyes still locked on the stranger. “I'll call you later, Jason,” she said and hung up on her brother while trying to get off the bed. “Good morning,” the man in her bed said. She turned to him, her eyes roving over him while her head throbbed from the night before. He was a very handsome man with ash-grey hair and grey eyes, and he looked rich, so what was he doing staying in bed with her? “Did we…?” “Yes, we did,” he interrupted her, and she blinked, gulping. “Last night was a mistake,” she started, but stopped at his chuckle. “Was it?” She wasn't sure if he was teasing her before he had a stern look on. He turned and picked some bundles of dollars from the shelf beside the bed and slammed them on the duvet right beside her. “For your brother…” “Oh my goodness!” She jumped up from the bed and pulled the duvet with her to hide her nakedness. “You… you think I am a sex agent?” He stood staring at her as though he couldn't understand her language.She got infuriated, picked her dress, and dashed into the bathroom. Three minutes later, she came back fully dressed. He was still sitting on the bed and staring at her with an unreadable face. “Last night was just a coincidence, and forget it ever happened,” she said while heading to the door. “Your phone,” he called. She dashed back to the bed to pick up her phone. “You can take the money for the sake of your brother,” he said as she got closer to the bed. “I'll pass,” she said, turned, and hurried out of the hotel while calling Delaney. “Hello, Isa.” “Delan, where are you?” *** Isabella collapsed on the couch in Delaney's house while Delaney laughed, locking the door. “So you mean he offered you money?” Delaney asked again. “I said that,” she said, massaging her temple again. It was a habit for her. “And where is it?” Delaney asked after laughing. Isabella shot her eyes at her. “What? You expected me to collect it?” “So you didn't?” Delaney gasped, sitting beside her. “That aside, how was it?” she asked, smiling. Isa turned to her while feigning a disgusted look. “How was what?” she asked, acting oblivious, but Delaney was grinning mischievously. “That man was hot… I was coming to get you, but then I saw you with that gorgeous god,” Delaney giggled. “How can…” “Delaney, please,” Isa said. She was trying not to remember the steamy night they had, how light she felt earlier in that moment, his face etched in her head. She just wanted to believe that he was just another man who frequented sex agents. She had nothing with him; he was just a one-night stand, and it should end there. Isa remembered her conversation with her brother and turned to Delaney. “Can I get some money from you? I know I..” “How much?” Delaney interrupted her. “Fifty dollars,” Isa replied, and Delan smiled, picking up her phone. “Your account?” “No, Jason's,” she said before turning to her. “How did you end things with your newbie?” Newbies were the names Delaney had given to her different guys. “I dumped him right in the party. Isa, I saw some man..very masculine, dripping creamy chocolate, and handsome,” Delaney said emphasizing every word, and Isa smiled. “Another new man,” she said, but Delan shrugged. “I approached him, but he was being stiff. I love when a man plays it hard,” she giggled like a teenage schoolgirl. “I will get him, and I will do everything to get him. I mean, who does he think he is to be acting all modest with me?” Delan asked, and Isabella laughed. Delaney Walker was a bold and outspoken lady. She went for whatever she wanted and would never relent. But a man denying Delaney's charm was rare. She was 5’7 ft tall with creamy brown hair and captivating blue eyes. She modeled for some brands, and she knew just how pretty she was. Several times, Delaney had tried linking her up with some men, but Isabella was focused. She wanted her life to. Be stable first before thinking of relationships. Right now everything around her felt like it was falling apart, and the last thing she needed was a man complicating things further. Delaney sent the money to Jason and tossed her phone on the couch. “Done” she announced triumphantly and Isa let out a relieved breath. “Thank you Delan, once I get a job, you are entitled to all of my salary” she said and Delan laughed. “On the talk of salary…” Delaney started, and turned serious “ I talked to one of my father's old associates and he said he'll look into it for me as long as I don't mind any job” she said and Isa gasped. “ Are you serious, Since when?” Isa asked surprised and bewildered. “ Last night, when I got back” Delaney said and Isa poured before hugging her. “ Thank you so much” she said “Anything for you my baby girl” #### Kevin Zacchaeous sat on a recycling chair at the rooftop watching the night view of Los Angeles with his hemp between his fingers. A tray of fruits and a glass of whiskey were on the table beside him . His bodyguards stood stationed and silent around him as he puffed out into the dark. The door opened behind him and the guards walked to stand beside him. “Boss…” “ What is her name?” Kevin interrupted and he stood straight . “ Her name is Isabella.” “ Full name” Kevin said and took another draw at his hemp. “ Sir, I don't…” “ Where does she stay?” Kevin interjected again and the guard inhaled deeply. “ Her boss… nobody knows anything about her aside her name” he said and Kevin took a minute . “Stanley “ “Yes sir” the guard named Stanley replied “Do you want to die already?” Kevin asked, his voice remaining calm. “N…no Sirr” Stanley stuttered. “ Then get your bloody self out of my presence and don't return until you have every information on her. Kill who you have to but don't return or I'll have to kill you” Kevin said “Yes Sir”Stanley said, turned and left the rooftop. Kevin scoffed, why was it so hard to find her? He had come to Los Angeles on a mission to find his father’s enemies children and retrieve a material that belonged to them and on first day she, a mysterious young pretty lady had bumped into him at a restaurant. Maybe it was her bright brown eyes or her boldness that had keep resurfacing in his mind. Overtime with no sign of she getting out of his mind anytime soon,he wanted to see her again and he doesn't care whose life it will cost.The phone buzzed in Isabella’s hand. The noise cutting through the quiet of Victor’s study. His back was to her. Shoulders broad and still as he stared out the window, lost in thought. She answered before the second ring.“Mama?” Her voice sounded strained. Fear prickled at the back of her neck.“Isabella.” Her mother’s voice was tight. Thin. Like a wire pulled too tight. Not her usual calm tone. This was fear. The kind Isabella hadn’t heard in years. Not since the funeral.“What’s wrong?” Isabella pressed. Her heart started pounding.“A man came today,” her mother whispered, rushing the words. “To the facility. He said he was from the insurance company. For your employer.”Isabella’s blood ran cold. “What did he want? Did you tell him anything?” Her eyes went to Victor. But he hadn’t moved. He couldn’t hear her from here.“No, no, nothing real. He had papers, Isabella. Looked official. Asked small questions. About your work. Your… marriage.” Her mother paused on the last word. “
Victor admitted it to himself first. The thought was bitter. “It’s possible, isn’t it? The message… it could be from the same person. The one who set up Rome.”Isabella moved to the window. Her back was to him. City lights reflected in the glass. She was thinking. He could almost hear it. She was going over everything she learned since coming back. She was more like Felix than she knew. A planner. A fighter.“How many knew your exact moves that night?” Her voice was low. Careful.Victor paused. He counted in his head. The inner circle. The ones who handled the most secret info. “Four. Me included. My security chief, Vincenzo. My consigliere, Marcello. And Seth.”“Four.” She turned. Her eyes narrowed. “Three others.”“Three others,” he confirmed.“And how many of those three are still… active?” She hesitated on the last word.“Two,” Victor said. The old suspicion weighed on him. “Vincenzo is gone. Died a few years back. Natural causes.”“Leaving Marcello and Seth,” she said, her ga
Isabella felt her phone buzz as she walked away from Victor’s office. His anger still felt close, like heat on her skin. Another unknown message. Her stomach turned. She thought it might be from Cora. Another threat. Another taunt. But when she read it, cold fear ran through her. Worse than anything Cora had sent._Don’t trust the man keeping you safe._ _The same hands that held your father while he died… are the hands now holding you close._Isabella’s breath caught. This wasn’t Cora. This was different. Her blood went cold, then hot. Every part of her wanted to delete it. To pretend she never saw it. But the words were already stuck in her head. She was done being kept in the dark. Done being used.Without thinking, she turned around. The door to his study was still open. Victor sat at his desk again, staring at papers. A half-empty glass sat under the lamp. He looked up, surprised, when she pushed the door open wider.“Isabella?” His voice was calm, but his jaw looked
The words were stuck in Victor’s throat, thick and heavy like old oil. He hated this. He hated the way his stomach twisted, a familiar cold knot forming low in his gut. Protecting Isabella felt like a constant battle against forces he couldn’t always see, and now, calming her was no longer part of that equation. Keeping her calm was the opposite of what he had to do. This was going to break that fragile peace they’d somehow cultivated. But she needed to know. She deserved to know.Victor pulled out his phone, the screen felt hot in his hand, and turned it around without a word. The image filled the small space between them, stark and intrusive. Isabella, standing by the sandwich cart, her dark hair catching the light, a small, unconscious smile on her lips. A moment of normal, weaponized.Her eyes, usually so expressive, widened just a fraction. It was fleeting, a ripple across a perfectly still pond. Then, the stillness settled in, cold and sharp, like winter ice. Victor recognized i
The words were stuck in Victor’s throat, thick and heavy like old oil. He hated this. He hated the way his stomach twisted, a familiar cold knot forming low in his gut. Protecting Isabella felt like a constant battle against forces he couldn’t always see, and now, calming her was no longer part of that equation. Keeping her calm was the opposite of what he had to do. This was going to break that fragile peace they’d somehow cultivated. But she needed to know. She deserved to know.Victor pulled out his phone, the screen felt hot in his hand, and turned it around without a word. The image filled the small space between them, stark and intrusive. Isabella, standing by the sandwich cart, her dark hair catching the light, a small, unconscious smile on her lips. A moment of normal, weaponized.Her eyes, usually so expressive, widened just a fraction. It was fleeting, a ripple across a perfectly still pond. Then, the stillness settled in, cold and sharp, like winter ice. Victor recognized i
The dead line hummed in Victor’s ear, a stark reminder of Cora’s words. Thirty seconds. He held the phone to his ear, listening to nothing, absorbing the silence that now filled the space where her frantic voice had been. Kevin was coming. Kevin knew about the necklace. He had killed someone for it. Victor lowered the receiver slowly, the plastic cool against his palm.“Seth!” he bellowed, his voice rougher than he intended.A moment later, crisp knocks sounded on his door, and then Seth entered, closing it softly behind him. He looked at Victor, a question in his eyes. Seth was good at picking up on shifts in Victor’s mood, always had been. Today, the shift was a seismic event.“Cora called,” Victor began, the words tumbling out, almost tripping over each other. He told him everything. Her terror, the hurried warning, the name: Kevin Moretti. He described the necklace, the specific way she’d spoken about it, connecting it unequivocally to Felix. And then, the chilling detail—the woma
“Read it again,” Victor said, his voice low and rough as he stared at Isabella’s phone like it might change if he looked away for even a second.Isabella did not argue with him and did not tease him for asking because she could see something in his face that scared her more than the message itself,
“Why does Kevin matter to you this much when you barely say his name without your jaw locking like that,” Isabella said, her voice already tired.Victor did not answer immediately.“I asked you a question,” Isabella said again, softer this time, “and I am done pretending I do not notice when your e
“I am going to need you to start from the beginning,” Isabella said as she followed Victor into the study, her voice controlled but tight, like she was holding herself together by force rather than choice.Victor closed the door behind them without rushing, then walked past her toward the window li
IT ALL STARTED IN ROME, 2010He walked among the dead bodies in the park, his eyes searching every single familiar face.“Sir, we need to leave,” Nicholas said as he followed him, but Victor Kade raised a hand to stop him from getting close. He saw his very close friend and squatted next to him, wa







