Chapter 2 - The Man Who Had Been Watching
Alessandro recovered first.
Marcus did not.
That alone told Isabella something.
Marcus Vain had spent years cultivating the appearance of a man who feared nothing. He enjoyed being the person who made other people uncomfortable. He liked forcing hesitation into conversations.
But when Isabella opened the parlor door and demanded the truth, Marcus looked toward Alessandro before answering.
Like a man checking whether he was permitted to speak.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
“What don’t I know?” Isabella repeated.
Marcus gave a thin smile.
“This isn’t the place.”
“You lost the right to decide that when you put your hands on me.”
“Isabella—”
“Don’t.”
One word.
Marcus stopped.
Alessandro watched her silently.
That irritated her too.
“You,” she said, turning toward him. “What have you been watching?”
“Your company.”
“My company?”
“And Marcus.”
Marcus swore under his breath.
Isabella folded her arms.
“Why?”
Alessandro glanced toward the ballroom.
“Because someone has been buying debt connected to Marquez Development through shell companies.”
Her pulse changed.
She did not show it.
“How much?”
“Enough to matter.”
“How long have you known?”
“Six weeks.”
Anger flashed through her.
“And you thought I didn’t deserve to know?”
“I was confirming it.”
“It’s my company.”
“I know.”
“Then you call me.”
“I didn’t have evidence yet.”
“You could have warned me.”
“And what would you have done?”
She stepped closer.
“What I have done every day of my adult life. Handle my own business.”
Something almost resembling approval moved through his expression.
“I expected that answer.”
“Then why didn’t you trust me with the information?”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“Because the last time I involved you in something connected to my family, you were sixteen.”
Isabella’s heart slammed once against her ribs.
Marcus looked between them.
“I’m leaving.”
“No,” Isabella said.
Marcus stopped.
“You stay.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Excuse me?”
“You grabbed me. You threatened me. And apparently you’re connected to somebody quietly buying debt linked to my company. You’re going to stand there until I understand why.”
Marcus’s pleasant mask disappeared.
“You have no idea what you’re accusing me of.”
“I didn’t accuse you.”
“You implied—”
“I asked.”
Marcus looked at Alessandro.
“You see what you’re doing?”
Alessandro’s voice remained even.
“I’m standing.”
“This woman thinks she’s untouchable because you walked her through a hallway.”
Isabella laughed once.
Marcus stared.
“That,” she said, “is exactly your problem.”
“What is?”
“You still think my power comes from whichever man is standing beside me.”
She stepped toward him.
“I built a company worth four hundred million dollars without Alessandro Vieri.”
Marcus’s mouth hardened.
“And you can lose it without him.”
There it was.
A threat.
Clear enough that even Marcus seemed to realize he had said too much.
Isabella tilted her head.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For confirming I should audit every financial relationship you’ve touched.”
Marcus’s face changed.
Barely.
But Alessandro saw it.
So did Isabella.
Marcus buttoned his jacket.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Then I’ll make it with excellent attorneys.”
He walked away.
Isabella watched until he disappeared into the ballroom.
Then she turned toward Alessandro.
“Now we talk.”
He glanced at her repaired gown.
“You should go home.”
“You don’t get to tell me what I should do.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
A corner of his mouth almost moved.
Almost.
Isabella hated that she remembered his face at twenty.
She hated that some pieces of a person survived inside you even after you buried them.
“I have a daughter waiting upstairs,” she said.
That got his attention.
The smallest pause.
A question he did not ask.
The event occupied three floors of the Vain estate. Isabella had arrived early because her four-year-old daughter, Sofia, had refused to stay home with the nanny once she saw her mother’s dress.
Sofia had spent the evening upstairs in a private family room with Isabella’s assistant Elena and their golden retriever, Sunny.
Isabella noticed Alessandro processing the information.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“Why would you?”
Something unreadable crossed his eyes.
“Who is her father?”
Her shoulders stiffened.
“That’s not your business.”
“Understood.”
Again, no argument.
It should have made things easier.
It did not.
They walked toward the private staircase.
Alessandro remained beside her.
“I don’t need you to follow me.”
“I’m going to the same floor.”
“Of course you are.”
“Isabella.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“If Marcus is involved in the debt purchases, he won’t stop because you embarrassed him.”
“I didn’t embarrass him.”
“You stood up to him publicly. To Marcus, that is the same thing.”
“You sound like you know him well.”
“I know his type.”
“So do I.”
Alessandro studied the marks around her wrist.
His eyes darkened.
Isabella immediately pulled her sleeve—though the gown barely had one—over nothing.
“You don’t get to be angry for me.”
“I’m not.”
“That face says otherwise.”
“This is my normal face.”
She almost laughed.
Almost.
That annoyed her even more.
They reached the second floor.
A door opened.
“MOMMY!”
Sofia came running.
Her white dress bounced around her knees.
Behind her came Sunny, tail wagging with enough enthusiasm to knock over furniture.
Isabella immediately crouched, forgetting the gown.
Sofia wrapped both arms around her neck.
“You were gone forever.”
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
“That’s forever.”
“For four-year-olds, maybe.”
Sofia pulled back.
Then she noticed Alessandro.
Children did not understand reputations.
They did not know which men made boardrooms silent.
They simply looked.
Sofia looked at him.
Alessandro looked back.
“You’re very tall,” she announced.
Isabella closed her eyes.
Alessandro said solemnly, “I’ve been told.”
“Are you Mommy’s friend?”
“No,” Isabella said.
At exactly the same time Alessandro replied, “I used to be.”
They looked at each other.
Sofia’s eyes widened.
“That means you had a fight.”
Elena coughed to hide a laugh.
Isabella stood.
“Get your coat, sweetheart.”
Sofia continued staring at Alessandro.
“Did you make Mommy sad?”
The question hit harder than it should have.
Alessandro did not smile.
“Yes.”
Isabella stared at him.
Sofia considered this.
“Did you say sorry?”
“No.”
“Then you should.”
“Sofia.”
“What?”
Alessandro lowered himself slightly so he was closer to her height.
“You’re right.”
Sofia nodded, satisfied.
“I know.”
Sunny sniffed Alessandro’s expensive shoes.
Then leaned against his leg.
Traitor.
Isabella took Sofia’s hand.
“We’re leaving.”
“I’ll have my driver take you,” Alessandro said.
“No.”
“Marcus knows your car.”
“So?”
“So I’d rather he not know where you go next.”
Isabella froze.
“What does that mean?”
Alessandro looked toward Elena and Sofia.
“Not here.”
Fear arrived cold and clean.
Not panic.
Isabella did not panic.
She calculated.
“Has someone followed me?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“At least four.”
“When?”
“In the past two weeks.”
She looked at Sofia.
Her daughter was petting Sunny, unaware.
Isabella’s anger sharpened into something different.
Something maternal.
Something Marcus Vain should have prayed never to awaken.
“You’re taking me somewhere private,” she said.
Alessandro nodded.
“And then you’re telling me everything.”
“Yes.”
“No disappearing.”
“No.”
“No half-truths.”
He hesitated.
That was enough.
“Alessandro.”
His gaze met hers.
“I will tell you what I can.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It’s the only honest one.”
She hated him for that honesty.
She also trusted it more than a comfortable lie.
Ten minutes later, they stepped outside.
Warm night air moved through the garden.
A black sedan waited near the stone driveway.
Sofia held Isabella’s hand.
Sunny walked beside them.
Alessandro opened the rear passenger door.
Isabella stopped.
A strange memory moved through her.
A teenage girl sliding folded pages beneath a bedroom door.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Receiving silence.
Thirteen years of distance.
Twenty years of unanswered questions.
Now Alessandro stood holding a car door for her while danger gathered around a company she had built and a daughter she would burn the world down to protect.
Isabella looked at him.
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
“No.”
“It’s secure.”
“Still no.”
“Your place isn’t.”
She stared.
“What?”
“The men who followed you photographed your building yesterday.”
Everything inside Isabella went still.
Alessandro leaned closer, voice quiet.
“Whatever Marcus started, Isabella, he’s no longer only coming after your company.”
She looked at Sofia.
And suddenly every old wound between her and Alessandro became secondary.
Because this was no longer about a teenage letter.
It was about her child.
Isabella got into the car.
But as Alessandro closed the door, Sofia pressed her face toward the window and pointed toward the trees.
“Mommy?”
“What?”
“That man has been watching us.”
Isabella turned.
May you like
A figure stood beyond the garden gate.
The moment Alessandro looked, the man ran.
