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ISABELLA

I ’ve had very little time to myself lately.

Not that I've wanted to spend much time alone. Alessandro and I have sought each other out at every opportunity. There’s not a second that goes by that I don't think of what we’ll do next.

More like what he’ll do to me next.

The things I’ve done the past few weeks should shock me. Even a year ago, that version of myself would be appalled at my actions now.

But what did she know about love?

Alessandro fills me with a warmth that I’ve never experienced. It’s closely tied to the thrill and the unsettling fact that I’m in love with a dangerous man, one who I am becoming less and less convinced killed my brother Giorgio.

He has killed others. He’s all but come out and said it on several occasions.

As a result of our affair, my conviction has slipped. I haven’t been doggedly searching the house or trying to ask the right questions to find more clues.

Because I haven’t wanted to face reality.

That I am here under false pretense. Knowing that Alessandro values loyalty above all else.

Maybe I haven’t given him enough credit. Maybe I should just come out and tell him everything, explain myself and hope for the best.

Pacing my room on our last day at the lodge, I check my phone, the date. Three weeks.

Three weeks I’ve been here, and my entire world has changed.

Since Adriano got the power back on, I’ve hesitated to check my messages and emails. A flood of texts and check-ins from friends and my mother fill my inbox, tugging at my heart.

It’s hard to know where to start.

We leave tomorrow. And I’ll go back to Rome.

Empty handed. Empty hearted.

Flipping through my calendar I stop dead in the middle of my room.

“Shit.” The word doesn’t quite capture the sinking feeling I get in my chest.

I’ve always kept careful track of my periods. Mostly because the women in my family tend to have irregular, very painful cycles. It resulted in my nonna and my mother both having surgeries and issues during pregnancy.

“It’s just irregular. Yeah, that’s it…” I mumble to myself, looking through the past few months.

Clockwork.

Mine have been like clockwork. And I should have started several days ago.

Panic coils up around my throat.

A million excuses flash through my mind. “Could be stress. Maybe altitude?” My whispered words are no comfort.

“Or it could be the fact that I’ve been with Alessandro over and over and over again without being even slightly careful!” I groan, slumping onto the corner of the bed.

It never even occurred to me to bring protection on my trip.

Why would I be hooking up with anyone while trying to investigate a mob boss?!

“Stop freaking out. Breathe.” Standing, I wrestle to control my fears.

There’s too much to do to lose my shit right now.

I need to gather my bugs, my cameras. I should be able to collect them all throughout the day and tonight after they go to bed. We leave early, but I’ll manage.

And if I have time, I need to get onto Alessandro’s computer. One of my camera’s caught him punching in his password.

Yes.

I just need a plan, and by tomorrow I’ll be far from here and I can figure out…

“Dammit!” I hiss, running a palm over my lower abdomen.

I can’t focus with this nagging question looming over me.

A quick search of my bathroom leaves me empty handed. But maybe one of the maids has a test. Ava is young, recently married. She hasn’t returned to the lodge yet, even though Carla and Vincenzo came back yesterday.

Sneaking out of my room, I listen carefully, pinpointing the two men’s voices coming from the office. Aless and Adriano have been locked up in there all morning.

“Put Ero on the phone, Ciro—” I make out on my way to the kitchen and the south hallway.

Good. They’re on a call.

Carla is out in the laundry room, letting me slip past the kitchen unseen. The maid’s quarters sit down three steps, a hallway lined with doors.

An empty bedroom, another that looks to belong to Carla and her husband. I almost head into their bathroom, but Carla is older, a grandmother, now. Not likely.

Footsteps thunk above me and I freeze, up on my tiptoes. After a few seconds, I can breathe again and rush to the last door, the only other washroom.

“Come on, come on,” I nearly whimper, digging through the cabinet.

Feminine products. Tampons, pads…

And a pregnancy test.

My hands quiver as I open the box, fumbling the instructions. Autopilot keeps me following the steps, numbness settling on my mind.

Everything will be fine.

Don’t panic.

The awkwardness of lining up the test is overshadowed by my angst. And the wait afterwards, watching the seconds tick off on my phone timer.

I check the door, tapping my foot and regretting doing it down here. I’ll have to dispose of the test in the big kitchen trash on the way upstairs. Hide the evidence, whatever the result.

The last thing I need is Alessandro asking those questions.

Unless …

Turning back to the sink, I slump onto the toilet seat, staring at the twin lines on the panel.

Idiot!

We weren’t careful. I let him do anything he wanted to me. And I loved it.

It was that first night, I’m sure of it. Not that it matters, or that I have any way of knowing.

Cold sweat beads on my forehead, makes me shiver as I sit alone. Dread curdles in my stomach, souring my mouth.

A sound from the kitchen bolts me upright, wrapping the test and stuffing it in the elastic of my skirt at my waist. Skipping down the hall, I make it to the south wing door when Carla pops around the corner. “ Signorina Isabella! Did you need something?”

She’s not suspicious or accusing, but she looks over my shoulder down the hall.

“No, sorry. I just…” An excuse, any excuse, “I needed a pad. I ran out.”

“Don’t trouble yourself next time searching! Just ask and I’m happy to help.” She winks, patting my arm.

The kind gesture nearly breaks me.

Forcing the tears back, I smile, nodding. “Thank you, Carla, you have been so kind.”

“My dear, I only wish I could have spent more time here with you. I trust Signore Alessandro was an adequate host while we were gone?”

“He was.”

“Well, I pray we see you here again soon. He needs a woman like you in his life.” She pulls me into a quick, tight hug. I bite my lip to keep from spilling my guts to her, a sob threatening to burst forth. “This is just farewell, not goodbye.”

“You’re too kind, Carla. Tell Ava it was wonderful meeting her, too. I wish you all the best.”

She’s back to her work with a flourish of her apron.

I slip the test into the waste bin and dash upstairs to my room. Hot tears spill out before I can shut the door and bury my face in my pillow.

Giving myself a few minutes to vent, I eventually pull myself up and wash my face.

“You can cry later. Now, you need to get out of here.”

The snow stopped falling completely last night. Not that the roads will be anything that my rental car could handle…

But I may have to risk it.

I was supposed to follow them down the mountain. They would use the plow to lead the way.

Forcing doubts from my head, I sneak back out of my room, heading straight for the landing. I need to make sure they are occupied before I gather up my gadgets and make a run for it. Listening closely at the door, I flinch as the phone rings again, loudly.

Aless’s angry growl answers.

“Fucking connection. Can you hear me? Good. We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”

Pause.

“We’ll take a more direct route back. I don’t care. I need to be there now, put the elders’ fears to rest.”

Pause.

“Don’t you dare make a move until I get home, Ciro.”

I want to listen more, hear what they're saying, but this could be my only opportunity to gather my things. The camera in the office can wait until they’re asleep tonight.

That’s when I'll log on to his computer, get what I need and go.

Creeping back into the east wing, I quickly check Adriano’s room again, just in case he left anything new lying about.

Nothing of note. He’s careful. Clean.

Which only leaves me the stack of papers that I found before. He hasn’t said anything, so it likely means he hasn’t noticed them missing.

“Where did I leave them…” I scour the other room, checking cautiously under the sheet covered furniture.

There!

I slip them out from under the old fabric and tuck them under my shirt without a second glance.

My heart is pounding as I ease the door back closed behind me and tip toe across the foyer toward my room.

All the while praying to every saint that no one sees me sneaking around.

I wait until I've caught my breath to look the pages over.

Numbers, numbers. Positives, negatives.

Could be payments or debts…

As I scan the list, I do recognize a few names, other known bosses, criminals I’ve heard of. Others I’ve stumbled across in my research of the Diamantes, but they’re all faceless members of a ghostlike organization.

It might mean something to my contact at Interpol, though.

Another name jumps out, a rumor, a legend.

Lysi.

The alleged family of Greek assassins. Mostly, they’ve served as an idle threat, a bedtime story told to kids in the Mediterranean area.

Go to sleep, or the Lysis will carry you away in the night.

That gives the context I needed. These are all payments to members or hired contracts within the organization.

Thumbing through the roster I tally how many times my brother’s name appears. He must have been on their payroll to receive the sums he did.

My brother.

Giorgio.

A corrupt cop. Bile fills my mouth at the thought, a betrayal of everything I knew about him.

The last time I spoke with him, he promised me he had good news. A surprise. Was it this money? A pay out?

Or was he working undercover inside the Diamante family and got caught?

The pressure to get out of here doubles, cementing my resolve. Tonight, I’m gone. And the police can take this info and do as they please. I’m done with trying to play hero.

Still, there’s the matter of Alessandro.

My chest aches, torn ten ways about what to do.

I love him. Yes.

But I need to get away, clear my head. Make sure I’m safe. Then I can decide what to do with the information I gathered.

Besides, he’s engrossed in some major conflict.

He won’t have time for me once we leave, anyway.

The day drags on and I avoid the brothers. When night falls, Alessandro knocks on my door, but I pretend to be asleep.

It’s tempting, to seek comfort in his arms, but I can’t bring myself to answer. To see him.

So I lay there in the dark for hours, staring at the wall, waiting until I’m sure they are both asleep. I still need to get into his office.

But exhaustion and stress eventually pull me under, dragging me into fretful dreams.

My brother yells to me in the dark, calling for me. My mother cries, having lost both of her children. My faceless, nameless child wanders the streets, an orphan, doomed to never know his parents because Alessandro killed me, murdered me for betraying him.

“Wake up you traitorous bitch!” A gruff voice yells in my face.

I think it’s still part of my dream until a rough hand tears away the covers, drags me out of bed by my arm. “Get up!”

“Aless—” I start to protest, thinking he’s come to tie me up again.

But it’s not Aless.

As I’m dragged out into the hallway, the house still dark, I can make out Adriano’s features, shadowed and glowering. Chills and a sickening fallout in my gut make me instantly sick.

Pure dread swells up as he pulls me toward Alessandro’s office.

“Come on! Stop fighting,” he growls, sounding so similar to his brother.

Only there’s no passion behind the words, no lust or love. Just ice-cold rage.

“Let me go!” I shout, and he does, shoving me into the office, stumbling to my knees on the carpet. “What's going on?”

“Allow me to explain…” Adriano grinds out as Alessandro stands behind his desk, a look of outrage on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing, Adri? What’s the meaning of this?”

“This is the meaning. The whole fucking reason she came.” He slaps the packet of papers down on the desk along with several small clattering objects.

I don’t have to look up to know what they are.

“What the fuck…” Alessandro sifts through the recording devices. “Where did these come from?”

“All over the house,” he explains, reaching down to grab my hair, shouting in my face. “You working for the feds? Interpol? Huh?!”

He shakes me once before releasing me to fall roughly onto my hands.

“I-I … no?—”

I look up, searching for Alessandro, trying to catch his gaze. He’s staring blankly at the desk.

“Alessandro—”

“Stop.” The tone is intractable. Aless is someone else now.

Even Adriano tenses, going totally still. This is his boss, not his brother.

We wait as he sorts through the items, the temperature in the room rising several degrees.

“Isabella…if that even is your name.”

“It is,” I choke.

“But you’re not Isabella Bianchi.” Adriano flings another piece of evidence down. “Found this in your coat pocket. You should be more careful.”

The train ticket stub has my name, printed in bold letters.

“You…you went through my things?” I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Only because some of my papers went missing. You think I wouldn’t notice?”

“Enough,” Alessandro circles the desk, squatting down to look me in the eye, disgust all over his face. “So, Isabella Rossi. If I go digging, what will I find? What agency do you work for?”

“I-I don’t. I came here on my own.” Stupid. I should tell him there’s cops looking for me. But I don’t have the willpower to lie, or to stand up to him when he’s like this.

His eyes are empty. Inhuman.

“You came here to do what, then?”

“To find out what happened to my brother,” I choke out.

“Ah. Rossi. So you’re his sister.” He stands, glaring down on me. “Let me guess, you came here to take me down. To get revenge.”

“No. I mean…I came looking for answers. I didn’t expect?—”

“To take advantage of my generosity, my kindness? Bullshit.”

“I never meant for this?—”

“But you did. You have betrayal in your heart. Poison. I could smell it the minute you walked in. I should have listened to my instincts.”

I know he’s putting on a front, shutting off his emotions to hurt me, to spare himself.

“So you want answers about your brother? Well, you're gonna get some answers, but you're not going to like them. Or how you’re going to get them.”

He returns to his desk, sitting down, folding his hands.

“But I'm not going to give them to you yet. And you are coming with us back to New York so I can find out exactly who you are and what you know. Lock her up. We leave in a few hours.”