Novels by BooksbyAnnie

IsabellaIsabella knocked on Sofia's bedroom door with the weight of fourteen years of secrets pressing against her chest. Dante stood beside her, his powerful frame tense, his steel-gray eyes carrying the same dread she felt."Sofia?" she called. "Can we come in?"A pause. Then: "Sure."Sofia sat cross-legged on the bed, their mother's locket clasped between her fingers as always, her lighter brown hair loose around her shoulders. Her wide innocent brown eyes tracked between Isabella and Dante with that particular expression…..the one that meant she already suspected something was wrong."What is it?" Sofia asked. "What happened now?""We need to talk," Isabella said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "About the locket. About Mom. And about….about some things I should have told you a long time ago."Sofia's fingers tightened on the locket. "About the contract marriage?"Isabella's breath caught. "You knew?""I figured it out," Sofia said quietly. "About three months ago. The timeline n

IsabellaThe hospital discharged Dante six hours after the device exploded, Morrison citing security concerns about keeping them stationary. They moved to a Valentino safe house in Brooklyn—a modest brownstone that looked nothing like the empire Dante had built—with Sofia in a separate room and federal agents stationed outside.And the moment the door closed behind them, the careful control they'd both maintained shattered completely."You lied to me," Dante said, his voice dangerously quiet. "For weeks. You met with federal agents, planned operations, gathered evidence….all while sleeping beside me. While telling me you loved me.""I do love you," Isabella said, exhaustion making her voice raw. "Everything I did, I did because I love you. Because loving you meant protecting you even when….""Protecting me?" Dante's voice rose, his powerful frame rigid with barely controlled fury. "You call a meeting with the FBI protection? You call planning to wear a wire against my organization pro

IsabellaIsabella sat in the hospital cafeteria at seven in the morning, both hands wrapped around a cup of tea she wasn't drinking, watching the world pretend to be normal outside the window. People walked past with coffee cups and briefcases, completely unaware that twelve hours ago, the Manhattan ballroom had been a war zone.Sofia sat across from her, their mother's locket clutched in her fingers, her lighter brown hair still disheveled from the night's chaos. She hadn't spoken in twenty minutes. Neither had Isabella."I killed someone," Sofia said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "I mean…..Catalina was already dead….but I didn't know that. I pulled the trigger thinking I was….""Saving my life," Isabella interrupted gently. "Which you were. Which you did. Sofia, you were brave and quick and….""I'm pre-med," Sofia interrupted. "I'm supposed to save lives. Not—not end them. And I know Catalina deserved it. I know she was a monster. But Bella….." Her wide innocent brown

IsabellaIsabella stood in the hospital corridor at dawn, her blood-stained emerald gown replaced by borrowed scrubs, facing Agent Morrison across a small table covered in files and recording equipment. Outside the window, New York was waking up—oblivious to the night's devastation, the bodies, the betrayals, the explosion that had killed Agent Chen.Dante was two doors down, under medical observation. Furious. Demanding Isabella stop negotiating without him. She could hear him arguing with the agents keeping him in his room.She ignored it and focused on Morrison."Here's what I have," Isabella said, sliding the phone with Antonio's full confession across the table. "Complete audio recording. Antonio Russo confessing to embezzlement, to my father's murder, to coordinating with three alliance families. Clear. Detailed. Admissible."Morrison picked up the phone, playing a brief section, her sharp eyes assessing. "This is good. But Mrs. Valentino, we need more than one dead man's confes

IsabellaIsabella stared at the photo of Catalina—alive, smiling, triumphant—while federal agents processed Marco and chaos swirled around them. Her hands shook so violently she nearly dropped the phone."Dante," she whispered, showing him the message. "Dante, she's alive. Catalina's……she's alive."Dante's steel-gray eyes went cold as he read the message, his powerful frame tensing with barely controlled rage. "That's impossible. Sofia shot her. Three times. We saw her fall. We saw…..""We saw what she wanted us to see," Isabella interrupted, realization crashing over her. "The body. The blood. The ... .oh God, Dante. What if it wasn't her? What if she had someone else wear her clothes? What if……""What if she planned her own death from the beginning," Dante finished grimly. He turned to Agent Morrison who was coordinating with crime scene investigators. "Morrison. The body you're processing. Check the ID. Check everything. I think……" He showed her the phone. "I think Catalina Russo

DanteDante stared at Marco—his brother in everything but blood, his underboss for twenty years, his most trusted friend—lying wounded on the restaurant floor with Sofia's gun still smoking in her trembling hands."You," Dante said, his voice hollow. "All this time. It was you.""It was me," Marco confirmed, his warm hazel eyes that had always held loyalty now cold with something Dante couldn't recognize. "For six months. Planning. Coordinating with Catalina. Feeding her information. Positioning Lorenzo. Setting up every piece on the board while you were too busy falling in love to notice your kingdom crumbling.""Why?" The word tore from Dante's chest. "Twenty years, Marco. Twenty years of brotherhood. Of loyalty. Of…..of everything we built together. Why betray that? Why betray me?""Because you betrayed us first," Marco said, trying to sit up despite the bullet in his shoulder. "The moment you married her……." He gestured to Isabella with contempt. "The moment you let some restaurant