INICIAR SESIÓNIsabella POV
His blue eyes were vicious steady, fearless, and devoid of mercy. Death didn’t threaten him. If anything, he welcomed it. He pressed the accelerator harder, the van vibrating like it was seconds from launching off the icy road. “Let go,” he warned, voice low and lethal, “or we both die.”
He meant it. And death would defeat the entire purpose of whatever he wanted from me. I released his arm and sank back into my seat. Only then did he ease up on the gas.
He slowed just before the bend, turning the van smoothly through the curve, regaining full control like the near crash never happened. We rolled forward again, the snowbanks tall on either side of the abandoned winter road. I leaned my forehead against the frozen window and exhaled shakily. “Fuck.”
“I admire that you’re brave,” he said calmly. “I don’t admire that you’re stupid.”
I didn’t bother looking at him. “Let me go. I won’t breathe a word to my family. We’ll pretend this never happened. You don’t want this. If they find out you killed me, they’ll hunt you until you’re gone. And they’ll take your whole family down with you.”
“Well,” he said, voice flat, “they already killed my family. So that’s one thing off their to do list.”
My head snapped toward him. “What?”
He didn’t even blink. “And I don’t care if they come for me. Gives me a chance to finish killing the rest of them. Letting you go isn’t an option. I want them to know I killed you. I want them to feel it. Letting you go would rob me of my revenge. Trust me I’m going to kill you. I just need to make it worth it.” “But you found me by accident.”
His voice dropped to a chilling whisper. “Was it an accident?”
A shiver shot down my spine. “What did my family ever do to you? They’re peaceful. You must be”
“I’m not confused.”
He turned onto a rough, narrow road, the tires crunching sharply over the frozen ground as we approached the lake. In summer, this place was filled with tourists. Now, in the dead of winter, it was deserted. No witnesses, no help and chance.
“What about the man in the back?” I asked quietly. “Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” he said. “You’re still breathing, so you should be worrying about yourself.” He killed the engine and got out.
My chest tightened. Panic clawed its way up my throat. For the first time, I truly felt death closing in. My family, my parents, my brother they’d never recover from losing me. Their grief would be far worse than whatever he did to my body. Think, Isabella, think.
He opened the rear doors and dragged out the other man’s corpse. My stomach twisted. “What are you doing?”
“Throwing him into the lake.”
He pulled the body across the snow, heading toward the pier.
The keys were in his pocket. No escape but I yanked open the panel under the steering wheel anyway and stared at a maze of wires. I had no idea what I was doing. So I ripped them all out.
If he killed me, maybe the van wouldn’t start again. Maybe he’d freeze to death out here and that was good.
As I leaned over, I noticed something metal under his seat. I glanced outside he was almost at the end of the pier. I grabbed the object and it was a gun.
A real fucking gun, I checked the chamber just one round, I couldn’t miss.
He kicked the body into the lake and began heading back. My hands trembled from adrenaline and fear, but I forced myself to breathe. To focus, I slipped out of the van quietly, the gun hidden at my side.
He was massive six three at least, all muscle and power. His blue eyes locked on me like he already knew my fate. “Your turn, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.” I lifted the gun and fired.
The bullet caught him in the shoulder, not the heart, he barely flinched. His face didn’t change. Not pain or fear. Nothing. A tiny jerk of his body, and that was like he’d just gotten a vaccine shot.
Then his expression shifted into something darker, possessive and territorial hungry. His chest rose with a sharp breath, adrenaline spiking. He didn’t reach for his gun. Instead, he charged.
I lifted the weapon to hit him, but he seized my wrist mid air and slammed it against the van, then forced me to drop the gun. It hit the snow as he pinned me. His hand yanked my hair, then his mouth crashed onto mine. He kissed me.
Aggressively and desperately. Like he’d been fighting the urge since the minute he took me. His body pressed into mine, heat trapping me between him and the cold metal of the van. His breath filled my lungs. The world went silent except for the pounding of my pulse.
His mouth moved over mine like he owned every part of me. He kissed me like no man ever had bold, consuming, hungry. His erection pressed against me, thick and hard. He was a monster and somehow, even knowing that I kissed him back.
His blood warmed my fingers as it dripped from his jacket to mine. He was bleeding badly, but he didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow down. He kissed me harder, like the pain fueled him.
His tongue found mine, coaxing no, demanding a response I couldn’t fight. The kiss was scorching, dangerous and electric then he pulled away abruptly, leaving my lips cold and my breath unsteady. “Get in the van.”
He grabbed the empty gun, climbed in, and started the engine like nothing had happened.
I stayed frozen against the door, trying to process the insanity of what just occurred. I tried to kill him and he kissed me.
The horn blared, I jolted, scrambled into the passenger seat, and buckled up. “Does that mean you aren’t going to kill me?”
He pulled onto the main road, turning in a direction we hadn’t come from. “Oh, I’m definitely going to kill you.”
Isabella POVAdrian returned to work, and the four of us walked back to my gallery to say our goodbyes.Victoria had to get back to her shop, while Varos and Mirabel were expected at my parents' house for dinner. I wished we could spend a little more time together, but I was grateful they had come in the first place. “Thanks for coming down to see me,” I said, looking between them. It meant more than I could properly express, knowing that even during the darkest period of my life, I was never truly alone.My family had always been there for me, especially my brother. No matter how difficult things became or how undeserving I sometimes felt of his kindness, Varos never turned his back on me. I looked up to him in ways he would probably never understand. He had always been someone I could depend on, and I wasn't sure I told him that often enough. “Of course.” He pulled me into a one-armed hug, giving me a reassuring squeeze before releasing me. “It's nice to see that you're doing better
Isabella POVAdrian and Varos both turned to me at the same time. Varos glared at me, and Adrian seemed genuinely bewildered. “You’re just going to invite him to eat with us when you know nothing about him?”I asked in shock. “You don’t know anything about this guy. He could be a rapist or something.”Adrian lowered his hand, and instead of being offended, he smiled. “Uh…I’m not a rapist. Just so everyone knows…”Varos continued to glare at me. “Knock it off, Isabella. I’d like to meet your friend.”“You’ve never cared about any of my other friends before,” I snapped.“You never made an effort to....”“Isabella, be quiet.” Varos threatened me with his hostile gaze. “You’re overreacting.”The only reason why my brother was being so polite was because he wanted me to forget about Dante but if Adrian were just some random guy, he would have growled at him like a watchdog. Adrian picked up on the tension. “I’m going to grab a coffee. I’ll be right back.”He headed to the counter so we cou
Isabella POVA week passed, and I didn’t see Adrian. He seemed to give me the space I needed. I was in the gallery when my family surprised me. Varos and his wife stopped by, along with Victoria. “Wow, it looks so nice in here,”Mirabel said. “You’ve got paintings on every wall, and they’re all new.”“I make a few paintings every week to keep the walls stocked,” I said.“I’ve actually been selling paintings pretty consistently and I started an email list, so old clients come back and buy new paintings. I just ship them out.”“That’s awesome,” Varos said.“It sounds like your gallery is a success.”“Yeah, it is.” Thanks to one special person who made all of this possible. My father could have done the same for me, but I never would have accepted it. He’d done so much for me already. “How was the honeymoon?”“Beautiful,” Mirabel said with excitement. “I loved it there. We were right by the harbor with all the ships…and the food…I could go on and on about the food.”“Pregnancy will do th
Isabella POVI could do this forever too, and that’s what scared me. I liked everything about Adrian, from his personality to his confidence. I liked the way he carried himself, the way he created art. I liked the connection we had, as if we’d known each other before we even met but those feelings alarmed me and made me feel so much guilt that I despised myself. It’s been months since Dante left and he’d been with other women by now, but that didn’t change the way I felt.I stepped back, putting an end to the tenderness before I could enjoy it a second longer. “I should get going…”I turned my back on him before he even had the opportunity to say anything. His footsteps sounded as he followed me to the stairs. “Isabella.”I stepped on the first stair and gripped the rail. He spoke again, a little more authoritatively. “Isabella.”He didn’t reach out and grab me, but his voice was enough and I turned around, eye level with him. “How long has it been?”He moved his hands into his pocket
Isabella POVGetting coffee with Adrian was much better than I expected. The conversation unfolded naturally, and by the end, it seemed like I was getting coffee with an old friend.He was interesting, polite, and easy on the eyes. He never made it seem like a date. When we’d first walked into the coffee shop, he didn’t even try to pay for my drink and it was nice.I enjoyed his company because we had so much in common, and it was nice to talk to someone who had no tie to my past but with Adrian, I didn’t have to see him pity me like the rest of my family did. It felt like a fresh start, turning over a new leaf. He was the first friend I’d made in the city, and I hoped he would stay my friend.We left the coffee shop and walked back to my apartment, his arm almost touching my shoulder on the sidewalk. The streetlamps were on, and there were very few people passing through town. I was only a few blocks away and even though I told him I could make it back on my own, he insisted on escor
Isabella POVMy parents would never act that way. Whatever I wanted to do, they would always be supportive. When Varos wanted to venture into his business, they were supportive of that too.There was nothing we could do or say to make them disapprove of us then I remembered the one thing they could never accept…the one person they could never approve. It was the only instance when my parents didn’t give me what I wanted because it was too difficult for them to look past. “You proved him wrong a million times over…”He nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, I did and it felt good.” His collared shirt fit across his chest nicely, stretching over the muscles of his upper body. He was lean, but it was clear he was strong. I’d seen his sculpted arms before, and it seemed like everything else under his linen shirt was the same. “Can I ask you about the painting you bought from me?”I had it hanging in my living room, a perfect picture of the city. I could talk about artwork forever, so the question







