Chapter 2

Isabella's POV:

I opened the closet and packed a few changes of clothes into my suitcase, unable to stop thinking about the years Luca and I had spent in love.

Before he found Sofia, the daughter of someone who'd saved his life, I was the only one he had eyes for.

He'd drive across half the city on a rainy night just to bring me a bowl of hot soup.

He'd sit by my bed all night when I was sick with a fever, telling me old stories to make me feel better.

He was everyone else's Don, but to me, he was just Luca.

I loved hearing him say he loved me on the moonlit balcony. I loved the way he kissed me in the garden full of red roses. Most of all, I loved it when he made love to me again and again, wild and passionate, in the chamomile-scented bathroom.

But once Sofia came into our lives, he started giving her a share of the attention that had always been mine alone.

"You know her father was killed protecting me from a rival family.

"Her mother lost her mind, and Sofia spent years being passed from one orphanage to another. Six in total. I can't even imagine what she went through.

"I'm just trying to make up for everything she's suffered, Isabella. Surely you can understand that."

Over the years, Luca had indulged Sofia's every whim, obsession, tantrum, and act of rebellion.

Time and again, he'd cancel our plans because she'd made some impulsive decision.

He'd given away the cat I'd had for years because she said she was allergic.

He'd even had all the roses in the garden dug up because she said they were tacky.

He seemed to have forgotten that he'd brought those roses back from Damascus just for me, the finest varieties he could find.

I put up with it again and again, even though more than once, after she got her way, I'd caught Sofia giving me a smug little smile.

But I just loved Luca too much.

I believed his feelings for me hadn't changed. He just had to look after that girl.

But now, to protect Sofia, he was willing to divorce me and even brand me as a woman who'd run off with a traitor!

Our baby...

His own flesh and blood had been labeled a bastard before it was even born.

I shoved the last dress into the suitcase and zipped it shut.

At some point, my tears had dried. Then I heard soft footsteps outside the door.

"Can I come in, Isabella?"

Sofia stood in the doorway wearing a silk nightgown, one hand resting on her belly and an unfamiliar smile on her face.

"I bet you secretly despise me."

She stepped inside, glancing at my suitcase. "Sorry, but Luca's made up his mind. And we both know that when it comes down to you and me, he'll always choose me.

"Isabella, if I were you, I'd have had the sense to leave a long time ago. After all, hanging on to a man who doesn't love you is so exhausting."

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't flatter yourself, Sofia. Luca's only doing this to save your life."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" Sofia leaned in, her voice dripping with contempt. "If he's willing to raise another man's child as his own, what makes you so sure he won't fall for me too?"

My head snapped up, and my heart almost stopped. "No. Luca would never. He only sees you as a sister."

Sofia burst out laughing and held up the ring that used to be mine, the symbol of the Moretti family.

"He's going to marry me, Isabella.

"He'll stand before the priest, hold my hand, and make the same vows he made to you. Soon I'll take your place as the new Donna!"

Footsteps sounded in the hall.

Luca appeared in the doorway, his suit jacket over his arm.

"Are you packed? Tomorrow morning—"

The second his voice reached us, Sofia grabbed a pair of scissors from a tray and slashed her own arm.

"Ah!"

Her scream made my blood run cold. I froze, watching Sofia throw herself into Luca's arms.

"Sofia!"

Luca's voice was frantic and hoarse. When he saw her bleeding, he turned on me, his eyes blazing.

"Isabella! Have you lost your mind?! Do you have to take this out on her?"

My hands were still gripping the suitcase.

In that moment, I knew there was no point in explaining, but I said it anyway, on instinct. "It wasn't me..."

"Luca, it hurts so much! Is my baby going to be okay?"

Sofia whimpered in his arms, then flashed me a mocking smile.

Luca ignored what I'd said. He picked Sofia up and turned to leave, pausing as he passed me.

"If anything happens to her, you'll pay for it."

It was the first time he'd ever used that threatening tone with me.

I'd heard him use that tone with others before. None of them had lived to see another day.