Isabella followed the man to a small building, where a steward asked for her boarding pass. The man in the suit produced it from his pocket, and handed it to her, then wished her good luck as he left her to the steward.“The plane leaves in ten minutes, senora,” the steward told her. “Kindly follow me.”He hurried away and she followed, nervous and excited at the same time. The Plane was waiting on the tarmac, a rental jet probably on a journey to pick up a high profile personality.As they neared the plane, she knew she was almost free, but still her instincts were going haywire and she did another quick scan of the surroundings.Was someone watching?All the parked cars in a small parking lot close by were locked, and workers were quietly going about their businesses. She carefully observed a man adjusting cargo containers, and another one wiping a windshield… None of them looked suspicious, but she had learned a very long time ago that the most dangerous men often look very ordina
Her heart skipped multiple beats as she tried to imagine how on earth he'd found her. She was supposed to be dead, and he was supposed to have given up.“What's the matter, baby?” he asked in an amused tone. “Not expecting to hear from me I guess.Isabella stared at the screen in disbelief, unable to process that voice… that soft but powerful voice that was enough to make her shiver. This shouldn't be happening, Luca had no business finding her after all these years… after all the effort she had put in to become a ghost and restart her life. Like someone awakening from a horrible dream and regaining her senses, she hurriedly ended the call and threw the phone away like an abomination.Luca knew where she was… he'd somehow managed to find her. Everything in the room suddenly became a suspect as she began to search desperately for wire devices or hidden spyware. She ran to the window, looking outside for any signs of being watched… satisfied that all was clear, she began to act.She ins
Chapter 5It had been three weeks since the masquerade ball, but the memory of that one night of fire between her and the stranger was the peak. She had snuck out of the hotel in the early hours of the morning, while he slept like a happy baby. There had been a strong temptation to peek under his mask, but she had resisted… it was better they never met again, not with the kind of dominion he had over her body.But here she was now, three weeks later with a pregnancy test kit in her hands, her pulse pounding feverishly. She watched as the lines began to form… and the plus sign yet again… positive.It had to be a mistake, she kept telling herself. Maybe the first three kits were defective, maybe this one as well… but deep in her heart she knew the truth. The symptoms were not a lie… the constant nausea, the exhaustion she had started experiencing lately which wasn't natural… She was pregnant.She looked at herself in the mirror, clutching her stomach as the realization began to dawn on
Elena Romano showed up to the ball in style. She arrived in a sexy, black gown that hugged her figures like a dangerous secret. Her hair was perfectly styled, flowing over her shoulders in shiny waves of black. As she stepped into the ballroom, there was a sudden silence, quickly followed by hushed murmurs and whispers of both admiration and envy.Giovanni Tarini smiled delightfully when he set his eyes on her, abandoning the group he had been discussing with just to welcome her.“Signora Romano! My God, you are absolutely gorgeous. If you had no intention of attracting attention tonight, I'm afraid you've failed miserably,” he chuckled, kissing her outstretched hand like a perfect gentleman, and offering her a drink from a passing tray.She gave him a polite smile, blushing deeply as she accepted the glass. “That wasn’t my intention signore Giovanni, but I’ll take the compliment.”“Eyes of admiration from the men, flames of envy from the women,” Giovanni said with dramatic flair. “Th
Two years later…Elena Romano stood in the center of her private gallery, a far cry from the woman she used to be. For two years she had carefully rebuilt her life, thriving far away from a chaos she had refused to remember.In this new world of hers, she was Elena Romano, a successful art dealer, cultured, mysterious, with a tragic story of widowhood that she always never explained in detail. No one ever questioned further, and her she allowed the past to rest in peace. Her eye for art spoke for her, and in Rome’s elite society where she hid in plain sight, silence covered in elegance was a language everyone respected.She was giving a private tour to one of her wealthiest clients… Giovanni Tarini, a real estate mogul with a known weakness for impressive art, and dangerous appetite for beautiful women.“This piece is magnificent signora,” Giovanni said, stopping in front of a beautiful oil painting of a Sicilian coastline at dusk, “it’s breathtaking… dark, and almost tragic.”Elena c
Punishment in the Mafia world knew no mercy. There were no second chances, no do-overs, only judgement.Don Antonio Lorenzo, once a powerful lion in their brutal mafia jungle, now stood at the gallows like an expired good waiting to be discarded. His bloody face still carried his proud and defiant look, unaware that his legacy had been wiped out the night before. He caught Isabella's eyes in the crowd, weeping heavily, surrounded by her in-laws the Morettis… the same bloodsuckers who had betrayed him and condemned him to this fate.Isabella squeezed her purse tighter, clenching her teeth until her jaw hurt. The tears were flowing freely, and her body was quaking vigorously as the executioner placed the noose around her father's neck. Behind them were the council elders of the Internal Mafia Council… silent and grim, obviously not enjoying the morbid spectacle before then. She knew what they were thinking… it could easily be any one of them in that condition, that was the harsh reality