CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ISABELLA

No dirt had been dug up on Natalie Da Luca yet, but I was a hundred percent certain that she wasn't completely clean. She sure has a mission. And Rafael, I knew that look in his eyes, the intense look and that hoarseness in his voice as he defended that woman was all too familiar, I had never seen him like with any woman, not even me. Well, the only woman he had been like that with was the only woman I had ever considered a threat—Alina.

It only meant one thing that he looked at Natalie the same way he looked at Alina—he was in love with her.

My jaw clenched as I brought the phone to my face to take in the pictures from the ball once again. He was all over her, they were all over each other. There was one of him holding her by the waist, and she gave this all too familiar smile to the camera. And the more I looked at that picture, the more it felt like she was smiling at me, like she imagined me behind that camera and gave me a triumphant smile, as if saying 'I won.'

I curled my fingers around the phone, rage surged through me, and the only thing I could think of was how to get rid of Natalie. But before then, I needed to unmask her, I needed to make Rafael come to see her for who she truly was. But in order to do that, I needed to find a way to dig out dirt on her.

I brought the picture to my face again.

"Do not glory yet, Natalie."

There was a reason I had stuck to Rafael's side all these years, there was a reason his empire had been successful under my care, and I wouldn't sit and watch that imposter come over here and destroy everything I had worked for.

Was I being jealous? Maybe just a little, but I was being protective of my had work too.

The sound of Rafael's shoes against the staircase drew my cut into my thoughts.

He was all dressed for work, almost perfectly as usual, crisp ironed black suit, his hair which looked ruffled earlier that morning when I had seen him now looked glossy and styled to perfection, his eyes which had looked hazy and tired looked refreshed, like he had just gone into the washroom only to emerge as a new creature, refined.

His manly cologne wafted through my nose as he came close.

"You are still here?"

The word was crafted in such a way that I found it difficult to tell if it was a question or just a statement.

"Well, someone has to look after you." I said as I reached for my purse on his table.

"I can look after myself, Isabella," he said, fixing his buttons. "Besides, someone has to look after the office before my arrival."

"Let's go," I said simply.

I settled at the back of the car, beside Rafael, my eyes watched him as he leaned against the window and peered through it, not paying any attention to me.

I couldn't remember the last time Rafael and I rode to the office in his car. The distance had started small, but now, there was a new woman in the picture, and all the things he claimed he couldn't do with me, he could do all of them with her.

For example, going to the ball with her, visiting the art gallery and the restaurant with her. Yes, I had placed somebody on her trail, I needed to be aware of her every move. I didn't bring that up with Rafael because I didn't want him knowing the extent I had gone to keep Natalie in check.

The sound of Rafael's phone beeping drew me out of my thoughts, almost sending a jolt down my spine.

Instinctively, I tilted my head to take a look at him, and there it was, that smile. Suddenly, Rafael's face which had been the nearest thing to a scowl since we drove out of the house had suddenly lit up with a smile as he read the text. I knew that smile, it was all too familiar, I had only seen him like that with one woman.

And just like that, the earlier fear that had started to creep in became a full fledged terror.

He hadn't taken note of any of my reactions, because he was too busy texting back.

"Who are you texting?" I probed.

"No one," Rafael cleared his throat and returned his phone to his pocket, his rigid face resurfacing, that same face that was meant for me and other people, the smiling face was obviously made for Natalie alone.

"No one is not the name of a person, Rafael." I pointed.

Already tired of my haunting questions, and my sharp eyes boring holes into his sides, he said with a deep sigh "Just a business partner."

I hummed a low chuckle, leaning backwards with my arms folded. "I know all of our business partners, Rafael, and none of them can make you smile that way." I snapped. In fact, in the last two years, I could count the number of times a smile had graced that face, and none had been while texting.

Then, the tall structure of the company—Rafael's empire that I had built side by side with him over the years came into view.

"Go ahead, I have to be somewhere." Rafael told me as the car pulled into the driveway.

"Where exactly do you have to be, Rafael?" I fumed, taking note of the unusual glint in his eyes which he tried to hide.

"I have to pick up something from a business partner." He pointed.

'Business partner.' was that how he referred her now?

"Rafael, there are things in the office that need your attention, you can easily ask one of the messengers to go for it."

The only response I got was a shrug. "That's why you are here, Isabella." He waved his hand dismissively, letting me know that this was the end of the conversation and he didn't want to waste any more time talking to me about it.

Red with rage, I pushed open the car door and stepped out. I didn't go in until I watched his car drive away.

Business partner.

As I settled into my seat in my office, I scrolled through the pictures from my spy—the one where he had visited the art gallery with her, luxury trips he had never taken with me.

Swallowing back my anger, I walked to Rafael's office to sort the files that needed his signature.

A copy of Natalie's proposal lay in his drawer.

With shaky hands, I reached for it.

If I didn't hate her already, if I didn't already see her as a snake trying to snake her way into Rafael's life, I would have been impressed with her expertise, she was good at this. Sitting on the rotating chair, I went through the document carefully, maybe there would be a loophole.

I shuddered when my eyes caught something, but before I could look deeply into it, the door was pushed open and Rafael appeared in front of the door.