FAZER LOGINShe was addicted to the medication.Isabella's legs nearly buckled under the weight of that understanding.She gripped the balcony railing again, feeling the tremor in her hands, and realized with devastating clarity what had happened.She'd escaped her father's house. She'd run away from his control, his plans, his orchestrated future. She'd chosen Dante. She'd claimed her own agency and her own freedom.Whatever was in those pills, She craved it. And she had no way to get it.Not for days. Maybe longer.And in the meantime, her body was going to punish her for every hour she was without it.Isabella's breathing became ragged.She caught her reflection in the window...pale, hollow-eyed, trembling.She pressed her eyes closed and forced herself to breathe. Forced herself to calm down. Forced herself to remember that Dante was sleeping just inside the villa, and if he woke to find her like this, he would ask questions.And she couldn't answer those questions.Because she didn't underst
"It will take time," Lorenzo said. "He's had hours of head start. He could be anywhere by now.""He's not anywhere," Antonio said. "He's moving south. Away from Rome. Away from established territories. He's looking for somewhere your reach is weaker and mine doesn't extend.""The coast," Lorenzo said, understanding. "He's going to the coast.""Probably," Antonio confirmed. "Which means we start with every property, every contact, every safe house that exists on the coast south of Rome. We narrow the search radius. We find him.""And when we do?" Lorenzo asked."Then we decide together what happens next," Antonio said."Understood," Lorenzo said."I'll be in contact," Antonio said. And Lorenzo?""Yes?" Lorenzo asked."Your daughter chose Dante," Antonio said. "But that doesn't mean she made a good choice. It just means she was vulnerable and he exploited that vulnerability. We're going to deal with the man who did that. What happens to Isabella after is up to her."The line went dead.
Lorenzo stood in the master bedroom of the empty villa.Around him, his tactical teams were finishing their final searches. They'd cleared every room. They'd found the tunnel. They'd understood the complete scope of their failure.His daughter had been here. Right here in this building. And she'd walked out voluntarily with his enemy.It was the most humiliating defeat of his life.He stood at the window, looking out at the moonlit countryside, and made a decision.He pulled out his phone and dialed.***Antonio answered on the second ring."Lorenzo," Antonio said, and there was something almost expectant in his voice, as if he'd been waiting for this call."I wondered when you'd call," Antonio continued."My daughter is gone," Lorenzo said without preamble. "Dante took her. They used an underground tunnel that was built into the property. We had a forty-minute window, and they were already gone before my teams even breached the villa."There was silence on the other end of the line.
"South," Dante said. "To the coast. There's a property about eighty kilometers down....a villa right on the water. It's secure. Your father's reach doesn't extend that far south, and The Covenant doesn't have operatives there.""How long will we stay there?" Isabella asked."Long enough to figure out the next move," Dante said. "Long enough for your father's initial fury to settle. Long enough to understand what Dimitri is going to do."Isabella turned to look at him."You're thinking about Dimitri," she said. It wasn't a question."Always," Dante confirmed. "Dimitri is the variable I can't control. Your father I can manage. The Covenant has its own agenda. But Dimitri....Dimitri is unpredictable. And unpredictable is dangerous.""Do you think he'll come after us?" Isabella asked, and there was fear in her voice."Possibly," Dante said honestly. "But not immediately. He has other concerns. His empire. The Covenant. His woman. We have time."He squeezed her knee gently."And I won't le
A figure stood beside it, one of Dante's operatives, waiting with complete patience."Go," the operative said, opening the back door.Dante guided Isabella toward the vehicle. She was breathing hard, adrenaline pumping through her system, but they were out. They'd made it through the tunnel. They'd escaped.Dante helped her into the back seat and slid in beside her."Drive," he commanded.The vehicle accelerated smoothly, moving away from the clearing, away from the tunnel, away from the safe house where Lorenzo's teams were about to arrive and find nothing but empty rooms.Dante pulled Isabella close against him, his arm around her shoulders."You're safe," he said. "We made it."Isabella nodded, unable to speak, completely overwhelmed by the reality of what had just happened. She'd escaped her father's reach. She'd chosen Dante. She'd made her own decision and followed through with it completely.She was free.***The tactical team breached the safe house by 9: 47.They moved throug
Isabella's expression shifted from concern to confusion."Are we leaving here?" she asked. "I thought you said it was safe here, Dante.""Yes, it is safe," Dante said. "But we're still within your father's territory. So we need to leave."Isabella processed this information, understanding the implication. This safe house wasn't permanent. It was temporary. A way station. A place to regroup before moving on to somewhere truly beyond Lorenzo's reach."Where will we go?" Isabella asked."Somewhere your father can't reach," Dante said simply. "Somewhere we can be together without looking over our shoulders constantly."Before Isabella could respond, Dante's phone rang.He glanced at the screen...Luca, and then looked at Isabella apologetically before picking up."Yes?" Dante said into the phone.He listened for a moment, and Isabella could see the shift in his expression."Lorenzo's men are within the perimeters of the safe house?" Dante said, his voice absolutely calm despite the words.







