One hour

One hour
~ Stephano 

Isabella’s House

The closer I got to Isabella’s gated driveway, the hotter the anger in my chest burned.

This kind of anger was different. It was a low, ugly flame licking up my ribs, tightening the muscles along my jaw until it felt like I’d crack teeth. I shouldn’t have come here in person. Any sane man would have sent lawyers, security, maybe a demolition crew. But sanity wasn’t something I had much of when it came to Camilla… and especially not after what Isabella had done.

The gates were wide open.

Wide.

Open.

It felt like she was expecting me. It felt ike she thought I’d come crawling back. The nerve of this bitch. My hands tightened around the steering wheel until my knuckles blanched. She was still living here, in my house, bought with my money, with furnishings I’d picked out back when I still thought she was just a harmless, clingy distraction instead of a reckless, delusional liability.

She had kidnapped the mother of my child. She had tied her to a chair. She had forced fear into a woman who was already fragile. And she had the audacity to keep living in my house as if she were the wronged party.

I parked too aggressively, gravel spitting under the tires. I didn’t even bother shutting the car door all the way. My blood was boiling too hot for small, civilized actions.

As I stalked up the driveway, I felt the familiar shift in my spine, the one that slid me from polished man into something much colder, much more dangerous. A man who handled problems with money, law, or violence, depending on what the situation demanded. This situation demanded… restraint. Unfortunately.

The front door wasn’t even locked. I pushed it open. And immediately regretted not bringing earplugs. Because the moment Isabella’s eyes landed on me, she shrieked.

“Stephy!”

Oh God.

Before I could brace myself, she launched her entire body at me like some deranged, lovesick missile. Her arms wrapped around my neck, her legs nearly lifting off the ground, and she started planting frantic, sloppy kisses all over my jaw, cheek, neck, anywhere she could reach.

I didn’t move. I couldn't even afford to blink.

I let her cling, let her ramble, let her act like she hadn’t conspired to abduct a pregnant woman. I let her bury herself deeper without even realizing the grave she was standing in.

“I missed you,” she gasped between wet, smacking kisses. “Oh my God, I missed you so much. You have no idea. You’re finally here. Thank God. I knew you would come to me. I knew you would understand. I knew you would see I only did it for us, Stephy, for our future…”

Her perfume hit me next. Hell, it was expensive and suffocatingly sweet, the scent I used to tolerate in small doses but now made my stomach tighten with irritation. Isabella pulled back just enough to look me in the face, tears already gathering at the corners of her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she babbled. “I didn’t mean for things to get… well… messy. But you know how that bitch is, always looking at you with those pathetic eyes, acting like she’s special, like she deserves you. She doesn’t. She never did. She’s just…”

“Stop talking,” I said.

She didn’t hear a goddamn thing.

“...trying to tie you down with that pregnancy. You didn’t even confirm if it was yours, right? You don’t have to worry, Stephy. I know you feel guilty, but honestly, she probably planned it, some stupid trap.”

My hand shot up, gripping her chin between my fingers, stopping her mid-sentence. Her eyes widened, pupils dilating like a cornered animal’s.

“Isabella,” I said quietly.

She froze. This was the tone she recognized.

The tone that meant I was centimeters away from dropping every polite mask I owned.

She swallowed.

“Y… yes?”

I let her chin go but didn’t step back. My voice stayed soft. Hell, it was softer than she deserved, softer than the fury roiling through me.

“What,” I said, “did you just call Camilla?”

Isabella blinked. Confused. Lost. She didn’t understand the rules of the game had changed.

She still thought she had pieces on the board.

“She’s…she’s just. I mean, you know, that bitch. I only meant…”

“Don’t say that again.”

Her lips parted, trembling. “I… I don’t understand. You never… Stephano, you never cared. You told me she didn’t matter. You said…”

My jaw ticked. I had said a lot of things. Carelessly. Cruelly. Because back then, Camilla was convenient. She was a warm body. She was an easy means to an end. I had been a bastard.

I had been the cold one. But people can take shots at me, insult me, play stupid games with my pride, fine. I don’t care. What I did care about, the only thing that could ignite something violent in my chest, was someone touching what was mine.

Camilla had been dragged into a nightmare because of Isabella’s delusions. And Isabella still didn’t get it. She reached for me again, hands shaking, trying to clutch at the lapels of my coat.

“Stephy, please, I was just… I was protecting what we have. You and me. You know what we are. What we had. You told me I was the only woman who could handle you. You told me you’d always come back to me…”

“I was lying,” I said.

Her face cracked. Her face actually cracked.

“What?”

“I lied to you,” I repeated. “Every time I said you were different. Every time I said we had something. Every time I came here to fuck you. Every moment you thought meant anything… I lied.”

Her breath hitched, and her eyes filled immediately. Of course they did. Isabella cried at spilled wine.

“But… but I love you,” she whispered. “You always came back. You wanted me. You cared about me. I was yours. You were mine.”

Jesus.

I’d known she was delusional. But this? This was another level.

“We were nothing,” I said.

She actually swayed on her feet, like the words had weight and force enough to strike her physically.

“We had sex,” I continued, my voice flattening into something cold and dangerous. “You were convenient. That’s all.”

“Stephy.”

“Stop calling me that.”

My tone snapped like a whip and she choked on a sob.

“You don’t mean that. You’re just angry. You’re upset because of her. Because she lied. Because she tricked you. But I love you. I’ve always loved you. We can fix this. I promise. Just say you forgive me and I swear…”

“Forgive you?”

I laughed. It was a terrible sound, humorless and sharp.

“You kidnapped Camilla.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“You tied a pregnant woman to a chair.”

Isabella flinched as if struck.

I stepped closer, invading her space the way she always loved, but this time, she shrank back.

“You touched what’s mine,” I said quietly. “You tried to hurt the mother of my child.”

Her face crumpled. “She’s not… you can’t be serious…Stephano, she’s nobody…”

“Say that again,” I warned. “And the next words you speak will be to the police.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“You…”

A trembling breath.

“You’re choosing her? Over me? Over us?”

“There is no ‘us.’”

I leaned down, letting her see the truth in my eyes.

“For once in your life, understand something clearly. Whatever I was to you, whatever you thought we were… it ends now.”

Her breath hitched violently.

“She has you under some spell,” she whispered, desperate. “She’s manipulating you. She has been from day one. Why else would you defend her? Why else would you protect her…”

“I protect her,” I said slowly, “because she’s mine. And because you almost destroyed her.”

Her lips trembled.

“Get out,” I said.

Her eyes snapped up. “W… what?”

“You heard me.”

“You’re… you’re kicking me out of my home.”

“This is my home,” I corrected. “Bought with my money. Now I’m reclaiming it.”

She sobbed, shaking her head violently. “You can’t do this. You can’t. I love you. I did everything for you. Everything. I…I… I only kidnapped her because…”

“Because you’re stupid,” I finished for her. “And reckless. And because you never understood that sex doesn’t equal ownership.”

She let out a raw, broken cry and I straightened my coat.

“You have one hour,” I said. “Pack your things. Leave the keys. If you’re still here after that, the police will escort you out. And trust me, Isabella, considering what you’ve already done, prison is not a place you want to test.”

Her knees buckled as if she might actually collapse, but I didn’t stay to witness it.

I walked out without looking back. I was halfway down the staircase when I heard the engines.

Oh, the police.

Perfect timing. Some part of me could admire the elegance of it. I’d called them the moment I arrived, told them exactly what Isabella had done, gave them the address, told them to proceed discreetly. But I didn’t expect them to show up this quickly. Or maybe I had. Maybe I wanted them to.

I reached the bottom of the stairs just as the front door burst open.