Chapter 157

ISABELLA’S P.O.V

Unlike most days, Enzo didn’t come back to the room when he returned. I sat in Leo’s room with him and Natalia. I had never thought I would see the day when I would be a typical made wife who stayed in while the men handled the business. A part of me knew that Enzo was being logical, it would have been stupid of me to be out there while pregnant. The other part of me didn’t care about that and just hated being left out of all the interesting bits.

I waited impatiently for Enzo to return but he never did. It was Matteo who walked into the room after a few minutes. Natalia and I were seated cross legged watching Leo who had finally managed to fall asleep. When we saw Matteo, we both rushed to her feet.

“He’s downstairs,” Matteo said to me and I immediately rushed for the door. I was halfway out when he grabbed my upper arm. “Be careful with him, he is very fragile right now.”

My brows furrowed in confusion. Fragile was not a word that I would have ever used to describe Lorenzo. “What happened? Was anyone hurt? Did we lose anyone?”

“No,” he hesitated before finally explaining what they had seen outside.

I was equal parts shocked and horrified. I wasn’t sure if it meant that the person had been following me since I first ran away or if they had just gone back and found old pictures. I wasn’t as worried as a few years ago because I had known I was being watched, I was worried about the recent pictures. I hadn’t even realized that someone could have been taking pictures of Leo and me. It was scary to know that someone had access to us this entire time and I didn’t even realize it.

“Thank you for telling me,” I said to Matteo before walking out.

I took slow but deliberate steps down the stairs and to the living room where I found Lorenzo. He was seated in front of the TV, it was on the news channel but it was muted. They were talking about Benito’s murder and how they believed that it was drug related. It was a win for us but from the way Enzo was seated, he didn’t see it as a win.

I smelled the alcohol and resisted the urge to crinkle my nose. Just smelling it alone had me wanting to throw up but I forced the bile down my throat and made my way into the kitchen to prepare a fruit juice for myself. I seriously hated how I couldn’t drink in the moment because that was exactly what Enzo needed, someone to drink and forget with him.

Regardless, I took the seat next to him. “I can’t have alcohol but this is the next best thing.”

He said nothing, just stared straight at the screen as if I wasn’t even there. I watched him take a swig directly out of the bottle and I resisted the urge to get angry. He was in panic mode, that was why he was behaving this way. It didn’t make it any better, it only made it more annoying.

“Enzo,” I coaxed but he remained quiet. “They were just pictures. None of us knew I was being watched. We know now and we can be extra careful about it. Instead of worrying, we can rebrand and get back to work.”

He didn’t even glance my way, just continued to drink straight from the bottle. I got angry and took it right out of his hands. I wasn’t going to put my child’s life at risk by drinking but Enzo didn’t need to know that. I lifted the bottle to my lips and mimed tipping it over when Enzo grabbed my wrist. He finally looked over at me and his eyes looked cold and dead. He looked exactly like a capo in that moment and for the first time in my life, I was scared in his presence.

“Give me the bottle,” he didn’t yell, didn’t raise his voice more than usual but my fingers uncurled around the bottle and he took it away. To his credit, he didn’t try to drink it again, just placed it on the table. “If you ever try anything like that again, Isabella, I swear I will-”

“I wouldn’t have needed to if you had just looked at me and acknowledged me,” I shot back and he raised a brow.

“What are you, five?” he asked in a condescending tone that made me feel like I was just slapped. “Are you throwing a tantrum because you didn’t receive attention?”

I tried to remind myself that he wasn’t trying to hurt me but I couldn’t deny that his words stung. Despite my efforts, I felt tears begin to gather behind my lids and I blinked them away as much as possible. It wasn’t his words but more that he was the one who delivered them. He was the only person I could trust in my entirety and here I was trying to make him feel better but all he could care about was his own stupid ego and pride.

“I’m done,” I managed out trying to ignore the crack in my voice. “I came here to help but I am not doing this with you right now. Between the two of us, you are acting like a child because at least I am communicating.”

I stood to my feet and stormed off not expecting him to follow me when in a flash, he was in front of me. I was amazed that he could still move that quickly despite being buzzed. I tried to step aside him but he wouldn’t let me. He blocked the exit with his body and pulled me close to him.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed but I couldn’t look at him. “I swear that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t know what the fuck I was saying. I just- fuck, I cannot get those images out of my damn mind. There were pictures of you just fucking spread out. There were over a hundred of them sitting right there in front of me.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t,” he cut me off. “They were out there for hours setting all that up and setting the fire. We were in here and we didn’t even realize it. Do you know what that means?”

I let out a heavy exhale and cupped his cheeks with my hands. “Enzo, we will find out who they are, I swear it.”

He pressed a kiss to my temple and inhaled deeply. “I know who it is. I just need you to say you were with me tonight.”

I stilled. “What are you doing?”

“Isabella,” he warned and I swallowed. “I won’t hurt anyone, not today at least, but I need you to repeat those words.”

“I was with you tonight,” I exhaled and he smiled cruelly.

“Good, I’ll see you before morning.”