Chapter 165

ISABELLA’S P.O.V.

The next two weeks were both the longest and slowest days of my life. I had gone to visit Enzo almost every day trying to figure out what I could do but he had assured me that he was planning something with Matteo. I tried asking a few times but neither of them would tell me what it was. I threw up three times this morning as I thought about all the possible ways this court hearing could go. I didn’t know the proof they had or what they were running with. I was just told to focus on my part of the testimony.

I sat there watching and listening to everything that was going on. They tried to paint Peter as a good law enforcer who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was comical to say the least. I was finally called up stage and my hands shook a little but I tried to keep them flat in my laps. Samson and I had gone over his questions so I answered them with a breeze. It was the other lawyer I wasn’t completely ready for.

“What were you doing in the abandoned factory?” he asked. “How did you get there?”

“I don’t know, Peter took me there.”

“Did you go willingly?”

“I was drugged. He met Madoc and I in the café, held a knife to me and told us that he had drugged our drinks. There are plenty of witnesses who saw him dragging me out of there.”

“Did he come to you because your husband killed Benito?”

“What does that have to do with this?” I asked crossing my arms over my chest. “If he has a problem with my husband then he should take it up with my husband. Besides, Lorenzo has been cleared of anything to do with Benito and Peter admitted to being the one who planted the evidence.”

“Is there proof of this?”

“Actually, your honor, there is.” Samson stood to his feet. “We have video footage and two witnesses who can back up the claim.”

The judge seemed mildly amused and curious. “You can go, Mrs. DeLucia. Bring up the other witnesses.”

I was escorted back to my seat as I tried to hide my confusion. I wasn’t told about any other witnesses. The door opened revealing Carmen. She had her head held high as she walked into the room. She met my eye and I felt the sting of betrayal in my chest. I turned away from her and out of the corner of my eye, I saw pain flash across her features. She was led to the stand where she took a seat. She didn’t look intimidated one bit.

I turned to Matteo who was seated by my side. “Did you know she was coming?”

He shook his head. “This one was all Lorenzo.”

She placed her hand on the Bible and made her oath. Once she was done, she started speaking. “I was approached by Benito while he was still alive. He knew he had cancer and he wanted to kill himself and frame Lorenzo for it. I used to work as Leonardo DeLucia’s nanny so I had access to the house. I stole the gun that was found on the scene and I gave it to Peter. He planted it and he told me to run so I wouldn’t be caught. Before I ran however, he asked me to get him a DNA sample from both Madoc and Isabella so that he would forge a DNA test.”

“That is a lie!” Peter snarled leaping to his feet but he was quickly dragged back down.

“I betrayed the people I worked with, I know it was wrong which is why immediately I heard about the case, I reached out to Lorenzo again. I have proof of the emails that Benito sent to me planning everything.”

Merely looking at the judge, I could tell he was no longer really interested in the case, he was more interested in the drama. It was like a soap opera unfolding. The defense knew it too because they immediately called for a recess.

I was the first out of the court room and I ignored Carmen who was calling out for me. She managed to catch up to me and grabbed my upper arm. I turned to face her and narrowed my eyes in her direction.

“If you do not let go of me right now, I will twist your arm so far back until it snaps,” I snarled and she immediately let go. “You have some nerve coming back here after everything. I could take your life, I am owed it.”

“I know,” she whispered. “If you choose to kill me after then you will be well within your rights. What I did was despicable and I am trying to make up for it. I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn’t the forgiving kind. I was never going to forget what she did and if she was hoping to have another entry into our lives, she had another thing coming for her.

“Was the DNA part true?” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “We both know you are telling half truths on that stand.”

“It is,” she admitted and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I had started to get used to the idea of Mac being my brother. “He thought that it would be easier to pin it on you if there was something concrete. I am sorry.”

I scoffed. “Sorry? Do you think that sorry is going to make any of this easier? You are nothing to me, Carmen, I don’t give a shit about your apology. You can shove it up your goddamn ass for all I care.”

Her eyes watered with unshed tears. A part of me felt bad for her but another part could not come to terms with the fact that she was willing to risk our lives that way after we took her in.

“Once this case is over, get the hell out of town. I don’t care what you do with your life but you will stay away from me, you will stay away from Leo and I better not see you near Mac. He might not be my brother but I would be damned if I watch you sit there and ruin his life.”

“I love him,” she cut me off and I noted that she didn’t use the past tense. “Please.”

“He deserves better than someone who picks herself all the time. He deserves better than a traitor,” I spat the last words in her face. “Even if by some miracle you manage to convince him otherwise, I will never forgive you and you will never be welcome back here. You would make him live a life of exile. Why don’t you think about that?”