Chapter 185 ONE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE
Chapter 185 ONE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE
Isabelle felt alone.
She couldn't sleep. There wasn't need to, because something else was at stake.
Tears pooled on her pillow, and the wet cotton irritated her skin. Her eyes stung and her nose were stuffy.
With one thought haunting her—did she do the right thing by marrying Alexei?
She tried… she honestly tried to hate Alessandro but it didn't work, it wasn't working. She wanted his downfall, and now there he was in the basement—being beaten up badly.
And the next thing the Russians were planning was to kill him.
She couldn't let them do that no matter how much she wanted to hate him. Which was why she mixed a substance into Alexei’s coffee today. One that got him heavy headed, weak and sleepy all of a sudden, making him fall into a deep sleep for a while and that was enough for her to steal the key to Alessandro’s chains.
She needed as much time as she could get.
Isabelle looked down at her hand, the clash of keys making a noise in the room. The warmth of victory filled her immediately. She stole them from Alexei the moment he fell to the bed in a confused state, while complaining that he suddenly felt dizzy.
She was on her feet before she could question herself. She wiped her hand against her tear-stained face, her breath coming quickly, her chest aching. All her life, she has only done what she was told to do. Never had to make her own decisions.
But all that was about to change.
Grabbing the first aid box, she left the room and headed along the hall. The halls were quiet, and each step she took reminded her of that. She had no idea where Alexei was. He might be sleeping or still under the effect of the drug but there was no time to ponder on that.
Heading down the stairs to the basement, Isabelle was surprised to find out that there were no guards assigned to watch over Alessandro. She thought it probably had something to do with the fact that with the way he was tied up, there was no chance of escape.
It made things even easier.
She unlocked the door from outside with the key and pushed inside. She had to do this quickly before Alexei realizes the key was no more.
She had just one day.
The lights in the cell were so dim that she could barely walk without having to touch the walls for assistance. When she got closer to where Alessandro was, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light.
“If this is really you firecracker, then it means I'm going to die a happy man.”
She walked towards him on steady legs, trying to keep her emotions at ease. He looks horrible, and yet, he was still cracking jokes with her.
When she got closer, she opened the first aid box, picking up the necessaries she needed.
“Tesoro, what's wrong?”
His deep voice slid over her skin, making her burn. No one in her life has ever made her feel the way Alessandro did. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was her first or maybe it was something else.
She wiped his blood with cotton wool that had little drops of antiseptic. She knew her silence was driving him crazy, but she didn't speak… at least not yet.
“Isabelle, please talk to me,” he pleaded, watching while she attended to his injuries.
“I want to tell you something, and I want you to listen. No interruptions. Can you do that for me?”
He exhaled deeply, and she feared he might disagree.
“Yes.”
A glint of triumph lit in her eyes.
“I need you to sign the divorce papers.”
Clearing his throat, a frown made it's way to his face. “I told you I'll do anything but that.”
A tear dropped down from her eyes. Seeing it made him fucking weak and the fact that he couldn't wipe it off was torture.
“Isa—”
“No, wait. Please let me finish.”
She swallowed before continuing, “All my life, I've always lived in fear. Fear of the men my father said were outside the walls of our home and then the fear of… you. I’ve always had someone decide for me, tell me what to do. No one really cares, no one has ever cared about how I feel. And you’re doing the same thing now. You’re trying to take over my life once again. You’re trying to make a choice for me just like you always do even when you said you love me.”
She sniffed, took a deep breath before she continued.
“I don't think I want that life. I don't want that life anymore,” she revealed, voice shaky. “I don't want your world anymore. We’ll never be compatible. It’ll be foolish for us to acknowledge what isn't there. I'm so scared, Alessandro. I'm so scared that every single day of life will be spent with me looking back, wondering if someone will try to come for me, wondering if you'll change your mind about your feelings and decide that am no longer worth keeping alive.”
“That's not possible, Isabelle.”
“It is. You're only living in denial. What happens when you decide that killing my father isn't enough for you? What happens when you look at me and all you'll see is your mother? I don't think I want to wait till that happens.” She burst into more tears, taking deep breaths to steady herself before continuing. “I'll stay scared till that time comes and that's not what I want to happen. You killed my father, Alessandro… right before me. I can't take it. I thought getting married to Alexei would be the right choice, and that way I could get you to divorce me, but here we are. Alexei only wants to use me as a pawn in this game you both are playing. And I don't want to be part of it. I just want to live a normal life, you know. Just like everybody else without having blood on my hands. So I'm begging you, free me, Alessandro. Free me from your world. There's no forever for us… there was never going to be. ”
The next words she wanted to say couldn't find their way out because she began to sob all the way.
There was silence at some point, and Alessandro’s eyes was difficult for her to look at.
“If that's what you want. I'll divorce you.”
Her heart sank at those words even when that was what she wanted.
“Thank you,” she managed to mutter, shifting away from him. “I'll come back when the coast is clear, and get you out.”
He didn't respond to that.
So she clutched the first aid box to her chest and ran all the way up the stairs and out of the basement.
☪—-------☪
“Got them?” Marco asked, wiping blood off his shirt.
“Yes. Right in the chest,” Luciano responded.
They were driving close to Alexei Antonov’s mansion gates with one motive buried into their heads.
Get their Don back or burn the Antonov building to the ground trying.
They came in with four SUVs with Marco hacking into their system and figuring out each lock’s password.
In the first vehicle, Marco’s eyes narrowed at the blinking dot on the tablet secured to the dashboard.
“Signal's steady,” he muttered into the comms. “Basement level, east wing. They're keeping him under the old wine cellars.”
“Then that's where we are headed to,” Nicholas replied.
The cars wheeled to a halt before the mansion’s gates.
“Do we all know what to do? And the soldiers too?” Luciano asked.
“You don't need to ask us twice,” Sergei responded, loading his gun.
☪—---------☪
Chaos erupted in the mansion as Bratva soldiers scattered through every hallway, with weapons drawn. No one wanted to back down. But Alessandro’s men were already in formation, making their way in despite the number of Bratva soldiers that kept coming at them.
“Move forward!” Luciano barked out, firing three clean shots. “We need the east wing!”
Alessandro’s men moved ahead in the hallways.
Bullets erupted into the air with fists and blades clashing in the midst of bullets.
“Marco, we'll take it from here. Find Alessandro,” Sergei said, warding off an advancing soldier.
Marco didn't need to be told twice. He left them as he headed towards the basement, following the tracker chipped in Alessandro.
“I'm coming, brother.”
☪—----------☪
“What the fuck is happening?!” Alexei asked, drawing his gun.
“Fuck! The Italians. They're here. They've killed some of our men,” Riccardo announced and they all stormed out.
☪—-----------☪
Isabelle could hear the gunshots and fear engulfed her. She had no idea what was going on or who exactly was shooting. The moment the alarms came on, she slipped from her suite and ran towards the basement, hiding at the sight of an impending soldier.
She couldn't leave Alessandro tied up in that basement. It didn't matter if this moment wasn't the right time to let him go. She just had to do it.
She reached the stairs leading to the basement, hands trembling as she clutched the small pistol she stole from Alexei’s study.
She could hear more gunshots, but that didn't deter her.
She ran faster and faster.