“But I need to talk to my sister.”
I always thought that when I saw my sister, I would be relieved – ready to hand Matteo back to her and return to my old life.
Continue my life as it was before.
The air in the room became thick, suffocating, as I stared at Isabella. The one who had disappeared a week before her wedding with my husband.
I had gotten her letter, almost gotten killed because I thought she had sent another, yet standing there, with her blond hair curled up in ringlets which framed her face, a mixture of shock and confusion overwhelmed me.
“You… you’re here?” I whispered the question, my voice barely audible.
Was I imagining things?
Isabella nodded slowly, her eyes flicking between me and Matteo, uncertainty evident in her expression. The man she was supposed to marry, the man she was in love with, was holding me to himself.
She looked nervous, like someone who had just walked into a dangerous situation and was unsure how to navigate it.
“I don’t have much time,” Isabella muttered, her no-nonsense attitude back in place. “But I have to explain some things. I… I need to talk to my sister. Alone.”
Matteo’s arms, still around me, tightened protectively. He stepped slightly in front of me, his jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed at Isabella. “Who did you come here with?” He asked, his tone cold and full of suspicion. “Where have you been hiding?”
Isabella’s eyes shone, even with the dim lighting in the room. She took a step forward, looking at me with an expression close to guilt. “Let me talk to you, Valentina. Please.”
I had no idea why I did it, but I did.
“It’s alright.” I turned to Matteo and hoped he understood the pleading look in my eyes. “Give us five minutes, please.”
He moved to a side of the room, far from earshot but close enough to know if anything was about to happen.
Matteo didn’t trust my sister.
“I didn’t abandon you… I didn’t run away,” She sighed softly as she drank me in, drank my appearance in. “I assumed you didn’t get my letter because I didn’t see Jason ever again.”
What?
“What?” I asked the question out loud.
“He disappeared. Never came back. I wondered if perhaps who had me knew what I was doing.”
But she didn’t stop there. “You have to understand, though. Mother, our mother…. she orchestrated everything when dad died.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, even as my voice was thick with emotion. “Mom had to make me marry Matteo because you suddenly…..”
“She sold me to another Mafia Don,” Isabella interrupted, her voice breaking. “I wasn’t kidnapped. I didn’t run away from my engagement with Matteo. She simply traded me to another family because they wanted me, and it would give us more influence.”
The weight of her words sank into me, each one like a knife twisting deeper into my guy. “She.. she gave you to someone else?” I whispered the question, shaking my head in disbelief.
Isabella’s expression was pained. “Yes. A man named Dante Ricci. She claimed he was stronger, wealthier, and more influential than Matteo. But what she didn’t realize was that it was all a lie.”
My heart seemed to pound in my ears.
Dante Ricci.
It wasn’t a familiar name. Caterina might have mentioned it in passing once and never again.
I wondered when mom found out he was a fraud.
“I tried to get away,” Isabella continued. “But i couldn’t. He kept me under tight surveillance, and I was forced into his world, trapped like a caged animal. Until now… I’m sure he would be looking for me now.”
Matteo’s jaw clenched when Isabella held unto my shoulders.
“Matteo can help you. We can help you now that you’re here…”
But all she did was shake her head. “No, I’m not risking it. Not now.” She said, her voice thick with fear. “Dante might not be what mom wanted, but he would kill her if anything or anyone take me. He’s watching my every move. I can’t put you or her at risk.”
The room seemed to close in around me, the reality of the situation crashing down like a wave.
My mother had sold Isabella like a breeding mare to another mafia don. I had been nothing more than her means to an end.
Manipulations.
I had been betrayed by the one person who was supposed to be there for me.
The walls felt like they were closing in, the weight of everything pressing down on my chest.
My mother. My sister. They had all played their parts in this web of lies.
My sister’s voice pulled me from my spiralling thoughts. “I have a plan. Something that would be sufficient enough to let me leave him once and for all, but…”
But.
“But I need you to be ready to leave Matteo in a moment’s notice. Leave this sham marriage and run away with me.”
For her plan to work, we both had to be far from harm’s way.
A few months back, it would have been easy.
Now, a simple glance at Matteo, who was watching us like a hawk, told me it wouldn’t be so easy anymore.
“Matteo can protect us…” I tried to make her see reason, but she interrupted.
“No. He won’t….”
I could tell she was about to say more, but a quick glance at the clock made her stop. Her face paled as she backed away from the room.
I didn’t go after her. And neither did Matteo.
Once her fingers were on the doorknob, she turned to me and said. “Think about it. I’ll find a way to keep in touch.”
And with that, she was gone, slipping out of the room as silently as she had appeared.
I stood frozen, the weight of her words pressing down on me.
As the door clicked shut, I felt Matteo’s presence by my side immediately. His hands brushed my shoulder, and I turned to face him.
Those blue eyes searched mine, questions unspoken hung in the air.
“What did she say?” He asked, his voice low.
I opened my mouth, but the words I wanted to speak did not come. “She said nothing.”