by Susanna Carr
He walked to his sports car—a menacing-looking machine that was as black as night. He punched a button on his keyring and the small trunk popped open. Isabella watched in horror as he tossed her backpack in and slammed it shut.
“Give me back my bag,” she said as she reached the car.
“You’ll get it after we visit the lawyers.”
“You don’t understand, Antonio. I have to work.” She gestured at the café on the other end of the block.
“Who cares?” He walked to the driver’s side. “This is more important.”
Spoken like a man who had never had to scrape by or go hungry. “I’m already going to get in trouble for taking an unscheduled break.”
“Unscheduled break? You made a run for it and you weren’t planning to return.”
“I can’t afford to lose this job.” She rubbed her hand over her forehead as she tried to maintain her composure. “If I get fired I lose my room.”
He glanced up at the broken rusted window of her room. “It won’t be that big of a loss.”
Isabella put her hands on her hips. “Maybe not to you, but this job is the only thing that is keeping me from becoming homeless!”
Antonio’s eyes narrowed. “Is this about money?”
“What?” She stared at him across the car.
“Of course it is.”
“It’s about my livelihood,” she corrected him through clenched teeth. Antonio wouldn’t understand about that, having been born into wealth and status. She needed her job because she had no other form of support or resources. Why couldn’t he see that? “Listen, let’s make a compromise. I will go to the lawyers with you once I finish my shift at the café.”
Antonio took another look at his watch. “That’s unacceptable.”
“Seriously? How is that unacceptable? You asked for a favor from me and I just agreed to do it.”
“We both know you are prolonging the inevitable and will try to avoid it. Although I find it very curious that you aren’t asking how much money you will get. Unless, of course, you already know.”
“There’s nothing curious about it,” she said as she folded her arms protectively around her. “The only thing I know is that any money will come with strings attached. I don’t want anything—especially if it means dealing with you or your family.”
Antonio chose to ignore her comment. “I’m not willing to wait around and watch over you until your shift ends.”
“Do you even know how to compromise?” she asked, tossing her hands up in frustration. Of course he didn’t. The world bowed down to him. Just as she had done, once upon a time.
“This is what I know,” he said as he slipped on his sunglasses. “The will was read three days ago. The contents will soon become public.”
Isabella frowned. “What are you talking about?”
He opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. “It won’t take long before the paparazzi find you.”
She jerked her head back in surprise. “Paparazzi? What would they want with me?”
“You’re kidding, right? The woman who slept with the Rossi brothers has wound up with a fortune.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. “There is no need to make it sound so salacious.”
“I’m just telling it like it is,” he said impatiently. “Now, get in.”
Isabella hesitated. Giovanni had left her a fortune? That couldn’t be right. Antonio must be exaggerating. If only she could accept the money. But even if she did it would take ages to go through the legal and financial systems and get the cash she so desperately needed.
What would happen to her after she’d signed the documents? She had no home, no money and no protection. She had been working for months to raise the money to get back to California and she didn’t think she would make enough before the paparazzi found her. Could she ask Antonio for help?
She bit her lip as she weighed the pros and cons. Could she ask him? Was she willing to stoop that low? Antonio could easily afford the price of a plane ticket, probably had the cash in his wallet, but it felt wrong.
Antonio leaned back in his seat. “What do you want?”
She took a deep breath. “I need a plane ticket to Los Angeles. For tonight.”
He nodded sharply. “What else?”
She was already regretting her request. She didn’t want anything from Antonio. His presence reminded her of the poor choices she made because she’d been in love. She had fought for him, for them, and he had discarded her without a second thought. As much as it pained her to think about it, her mother had been right. She hated it when that happened.
“That’s it.”
He tipped his sunglasses and studied her face. “I don’t believe you.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” she replied. “But I mean it. I don’t want anything else.”
“That will change soon,” he said as he started the engine.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I shall consider this a loan,” she said as the car purred to life. “I’ll pay you back once I get settled.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“It is,” she insisted. “It wouldn’t be right to take your money.”
“I don’t care about the money.” Antonio said. “Get in the car.”
Isabella hesitated. Was that wise? The man hated her. He thought she’d betrayed him. Then again, he probably wanted her out of Italy and out of his life as soon as possible. She had nothing to worry about.
“Bella …” Antonio’s tone warned of his growing impatience.
Isabella opened the door and sat down before she changed her mind. “Don’t expect me to stay long,” she said as she reached for the seatbelt. “I’ll sign the papers and then I’m gone.”
And if she were lucky she would never see Antonio again.
CHAPTER THREE
“THIS is a law office?” Isabella asked as she studied the old building. “I haven’t seen one like this before.”
Antonio glanced up and saw that the façade was pale, almost pink-gold. He noticed the faded mosaics next to the arched windows and pillars. It was strange that he’d never really looked at the building before.
“Where did you think I would take you?”
“You don’t want me to answer that,” she muttered.
They entered the dark and musty building. It was unnaturally quiet and the only sound was their footsteps as they climbed the stairs. The silence Antonio shared with Isabella felt strange but he was grateful for it. He didn’t need to think about the easy conversations they’d once had that would last throughout the night. He didn’t want to remember how he’d used to call her up during the day just to hear her voice. He wanted the barrier of silence. Needed it.
The receptionist took one look at Isabella and sniffed with disapproval. Antonio glared at the dour woman, letting her know that he wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior. The woman bent her head from the silent reprimand and icily escorted them to the conference room.
When the door opened Antonio saw his mother, sitting regally next to the ornate rosewood table. Dressed severely in black, Maria Rossi was as elegant and private as always. She was trying to hide her distress, but he instantly saw it in her face.
“Mother, why are you here?” Antonio asked. “Your presence isn’t required.”
His mother’s expression darkened when she saw Isabella at her side. “Is this the woman?”
“This is Isabella Williams,” Antonio said with a hint of warning.
He reluctantly introduced Isabella to his mother. He had hoped to prevent these two women from meeting. With one wintry glance Maria made it clear what she thought of Isabella. She knew this blonde beauty was the reason her sons had been estranged.
Antonio’s first instinct was to protect Isabella from the slight. But that didn’t make sense. She was in the wrong and should suffer the consequences. She had created a scandal when she’d started living with Giovanni. The paparazzi had gone into a feeding frenzy, an
d had Antonio borne the brunt of the gossip. But he still couldn’t stand by and watch Isabella receive this treatment.
Most socialites he knew would have wilted under his mother’s apparent disgust. To his surprise, Isabella tilted her head proudly. She wasn’t going to back down or hang her head in shame. She stood before this doyenne of high society in her cheap clothes, with her tarnished name, and held her gaze unflinchingly.
His mother was the first to break eye contact. She turned to him. “I can’t bear to be in the same room with her.”
Isabella showed no expression as she watched Maria Rossi leave the room and closed the door with a flourish.
“I apologize for my mother’s behavior,” Antonio said, fighting back anger. “I’ll see that it doesn’t happen again.”
“No need,” Isabella crossed her arms and walked to the large window. “I know you feel the same way.”
Antonio watched her as she stared at the view of the Pantheon. He suspected she wasn’t really looking at anything. It was as if she was in another time, another place, trapped in a memory.
If only he could do the same. His mind was always racing, predicting problems and creating solutions. He required an outlet for his inexhaustible energy and found it in his work. The money and power that came along with it wasn’t important. Antonio needed the challenge, to push himself to the razor’s edge.
There had been one time when he hadn’t felt that drive, and that had been when he was with Isabella. When they’d been together nothing else had existed. Isabella Williams had been his escape. And eventually his downfall.
“What did you tell your mother about me?” Isabella grimaced as the question sprang from her lips. She hadn’t meant to ask, but it was obvious that her reputation had preceded her. Isabella knew she shouldn’t care but it bothered her.
There was something about Antonio’s mother that intimidated her. The woman was beautifully groomed, from her coiffed hair to her pedicured feet, but she also had an aura of power. No one would treat Maria Rossi with anything less than respect. Isabella had felt grubby next to her.
“We never discussed you,” he said stiffly.
She wouldn’t be surprised if that were true. Antonio rarely discussed his family. Everything she knew about his mother and his late father had come from Giovanni. And he’d probably been just as private about his love life with his family.
Isabella turned and approached Antonio. “But she knows you and I were once together?”
“Not from me.”
“Giovanni?” No wonder his mother hated her.
“My mother was prying into the reason why her sons weren’t on speaking terms again.” Antonio crossed his arms and looked away. “I’m sure Gio concocted some story that made him look like the innocent victim.”
“Again?” Her tired brain caught onto that word. “You and Giovanni had been estranged before?”
Antonio’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”
She felt the weight of guilt lift a little. All this time she’d thought she had ruined the strong bond between brothers. “But how could that be?” she asked as she remembered Giovanni and Antonio together. They’d had a tendency to use the same expressions, finish each other’s sentences. “You two were close.”
Antonio shrugged. “Gio had been trying to make amends and was on his best behavior. It was one of the few times we got along.”
“Why did you accept him back into your life?” That didn’t seem like something Antonio would do. You screwed up once and you were banished from Antonio’s life. You didn’t get another chance.
“I thought he had changed.” He sighed. “I wanted him to change.”
She saw the grief in his expression. She wanted to reach out and bring him comfort, but she knew Antonio would not appreciate the gesture. “How old were you when you first stopped talking to each other?”
His harsh features tightened. “I don’t want to discuss it.”
“Why not?”
“I answered your questions, now it’s my turn.”
Isabella jerked her head back. She saw the intensity in his eyes, the determined set of his jaw. Was he really trying to deflect her questions or had this all been a technique to draw her closer? Make her think he was opening up to her so she would feel obligated to do the same?
Isabella braced her shoulders. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“Why did Gio include you in his will?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t ask him to.” But she suspected she knew the answer. Giovanni had been playing games and now she was going to lose everything.
“The lawyers say that Gio changed his will a month ago.”
Isabella paled. That could not be a coincidence. “S-so?”
Antonio tilted his head to one side as he studied her face. “You know why. No one else does. No one knows why he gave you millions.”
“M-millions?” she whispered. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“And half the shares in Rossi Industries.”
“What?” The shock reverberated through her body.
“He gave you half my birthright,” Antonio said in a growl.
She clapped her hand over her mouth. Oh, Giovanni. What have you done? Why did you do this?
“I lost part of my birthright once before,” his said, his voice a harsh whisper. “I have no intention of losing it again.”
Isabella frowned. She felt like she was missing crucial information. “What are you talking about?”
Antonio didn’t hear her. “Why did Gio give all this to you? Why not the woman he was dating? Why not a woman who meant something to him? Why you?”
“Antonio …” She braced her legs and held her clenched hands at her sides. She didn’t have the nerve to tell him. She didn’t want to face the consequences.
“Was it so I would be required to work with the woman who had cheated on me?”
Had Giovanni done this out of spite? For his own perverse pleasure? It was possible …
“Or did you seduce it out of him? I admit you’re good in bed—but that good?”
Isabella felt the heat in her cheeks. If only she could run away. The moment she uttered the next words everything would change. Everything would be lost.
“It’s because I’m p-pregnant.”
He stared at her in shock. Isabella hunched her shoulders, preparing for the world to fall around her as struggled to get the words out.
She nervously licked her lips before she added, “And Giovanni is the father.”
Antonio staggered back as if he had been punched. His body went numb and his mind whirled. His world tilted and he swayed. He wanted to grab hold of something so he wasn’t brought to his knees, but that meant reaching out to Isabella. The one woman who still had the power to hurt him.
“You …”
Isabella was having his brother’s baby. Gio had known and hadn’t told him. The pain radiated through his body.
“But I didn’t have an affair with him. I swear.”
An affair. A fling. Sex. It was all the same.
Antonio held up his hand. Rage billowed through him, crimson, hot and bitter. “You’re pregnant,” he said, as if he was in a daze. “How many months?”
She held her hands in front of her stomach. “I’m just past the first trimester.”
“Three months?” he muttered as the fury seized his throat.
“Antonio, you have to believe me,” she pleaded. “I only slept with him one time.”
He fought back the red mist that threatened to overtake him. “Only? Is a one-night stand supposed to make me feel better?” he asked in a low, biting tone. Was he supposed to believe that when she had lived with Giovanni for weeks?
Isabella’s face tightened with anger. “How many women have you slept with since we broke up?”
“That’s not the issue. Those women were not the reason we broke up.” He would not allow Isabella to distract him. “I kicked you out because you were sleeping with my brother. Now you’re telling me
you’re carrying his child.”
“It happened the night I heard on the news that you were going to marry someone else.” Isabella spoke haltingly, as if the memory still tormented her.
“And that’s your excuse?” He stared at her. He didn’t know if she was feeding him lies or if she was planning to thrust another knife in his back.
“No. I’m trying to explain.” She covered her face with her hands. “I was emotional and I drank far too much. I had been like that for weeks. I was self-destructive and I made a lot of poor choices during that time. I’m not proud of what I did.”
But she had done it. Would she have told him about Giovanni if she wasn’t pregnant, or would she have taken her secret to the grave?
“Do you wind up in the nearest bed whenever you drink?”
She slowly lowered her hands. “I’m not sure what happened that night.”
“How convenient.”
She glared at him. “All I know is that I was an emotional mess. You had kicked me out, you didn’t want to have anything to do with me, and then I heard you were planning a future with another woman.”
“And what better way to get back at me than by sleeping with my brother?” He’d used to think Isabella was sweet and innocent, but she had hidden a vengeful streak. The people closest to him had warned him about Isabella, but he hadn’t listened. He’d thought he knew everything about her. But it turned out he didn’t know her at all.
“I didn’t know about your history with Giovanni.” Isabella stood rigid in front of him, her clenched fists at her sides. “I didn’t know you had discarded me like a piece of trash because you thought I’d had an affair with your brother.”
“And look at what you did,” Antonio said. The red mist was creeping in and he was feeling dangerous. Out of control like never before. Antonio shoved his shaky hands in his pockets.
“Giovanni planned this!” she blurted out. “He took advantage of me.”
“I’m sure he got you into bed in record time.” Bile rose from his stomach and he wanted to be violently ill.
She thrust out her chin. “I’m not like that,” she said in a trembling voice.