Page 53 of His to Break

“Take my wife home,” I instruct Dino. “She stays there until I get back.”

I’ve no idea what shit I’m needed for right now, but I have the feeling I’ll want to fuck my wife senseless after I’ve dealt with it. Dino acknowledges my instructions with a nod, and I turn and get into the passenger seat of Nico’s Gran Turismo.

“What’s the emergency?” I ask Nico as he revs his engine and peels out of the parking lot as if we’re at the Grand Prix and not the fucking zoo.

“Your sister-in-law tried to call 911.”

“Isabella?” It’s a dumb question because I only have two sisters-in-law and my guys are not monitoring what Emilia does.

“Yeah, she called for the cops a half hour ago.”

Thank fuck the phone is rigged, so any outgoing calls come to the security team I put in place.

“Have you spoken to Rico?” The asshole’s supposed to be ensuring my brother’s wayward wife doesn’t step out of line.

“He’s not answering his cell.”

I huff out a breath of frustration. “Did you send anyone to find out what’s going on?”

“No, Leo. Your orders were explicit. If anything happens at the house, you’re the first to know.”

Shit, he’s right. I did order that. Outside of the family, just a handful of trusted men know where Isabella is. They take turns guarding her, and I insisted that if something out of the ordinary happens, I need to be notified first so I can decide what action to take. I don’t want some asshole bothering Antonio with any trivial problems his exiled wife creates.

“Yeah, okay. Just get us there fast.”

As Nico gets us to the expressway in record time, I take out my cellphone. The drive out to Amagansett would usually take a couple of hours, but my right-hand man will get us there much quicker. To pass the time, I scroll through my emails. Dealing with mundane issues with suppliers and approving payments for the clubs I oversee on the family’s behalf keeps me busy until we finally pull up at the house.

“Stay here,” I tell Nico as I get out of the car.

Drawing my gun, I ease open the front door. It’s quiet as I walk carefully along the corridor, glancing into each room I pass. I forgot how nice this place is. It’s bright and breezy, the complete opposite of my apartment, which is more muted. If it wasn’t being used as the comfiest prison ever for Isabella, I’d take Vinnie out here for a weekend. I wonder if she likes the beach as much as I do.

There’s no sign of anyone as I move toward the back of the house, but as I get closer to the kitchen, I hear sobbing. The sight that greets me is a total shock. Rico Mancini is lying on the floor, covered in blood. Isabella is crouching against a cabinet, crying uncontrollably.

“What the fuck?”

Isabella looks up at me as I cross the room, her face a mask of terror. She shrinks in on herself even more.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” I say as gently as I can. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Crouching, I check Rico for a pulse. There isn’t one. My hand comes away bloody. Someone did a real number on him.

“Isabella, is there anyone else in the house?” I need to know if there are intruders for me to deal with. She shakes her head, but I can’t tell if that’s a no or if she’s trying to rid herself of the horror of what went on here. “Isabella, are you alone in the house?”

“Yes.” The tremors running through her body make her voice shake.

“Okay, sweetheart. I’m going to call Antonio and then you’re going to tell me exactly what happened here.”

Getting to my feet, I take my cellphone from my pocket and call Antonio.

“Hey, Leo, thought you were having a day off.”

Yeah, I should have known that was never going to happen. “Tony, I’m with Isabella. You need to get your ass over here.”

“Why?” He sounds anxious, which is unusual for my older brother.

“Just get here.”

I put my phone and my gun away.

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