Page 23 of Shattered Choices

She tries to slow down. “What’s going on?”

“We need to get out of here first.” I keep my grip on her elbow and hurry us outside.

I look around and see it. A delivery bike. One that makes it our lucky day because the key is in it. I hop onto the bike and give a confused Isabella a helmet. When she doesn’t take it, I look at her tight dress and heels and smirk.

“Come on. We need to get out of here. Hop on.”

She pulls her dress up and gets onto the bike behind me, wrapping her arms around me.

I drive away, avoiding the front of the restaurant, and we escape the area. With no destination in mind, I ride us through the city, avoiding the main streets, escaping the danger of my wife getting arrested.

When we reach the outskirts of the city where there are barely any houses, I stop on a cliff facing the ocean.

Isabella gets off the bike, and without saying anything, she walks toward the cliff facing the blue water, avoiding me. I study her; she looks like her thoughts are thousands of miles away. Sheshouldbe worried. She was almost arrested, and for someone like Bella, one who seeks justice, the tables have turned. She’s become prey for them now.

“Say it. I can hear your thoughts, Salvatore.” Isabella’s accusing voice cuts into my thinking.

“How did you get yourself into this mess?”

She laughs darkly. “We all do things we eventually regret. Sometimes we do things we’re forced to do.” Her tone cuts deep. Her words are meant for me, not for her situation. How I forced her into the marriage by saying I would send her to her father. I took away the life she built for herself, and I forced her back to the life she ran away from.

I could blame myself for her situation, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I may have thought I needed her for the alliance with her father, but I was driven by the need to have her. However, I would have dealt with other things differently; the things that tore us apart. The things I’m not proud of.

She inhales sharply. “Things that are our downfall. And sometimes we do things with the best intentions, only to be stabbed in the back.”

I get off the bike and approach her. “Who stabbed you in the back?” I ask her because this is the only question I need an answer to. No matter whether she hates me or not, I will never let anyone hurt her. Including me.

“That, I need to find out.”

I stop just a few inches behind her. “I’ll find that out for you, and I will make them pay.”

She turns toward me. One step away from me. If I take it, I could kiss her.

Her eyes narrow. “And how do you plan to do that? You have no power here, Salvatore. This is my father’s territory, not yours.”

I take one step forward until I’m toe to toe with her. I raise my hand and trace her cheek with the back of my hand. “That is true. However, I’m a man with lots of power. Something you haven’t had a chance to discover. And I will use all of my resources if I have to and hurt whoever betrayed you.”

She closes her eyes and exhales. When she opens them, she purses her lips and takes a step back out of my reach. “I don’t need your help. You have no authority here. The only way you can help me is by signing the divorce papers and getting the hell out of here.”

I put my hands in the pockets of my slacks and chuckle. “Not happening. If you think I will leave you in this state, you are delusional.”

She scoffs. “You can’t do anything.”

I fix her with my narrowed gaze. “I can. Let me find out who betrayed you. Here, no one knows me, and I have connections that can help me find a person of interest.”

She doesn’t answer, but her contemplating look says everything. I know she’s considering my offer.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything other than me helping you. You don’t know who you can trust in your circle. You can’t test them all and find out who the rat is. Let me do this for you.”

Glancing sideways, she sighs. “Fine. I’ll take your offer, but there will be rules on how we approach this.”

A smile spreads across my face. “You’re the boss. This is your kingdom, and I’m your servant.”

twelve

Salvatore

When she said there would be rules, I didn’t know what to expect. I sure didn’t expect this.

---