Page 103 of Isabella

“I may or may not have walked in on them having sex.”

Now it’s my turn to hold up my hands as Matteo whips his gaze to me, and I start to question if he’ll shoot me right now on the spot. “Okay, hold on, we were not having sex when he walked in on us.”

“I mean, it was implied,” Enzo says. “Little cunnilingus. Little fellatio. Something was going on before I walked in there and definitely would’ve continued had I not barged in, sooo…”

“What exactly did you expect coming here today, Niccolò?” Matteo snaps, his voice getting louder. “Your father is the reason our family was destroyed. I made a promise to my parents’deadbodies that I would avenge their deaths.”

The stoic expression Matteo wore when I first entered this room has officially been replaced with a mask of anger as his nostrils flare and his eyes gleam with disdain for me and my dad.

“I’ve made it my mission to dismantle your entire organization. When I’m done with your family, the Silvestri name will be nothing but a blip in history that no one needs to remember, and now, thanks to this new discovery,youwill also be a blip in history, especially my sister’s.”

Matteo’s anger rolls off him like waves crashing on the shoreline right into me, and I can’t blame him for it. My dad took his parents away. I would do the same thing if I were in his position. But I’m the least of his worries, and while his anger is understandable, this needs to stop.

Thinking about Isabella and the life I want to have with her—the life I would sacrifice anything to obtain—reminds me of why I’m really here, and that’s when I know the decision I have to make.

“You want to dismantle my family’s name?” I ask Matteo, who continues to glare at me from behind his desk. “Fine, do it. Taking over my family’s business isn’t something Ineedin life. The only thing I need is Isabella, so if you’re so hellbent on taking down the Silvestri name, do it. But let me have Isabella.”

Matteo opens his mouth to speak, but a knock sounds on the door. He directs his gaze behind me and yells, “We’re busy!”

I hear the door open and the sharp click of heels as someone walks in.

I know exactly who those heels belong to.

Whipping around, I make eye contact with Isabella, whose hands are perched on her hips. Her gaze is narrowed on mine, and her full lips are set in a straight line.

She looks gorgeous as ever in her light-pink bodysuit, dark high-waisted jeans, and black thigh-high boots. Her chestnut hair flowing freely in loose waves.

“Isabella,” Matteo starts but is quickly interrupted by her sharp tone.

“So it’s true. You’re here.” Her eyes remain solely on mine while she ignores her brother. She walks farther into the room so she’s only a few feet away from me.

Rising from my seat, I say, “I told you I would figure out a plan.” She might be irritated with finding me here without her knowledge, but as soon as I close the space between us, weave my arms around her waist and draw her body into mine, the tension leaves her body.

Releasing her hands from her hips, she brings them up and wraps them around my neck, and fuck that her brothers are right behind us. I need to taste her.

Lowering my mouth to hers, I capture her soft lips with mine. It’s a slow, sensuous kiss, not one that’s rough with the need I feel for this woman twenty-four seven, but one that showcases the absolute fucking adoration I feel for her.

I slide my hand down and give her ass a firm squeeze to which she responds with a small whimper, and I nearly lose myself in her altogether from it before the click of a bullet being chambered in a gun interrupts the moment.

I reluctantly pull myself away from Isabella, whose widened eyes don’t move from mine. I give her a reassuring smile and a peck on the nose before turning around. Matteo is standing behind his desk with his gun aimed directly at my head. Isabella goes to step around me, but I hold out my arm, stopping her.

Enzo lets out a long sigh from his seat. “Probably shouldn’t have done that, Nicco.”

“What, kiss my girl? You might not know what it’s like to have the instinctual need to have the woman you love wrapped in your arms, Enzo”—I lift my head, nodding to Matteo—“but your brother should understand.”

Matteo tightens his hold on his gun, his finger twitching over the trigger. I should be concerned that I’m staring down the end of the barrel, but I’m not.

“Right, Matteo?” I bait him, knowing he can’t deny the love he feels for his wife would lead him to do the dumbest shit of his life.

Taking Isabella into my arms and kissing her in front of him might not have been the smartest idea after where we were in our conversation, but when it comes to Isabella, my brain shuts off and pure instinct takes over. The need to feel her is strong, and I acted on it. Like any man would.

Isabella tries to step around me again, but I extend my arm out and shove her back behind me. “Nicco,” she hisses before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Teo, put the gun down. You’re being ridiculous.” She smacks me in the back with her hand. “And you, stop keeping me behind you.”

Doing what no person should ever do in my position, I turn my back on Matteo and the gun he has pointed at me and place a firm grip on Isabella’s hips. “I will not allow you to stand in between me and a gun,” I state, hoping she understands the gravity of the situation.

She looks at me with her big brown eyes that make me want to buckle at the knees.

“But it’s my brother. He won’t shoot me. You he could very easily shoot, and I cannot have that happen. I might be pissed at you for sneaking behind my back to meet with him, but I don’t want you dead.”

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