Page 36 of Isabella

“No, I must be late because of everything that’s been going on. No surprise there.Ow, ow, ow.” Another wave of pain hits me, so I do my best to breathe through it.

Liana furrows her brows as she looks down at me. “When was the last time you had your period, Izzy?”

“I don’t know. Sometime last month.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“What day?”

“I don’t know, Liana. It’s on my health app.”

The pain continues to roll through me, and I’m thinking I might actually get sick.

Liana grabs my phone off the nightstand and starts typing on it. “You didn’t record the last time you had your period.”

“What’re you talking about, Liana?”

Holding the phone out to me so I can see the screen, she repeats, “You didn’t record the last time you had your period.”

I hiss out in pain once more.

“These aren’t normal symptoms, Izzy, and you never forget to record your periods.”

“What’re you trying to say, Liana?” I grit out, trying to endure the shooting pains as best I can.

“I’m just saying… What if this isn’t your period?”

* * *

22

ISABELLA

PRESENT DAY

My phone dings, grabbing my attention as we walk into the house. I pull it out of my purse and see it’s a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: When you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.

My hand tightens around my phone when I realize exactly who this is. I will not allow him to have access to me like this.

Lux’s voice sounds from behind me. “I hate to do this to you after everything, Izzy, but your brother wants to see us both in his office.”

I delete the message and block the number before turning around. When I take in Lux’s sympathetic expression, knowing she feels bad that I’m going to have to deal with Teo after I just had an emotional breakdown, I offer her a smile in hopes that it’ll lessen the pity.

“It’s okay, Lux. I knew this was going to happen when Nicco showed up at the boutique, so I might as well get this over with now. It’s honestly a miracle Teo didn’t march his ass down there as soon as he found out Nicco was there.”

“Oh, he wanted to,” Lux mutters, which actually pulls a laugh out of my mouth.

Her eyes light up at the sound I haven’t made enough of since Nicco came back into my life.

“The only reason I got him to calm down and not come down to the boutique is because I promised we would go see him as soon as we got home. If it’s any consolation, I don’t think he’s as pissed as you think he is.”

I nod. “Okay, well, let’s go get this over with, then.”

Walking through the house, we make our way to Teo’s office, and it feels like I’m walking the plank to my doom. He’s going to interrogate me about Nicco, which I’m not sure I can handle right now.

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