Page 90 of Isabella

“So?” Enzo says, waiting for us to explain.

“Don’t blame Isabella for any of this. I was the one who asked her to keep us a secret from you guys.”

“He’s lying,” she interjects. “I’ve been resistant to tell you and Teo because I knew how you’d react.”

“How we’d react?” Enzo says as if shocked by that statement. “You act like we’re unreasonable.”

“I’m sorry, were you in lalaland just a few minutes ago when you nearlykilledNicco?”

“Nope, I was present for that,” Enzo states, as if my life is so damn meaningless. Offensive, but I’d probably feel the same way if I was in his shoes.

Isabella is glaring at Enzo now, and he looks at her like he’s done nothing to receive that end of the stick from her. “What? I obviously didn’t kill him,” he says, pointing at me. “He’s perfectly fine. Right,Nicco?”

“Perfectly,” I say in agreement, which, for the most part, I am. There’s a slight kink in my neck, but I’ll work that out later.

“See, stop being so dramatic, Izzy.”

“Enzo, you almost snapped his neck.”

“You want to know what’s crazy?” he says, ignoring his sister and bringing his attention to me. “You didn’t fight back once. Not even a little fucking bit. You realize Iwasgoing to kill you until Izzy went and declared her love for you and all that shit, right?”

“Oh, I know. With the amount of pressure you were putting on the back of my neck, I’m surprised you didn’t.”

“So why didn’t you fight back?” Enzo asks.

I give him a loose shrug because the answer isn’t hard. It’s obvious, actually. “If it was my time to go, then there’s no point in fighting that.”

“You’re putting your faith in fate now?” he mocks.

“I’m putting my faith in Isabella and I.”

Enzo narrows his gaze on mine. “So you knew she’d save your ass?”

“What I know is me and Isabella are fucking endgame, and I know as her brother you wouldn’t do something that would destroy her.”

Enzo’s quiet for a moment as he considers my words. “So youdidknow she would save your ass.”

I chuckle softly. “I wasn’t absolutely sure. I was just hoping.”

Isabella smacks the back of her hand across my chest. “You werehoping?Thatwas your plan? What the hell were you going to do if Enzo hadn’t cared about what I said? What if I panicked, froze, and didn’t say anything at all? Nicco, that was a terrible plan.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” I give her a cocky smirk, and she shakes her head.

“I cannot believe you,” she mutters.

“I can’t either. I thought I was unhinged, but you’re a damn idiot for putting your life in my sister’s hands.”

“Hey!” Isabella says, whipping her gaze to her brother.

“Look, I don’t think you understand just how close you were to losing your man,” Enzo says.

She gives her brother a scoff, and I’m glad we can all find some humor in my near-death experience. Maybe this is exactly what Isabella needed to finally put our relationship out there.

“How did you even get in here? I locked the door.”

Enzo smirks. “You do realize I was the one responsible for setting up the security system here, right? I have a master key that gets me through every single door in this place.”

Isabella’s face blanches.

---