Page 99 of Isabella

“Matteo DiMaggio. I think it’s about time you and I meet up.”

“And what would we need to meet up for?”

“I have some information I’m sure you’ll want to know about.”

“Information…”

“Yes. Tomorrow. Three p.m. I’ll come to you.”

Matteo stays silent on the other line for a few seconds before finally saying, “Tomorrow.”

57

ISABELLA

As I pace back and forth outside of Teo’s office, all I can think about are the different possible outcomes of what I’m about to tell him.

I finally bring myself to a stop and raise my hand to knock on the door. My heart is thumping so fast and so hard that it feels like it’ll break through my chest. The pulsing has made its way into my head and is starting to give me a headache.

“You can do it, Izzy. Just knock on the freaking door, you scaredy cat,” I mutter to myself. But just when I’m about to knock, the sound of Enzo’s voice coming through the wooden door stops me. I don’t understand what he said, so I drop my hand and press my ear against the door to see if I can hear better.

“So you have no idea why he wants to meet with you tomorrow?” Enzo says.

“He didn’t specify on the phone, but word on the street is that his capos are beginning to get disgruntled over their lack of port access and their power deteriorating right before their eyes. If I were to guess, I’d assume Niccolò wants to talk about that.”

Nicco is meeting with my brother tomorrow? Why wouldn’t he tell me that?

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Enzo says, and even I hear the reservation in his voice.

Please don’t fuck this up, Enzo.

“Is there something else he would be calling a meeting about?” Teo asks.

Wait, so he reallydoesn’tknow about us?

There’s silence in the office before Enzo says, “Not sure. I can’t really get a good read on the guy.”

Another few seconds of silence fall between my brothers before Teo says, “Yeah, well, while I’m interested to hear what he has to say, he’s going to learn tomorrow that I don’t give a fuck about anything that pertains to his family unless it’s dismantling it.”

Enzo clears his throat, and it’s a dead giveaway he’s hiding something, but I’m hoping I just think that because Iknowhe’s hiding something.

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow at three,” he says.

Tomorrow at three.

I have to be at the boutique to work on some design stuff most of the day, but I know what I’ll be doing at three p.m.

Pulling out my phone, I type a quick message to Nicco.

Me: What’re you doing tomorrow?

Nicco: I have a couple meetings, but I’ll be free at night. I need to see you.

Me: What meetings do you have?

Was that too forward? Is he going to know I know? I should’ve said I need to see him too. That’s what I would’ve said in a normal situation.Shit.He’s going to know something’s up now.

Nicco: Gabriel Panebianchi. I need to make sure my plan to takeover is ready to be implemented by the time my dad gets back next week.

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