Page 106 of Isabella

What feels like several long minutes pass while my brother’s gaze remains on Nicco. He finally glances at Enzo before sliding his gaze over to mine, and I finally release a long, languid breath. “Please, Teo,” I whisper.

He sits up, placing his forearms on the edge of his desk and turns his attention back to Nicco. “You really love my sister?”

“More than you could ever know,” Nicco states.

Teo releases a low chuckle, lessening the tension in the room. “I think I might have an idea of how much.”

There’s the big softie Lux has turned my brother into. I was hoping—no,praying—that he’d come out soon.

Teo brings his gaze over to mine, and I can already read the question behind his dark eyes. “Why didn’t you just tell me? We’refamily. Why weren’t you just honest instead of sneaking around behind our backs this entire time?

“Teo, you held a gun to Nicco’s head,” I utter.

“Can you blame me? It was a bit of a surprise,especiallycoming from him. It would’ve been better had it come from you.”

My shoulders sag forward, and I drop my gaze to my fidgeting hands in my lap.

I feel bad. I do. This is never how I wanted this to come out.

Bringing my gaze back up to my brother’s, I say, “I’m sorry. I know it was wrong of me to sneak around and hide Nicco from you guys, but you have to understand I was just so…”

Matteo lets out a sigh and says, “Scared.”

I give him a small nod, and the anger that was in his eyes from me lying to him has been replaced with understanding and a hint of… sadness?

“I get it, Isabella,” he says. “I clearly haven’t been doing my job as your older brother if you’re afraid to come to me, but I get it. Niccolò’s family has done the worst possible thing they could do to us. If the shoes were reversed, I’m sure I would’ve had some hesitation.”

I sit up a little taller in my seat, relief settling in me as my brother expresses his understanding.

“You love him?” he asks, and I’m surprised it’s even a question. However, if I know my brother, he might know the answer but needs to hear me say it.

“More than anything, Teo. He’s the other half of my soul, and when he left, I’m not sure if you realized it, but something changed in me. I lost my motivation to do something with my life. I was just going to be the Mafia wife I was raised to be. But now with Nicco here, I just… I feelwholeagain. You know it was him who pushed me to start working with Liana, right? And I mean as more than just helping her out here and there at the boutique. He was the one who saw my interest and talent in college and pushed me to pursue it now to help her with the bridal collection.”

Teo studies me while he takes in my words. I feel vulnerable putting myself out there in front of my brothers like that, but he wanted honesty, so that’s exactly what I gave him.

“I tell you what, Nicco,” Teo says. “You leave your father to me, and I’ll let you keep your family business running.”

Without hesitation, Nicco extends his hand across Teo’s desk. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

My brother drops his gaze to Nicco’s hand and pauses before taking it and giving it a shake, but before Nicco can pull his hand away, Teo’s grip tightens and he leans in close enough that he could easily grab Nicco by the head and bash it into the desk.

Teo’s gotten less combative since meeting Lux, but when it comes to his family, he’ll do anything to protect us. I just hope he can see Nicco has never andwillnever be a threat to me or our family.

I snap a worried look to Nicco, but a smile forms, parting his lips.

“I know you just got hit in the face with a lot of information—information I’m sure you didn’t want—but just know I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere. Let’s put this bullshit aside for good and work together to take down the real problem,” Nicco says.

Teo slides his gaze from me to Nicco before saying, “You better pray you never hurt my sister again, because if you do, I promise I won’t hesitate to put a bullet through your skull.”

“Um, yeah, I already beat you to that,” Enzo says. “You’re going to have to get in line behind me.”

“You have my word, Matteo,” Nicco says before looking over at me. “I’ll never do anything to lose the only woman I’ve ever been in love with.”

Even though I’ve heard Nicco say he loves me multiple times before, it still brings a flutter to my heart. He and Iwillbe having a conversation about him lying about this meeting after we’re done here, but I still can’t help but feel like a giddy little schoolgirl. How did I manage to win the man of my dreams?

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Teo asks.

“No,” Nicco says. “I’ll keep you updated on the takeover, and from there, you can do what you want with my dad.”

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