Page 33 of Isabella

Her eyes flare, and she braces her hands on her hips, giving me that cute attitude I’ve always known her to have, challenging me to see if I’ll back down.Oh no, my sweet Isabella, this is no bluff.

My smirk widens. “Have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I’m about to give the signal to Leo and Dante to restrain Rocco and Gianni when Isabella’s voice stops me. “Fine. My gosh. Why do you have to be so dramatic, Niccolò?”

Again, with the Niccolò.

“It’s fine, guys. We’ll be right over there,” she says, pointing to an uninhabited corner of the store.

“Izzy, Matteo would not be okay with this,” Rocco says.

Of course.

“I’ll handle him” comes another voice, and my gaze snaps to its source.

Luxtyn DiMaggio.

Do I have Matteo’s wife on my side?

Rocco gives her a concerned look, to which she rolls her eyes before bringing her gaze to mine. “Niccolò, are you planning on killing Izzy?”

“No,” I say.

“Are you planning on kidnapping her?”

Actually, that might not be a bad idea. If she doesn’t listen to me, I could always force her to…

As if Luxtyn can read my mind, she juts her hip out and places her hand on it. “I’m trying to help you here. The least you could do is help me help you.”

I don’t know Luxtyn DiMaggio, but I can see what Matteo sees in her and why she and Isabella get along. Conceding, I give her a slight nod. “No plans of kidnapping.”

“And you’ll stay right over there?” she asks, pointing to the same area Isabella pointed to before.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Rocco, you and Gianni can watch from here to make sure nothing happens. Just give them a few minutes, and I promise, I’ll handle Teo.”

I need more than a few minutes, but at this point, I’ll take whatever I can get.

“We don’t want to disrupt Liana’s place of business by causing a scene,” Luxtyn adds when Rocco and Gianni don’t move to let me by.

The DiMaggio guards exchange a look before Rocco finally concedes and nods to Gianni. They step to the side to let me through.

I walk up to Isabella whose mouth is set in a straight line and the small vein on her temple looks like it’s about to pulse right through her flawless skin. She’s beyond pissed that I put her in this situation, but I don’t care. I’d rather have her pissed at me than ignoring me.

“Come on, and make it fast,” she hisses through clenched teeth before stalking over to an open space between two displays of clothes.

I follow her over and stop when she spins on her heel and glares at me, arms folded over her chest, waiting to hear what I have to say.

She’s so closed off. Her demeanor tells me she wants nothing to do with me, and it guts me, but I push through because I need her to hear what I have to say. I might’ve hurt her back then, but I had a damn good reason to, and she needs to understand that.

“I was hoping you would’ve reached out to me by now,” I say.

“How would I do that? I don’t have your number.”

Of course she doesn’t.

She must notice the reaction on my face because she gives me an amused scoff before saying, “You thought I would keep your number in my phone after everything? You’re ridiculous.”

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