Page 39 of Isabella

Once Rocco parks, we all get out of the SUV and walk into the pizzeria that’s more crowded than usual.

“Is Liana here yet?” Lux asks while scanning the crowded tables.

“She’s on her way,” I say, pulling my phone out of my purse and checking my notifications to make sure I didn’t miss a text from her.

Glancing over at Lux, I see her eyes skim over something, then quickly shoot back. “Oh, shit,” she mutters under her breath.

I bring my attention to the area of interest to her and falter when I see Nicco. For some reason I don’t want to decipher right now, butterflies erupt in my stomach while he laughs with his friends, but that feeling disappears when I slide my gaze to one of the people sitting at his table.

A woman.

And not just any woman, but a familiar looking woman. One who so easily throws me back to three years ago. The moment I knew Nicco and I would be nothing ever again.

“That’s her,” I whisper.

“Who’s her?” Lux asks, confusion lacing her voice.

I choke down a swallow while attempting to moisten my dry mouth. “The girl Nicco left me for.”

Lux whips her gaze to mine, and mine falls to the floor, not wanting to scrutinize them anymore. The ache in my heart is so raw as I’m brought back to that life-altering call where I watched the man I love let that woman kiss him, knowing I could see it. It was the biggest smack to my face. The coldest thing he could ever do. The reason I’ve been so adamant about never speaking to him again. Ihatehim. I fuckinghateNiccolò Silvestri.

Lux brings her hand to my back. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else. Or we can just go back home. Whatever you want to do.”

She puts a little pressure on my back in an attempt to turn me around so we can exit the pizzeria, but I glance up one last time and meet the gaze of Nicco.

His eyes are soft and hint at excitement as if he’s happy to see me, which is hilarious since I have the exact opposite reaction. When he notices that, taking in the glare I’m giving him, his face morphs into confusion.

I’m about to turn around and march out of the pizzeria, but I must be a glutton for punishment because I divert my attention to the woman sitting across the table from him who’s trying to get his attention.

Whipping around, I brush past Rocco and Gianni and hear Lux tell them, “We’re going somewhere else.” But before we make it far, my name is called by Nicco, which causes my heart rate to spike and my legs to move faster, needing to put more distance between us.

We barely make it outside before I hear a scuffle behind me. I turn around and see Rocco and Gianni holding Nicco back.

“Let me talk to her,” he yells at them, but his eyes remain glued to mine as he attempts to tear himself free from their grasps.

It kills me inside that my heart skips a beat at the sight of him. His style has always been a lot more relaxed than both of my brothers’. Where they wear suits as everyday attire, Nicco’s wearing a black quilted crewneck with his sleeves pushed up and a pair of black slacks and black boots. He’s as handsome as ever, and I’m frustrated that’s what I’m thinking about at a time like this. He’s been trying to talk to me, trying to tell me he never stopped thinking about me, yet here he is, out with the girl he fucked basically in the same breath he used to dump me with.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I snap at him, my frustration boiling over.

“Isabella, please… let me explain.”

Leo and Dante rush out of the pizzeria, their eyes wide as they take in the scene before them.

“I don’t care!” I yell at Nicco, and wince as a couple walks by us, hurrying to get into the pizzeria and avoid what’s going on out here.

“Isabella—”

“I don’t care,” I repeat, this time more controlled. “Stop texting me. Stop pretending you suddenly care to salvage something you destroyed with your own two hands.”

“I do care,” Nicco says before Dante rests his hand on his shoulder and whispers something to him. I’m not sure what he said, but I see the frustration grow on Nicco’s face. He clenches his jaw as if to avoid saying something and slowly stops fighting Rocco and Gianni, who finally let him go.

“Just go back inside withher, Niccolò,” I spit out before turning around with Lux and marching back to the SUV.

“Where to now?” Rocco asks after he and Gianni get into the car.

“Just take us to the bakery by Liana’s, please, Rocco,” I say.

Taking out my phone from my purse, I text Liana to meet us at the bakery, but before I’m able to hit send on the message, a text from another unknown number comes through.

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