Page 108 of Pride

Her lips purse together and I know the look in her eyes she’s been regressing. “Not much.”

I reach for her hand and squeeze, forcing her to look at me. “Nina, I can’t let you go off the rails again. You look like you’ve not been sleeping.”

She sighs heavily. “I’m not about to go off the rails. I just think what happened with Cathal put me in a down mood, that’s all. And with you not there to cheer me up, the house is...”

“Empty?” I ask, as it’s how I felt whenever I spent time there without her.

She nods. “Yeah.”

I have no idea how to make it better, but I decide we have to have another night together before I’m stolen away from the city in a few weeks to live in England. “How about I come over tonight for a sleepover?”

Nina tilts her head. “Will your husband allow it?”

“Screw him,” I say. Even as I say it, I know it’s foolish to think that Isiah won’t get angry at me disappearing for the night.

“It’s your funeral,” Nina says.

“I won’t allow my husband to dictate what I can and can’t do. I’ll head back to the apartment as I’ve got a few errands to run, and then I’ll get some belongings and meet you at the house at about four o’clock,” I say.

Nina smiles. “I can’t wait. Can we order in?”

I give her an incredulous look. “Of course we’re ordering in. There’s no way I’m coming back to have dinner with Mom and Dad.” I finish the rest of my latte and place the cup down.

“See you in a few hours, then?”

Nina nods and stands as I do, pulling me into a tight hug. “I really did miss you, Bella.”

I hug her tightly in return, tears threatening to build in my eyes as reality begins to sink in. Nina and I are going to be torn apart, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. My best friend in this world will no longer be by my side and that notion hurts more than anything, especially as I know she’s alone. Forcing a brave face, I pull out of the embrace and give her a smile. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

She gives me a bright smile that makes her whole face light up. “Great.”

I turn away and head for the exit, the tears welling in my eyes finally spilling down my face as I’m already mourning what had been. Life with Isiah is going to be hard enough, but it will be so much harder without Nina by my side.

35

ISIAH

Bella isn’t at our apartment when I return and I’m thankful.

Jane texted me that she’s going to give me a call. Like clockwork, my mobile phone rings and I answer the call on speaker right away, pacing down the hall, my heart racing. Undoing my tie, I feel like I’m suffocating.

“Isiah?” Jane’s voice sounds grim. “We need to talk. Did you get my message?”

“Yes,” I say simply, sighing heavily. “You’ve got news about the auctions, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” She sighs heavily. “Clearly, the fire wasn’t enough to put them off. We need a different plan of action if we want to stop them for good.”

I grind my teeth as I knew the fire wasn’t enough to put a stop to the perverse auctions, but it did slow them down at least. “It will require a more permanent solution. If you gather each and every person who’s involved, I’ll tear the hearts out of their chests.”

“An inviting proposition, but I think that may be a little too messy. After all, some of these people are politicians and well connected.”

I rub a hand across the back of my neck, as I know that my plan to annihilate the Benedetto family as a whole has taken a back seat since my revelation over my feelings for Bella, but I can still focus on Gio.

According to my sources, he’s the one that ordered the hit on my father that night. The one that sent the masked thugs into our home. Masked thugs who shot my brother as a way to send a message to my dad.

“Fine. Shall we meet to discuss our next plan of action?”

Jane clears her throat. “Sure, you want to come to me?”

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