Chapter 105: Proceed With The Purchase

Isabella stared at him for a long moment.

Then she picked up her phone, dialed.

"Catarina. The pharmaceutical I asked you to acquire. Cancel the order."

A pause.

"Yes, I’m sure. Cancel it. Now."

She hung up, looked at Enzo.

"Satisfied?"

"It’s a start." Enzo moved to the door. "I’m going back to my hotel. I need...I need space. Time to think."

"About what?"

"About whether I can keep doing this. Keep being your partner when you’re still in love with my brother. Keep watching you hurt yourself over someone who will never choose you." He paused at the door. "I’ll see you tomorrow.

We have the Belmont territory meeting at noon. Don’t be late."

He left before she could respond.

***

POV: ISABELLA

Isabella stood alone in her suite, Enzo’s words echoing in her mind.

You’re destroying yourself over someone who will never want you.

He was right.

She knew he was right.

But knowing and accepting were two different things.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Catarina.

Order cancelled as requested. Though if you change your mind, the supplier will hold it for 72 hours. After that, opportunity is lost.

Isabella stared at the message.

72 hours.

Three days to decide if she was really cancelling the plan or just placating Enzo.

Three days to decide if she was going to keep destroying herself or finally let go.

Three days to decide who she wanted to be.

She deleted the message, poured another glass of wine.

Enzo loved her.

Had been in love with her for years.

And she’d never even noticed.

Because she’d been too busy staring at Dimitri.

Too busy planning and scheming and obsessing over a man who’d made it clear....repeatedly, violently, absolutely, that he would never choose her.

Isabella looked at herself in the mirror.

Twenty-three years old.

Beautiful. Intelligent. Trained. Capable.

And completely pathetic.

Enzo was right about that too.

She was better than this.

Deserved better than this.

But did she have the strength to actually change?

To actually let Dimitri go?

To actually build a life that wasn’t defined by him?

Isabella didn’t know.

But for the first time in fourteen years, she was asking the question.

And maybe that was progress.

Or maybe it was just another lie she was telling herself.

Time would tell.

****

POV: ISABELLA

Isabella woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the windows of her isolated hotel suite and the immediate, crushing memory of last night.

Enzo’s face. His confession. His heartbreak.

I’m in love with you, Isabella. Have been for years.

She’d cancelled the drug order. Told Catarina to abort the mission. Made a promise, at least an implied one that she’d try to let Dimitri go.

But lying in bed alone, staring at the ceiling, Isabella felt the familiar weight settling back over her chest.

Fourteen years.

Fourteen years of being told she would marry Dimitri Valentino. Of being groomed, trained, prepared for that exact role.

Fourteen years of her mother’s expectations, her father’s strategic planning, her entire family’s investment in the Russo-Valentino alliance.

And now she was supposed to just... give up?

Accept that some random American woman had stolen her future?

Let Dimitri go without a fight?

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.

A text from her mother.

Your father is losing patience. The Valentino alliance is critical. Fix this, Isabella. Whatever it takes.

Isabella stared at the message, her chest tight.

Whatever it takes.

That’s what her entire life had been. Whatever it takes to secure the alliance. Whatever it takes to become Dimitri’s wife. Whatever it takes to fulfill her purpose.

And now Enzo wanted her to throw all of that away because he loved her?

Isabella set down her phone, moved to the bathroom, splashed cold water on her face.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Pale. Tired. Haunted.

Was this who she wanted to be?

A woman chasing a man who didn’t want her?

Or was this who she had to be?

A woman fulfilling the destiny she’d been raised for?

Before she could answer, her phone rang.

The contact. The woman who’d promised to get her event invitations.

Isabella answered. "Yes?"

"I have what you need." The woman’s voice was smooth, professional. "The Castellano Foundation Charity Gala. This Saturday evening. The Grand Belmont Hotel. Black tie. Six hundred guests, all A-list. And Dimitri Valentino is confirmed to attend."

Isabella’s heart kicked against her ribs. "You’re certain?"

"Positive. He’s on the guest list. Reserved table. Two seats, him and Eve Thorne."

Of course. Eve would be there too.

The perfect couple. The Devil and his chosen queen.

"I have your invitation," the contact continued. "Plus-one included. Cost is 50K as agreed. I can have it delivered within the hour."

"Do it." Isabella’s voice was steady despite the chaos in her mind.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Signorina Russo."

The line went dead.

Isabella stood there, phone in hand, staring at nothing.

This Saturday.

Three days from now.

Dimitri and Eve would be at the Castellano Gala.

And Isabella would be there too.

She could go and behave. Play by the rules. Stay in her lane. Prove to Enzo she was trying to move on.

Or....

Or she could execute the plan.

The drug. The opportunity. The chance to remind Dimitri of what they could have been.

It was wrong. Desperate. Possibly criminal.

But it was also the only card she had left to play.

Isabella picked up her phone, opened her contacts, stared at Catarina’s number.

Enzo’s voice echoed in her memory.

Cancel the drug, Isabella. If you want me to believe you’re trying, cancel the fucking drug.

She’d cancelled it.

For him.

Because some part of her...some small, buried part wanted to be the person he thought she could be.

But that was last night.

This was now.

And now, she had an invitation to an event where Dimitri would be. Where she could create an opportunity. Where she could fight for what was supposed to be hers.

Isabella’s finger hovered over Catarina’s name.

One call. That’s all it would take.

Catarina had said the supplier would hold the order for 72 hours. It had been less than 24.

She could still get it.

Still execute the plan.

Still have a chance.

But if she made this call, if she reactivated the order....there was no going back. No pretending she was trying to move on. No maintaining the fragile partnership with Enzo.

He would find out. He had Catarina under surveillance.

And when he did, he’d be done with her. Completely.

Isabella would lose the one person who actually cared about her.

For a chance....not even a guarantee, just a chance at a man who’d made it clear he’d rather kill her than be with her.

It was insane.

Reckless.

Self-destructive.

And yet....

Isabella pressed call.

Catarina answered on the second ring. "Signorina Russo."

"The pharmaceutical order I cancelled last night." Isabella’s voice was steady, cold. "I need you to proceed with the purchase after all."