Chapter 123: Marco. Lock Her Up

Dimitri stood, began to pace.

Isabella could see him thinking, analyzing, trying to find holes in her story.

But there weren’t any.

Because Enzo had made sure of that.

"Tell me about the waiter," Dimitri said suddenly, spinning back to face her. "James. Did you speak to him that night?"

"I don’t know anyone named James."

"Did you speak to ANY waiters that night?"

"Of course. To order drinks. To thank them for service. The same as everyone else at the gala."

"Did you give anyone money?"

"I gave a tip to our server. Twenty dollars. Cash."

"Three hundred dollars was deposited into James’s account that night. From a burner account. Traced to a location near Table 47."

Isabella shrugged, her expression genuinely confused. "I don’t know anything about that. But Dimitri, there were eight people at Table 47. If someone near that table transferred money, it could have been any of us. Or anyone walking past that table. Or someone at the tables nearby."

Dimitri’s jaw clenched.

She could see his frustration.

See him realizing that her story, while suspicious, was airtight.

No definitive proof. No smoking gun.

Just circumstantial evidence that could point to her or dozens of other people.

"You’re lying," Dimitri said quietly.

"I’m not."

"I can see it in your eyes. You know something. You did something."

"I know that Eve was hurt. I know that you’re angry. I know that you want someone to blame." Isabella’s voice turned gentle, sympathetic. "But it wasn’t me, Dimitri. I swear on my life. I had nothing to do with what happened to Eve."

The lie came out so smoothly.

So convincingly.

That even Isabella almost believed it.

Dimitri stared at her for a long moment. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Then he turned to Marco. "Did we find anything on the security footage?"

"The ballroom footage was corrupted. But the exterior cameras show Isabella and Catarina leaving through the service entrance at 9:47. Two minutes after Eve collapsed."

"So someone helped them leave after the fact. Someone with access."

"Or," Isabella interjected carefully, "the timestamp is wrong. Those cameras aren’t always accurate. Hotel security systems have glitches all the time."

Dimitri’s eyes snapped back to her.

And for a moment, Isabella thought he was going to lunge at her.

Thought he was going to grab her by the throat and squeeze until she confessed everything.

But he didn’t.

Just stared at her with eyes so cold they burned.

"You’re very prepared," he said softly. "Your story is very clean. Very convenient. Almost like someone coached you."

Isabella’s heart skipped. But she kept her face neutral.

"Or almost like it’s the truth."

"We’ll see." Dimitri turned away. "Marco. Lock her up."

Isabella’s composure cracked. "What?"

"You heard me." Dimitri’s voice was absolutely cold. "Until I can verify your story, until I can confirm that you’re telling the truth, you’re not going anywhere."

"You can’t just...I haven’t done anything wrong!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." He stopped at the door, looked back. "Marco. The reservoir. Head above water. Let her think about her story while she’s submerged. Maybe she’ll remember some details she forgot."

Isabella’s blood ran cold. "The reservoir?"

"It’s a holding tank. Concrete. Filled with water. You’ll be locked inside. Your head will stay above the waterline. Your body will be submerged. Cold. Uncomfortable. But you won’t drown." Dimitri’s smile was absolutely terrifying. "Not immediately, anyway."

"Dimitri, please..."

"Tomorrow, if you still claim innocence, we’ll move you to the dark room. Sensory deprivation. No light. No sound. No sense of time. People break in the dark room, Isabella. They lose track of reality. Start seeing things. Hearing things."

Isabella stood, her legs shaking now, her carefully constructed calm shattering. "You can’t do this! My father won’t..."

"Your father won’t what?" Dimitri’s voice cracked like a whip. "Come for you? Threaten me? Start a war?"

"Yes!" Tears were streaming down Isabella’s face now. "He’ll come for me! He’ll make you pay for this!"

"I want to see him try." Dimitri moved closer, his face inches from hers. "Because right now, Isabella, I don’t care about your father. I don’t care about alliances or consequences or wars. I only care about one thing, finding out who hurt Eve. And if that person is you..." His voice dropped to something absolutely lethal. "I will make you suffer in ways you can’t even imagine. I will break you. Slowly. Carefully. Until you’re begging me to kill you just to make it stop."

Isabella was sobbing now, her entire body shaking. "I didn’t do it! I swear! I don’t know anything!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Dimitri stepped back. "Marco. Take her."

"NO!" Isabella struggled as Marco’s men grabbed her arms. "Please! I’m telling the truth! You have to believe me!"

"I don’t have to believe anything." Dimitri’s eyes were empty. Cold. "I just have to find proof. And when I do, when I connect every lie you’ve told, every move you’ve made, every person you’ve paid....you will wish you’d confessed today."

Marco dragged Isabella toward a door at the back of the warehouse.

She fought. Screamed. Begged.

"DIMITRI, PLEASE! I’M INNOCENT! MY FATHER WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

Dimitri didn’t even turn around.

Just walked toward the exit, his footsteps echoing in the empty warehouse.

Isabella’s screams followed him.

Desperate. Terrified. Pleading.

And he felt nothing.

No sympathy. No doubt. No mercy.

Just cold, absolute certainty that she was lying.

And the determination to break her until she told the truth.

The warehouse door closed behind him, cutting off Isabella’s screams.

Dimitri pulled out his phone, called Eve.

She answered on the second ring. "Hey. How did it go?"

"She’s lying." His voice was tight. "Her story is too clean. Too prepared. But I can’t prove it yet."

"What are you going to do?"

"Keep her locked up. Break her down. Force her to tell the truth."

Silence on the other end.

Then Eve’s voice, soft but firm: "Don’t lose yourself in this. Don’t become something you’re not because of what she did to me."

"She hurt you, Eve."

"I know. And I want her to pay for it. But not at the cost of your soul." A pause. "Promise me you won’t go too far."

Dimitri looked back at the warehouse, at the building where Isabella was being locked in a reservoir, where she’d spend the night submerged in freezing water.

"I can’t promise that," he said honestly. "But I promise I’ll try."

"That’s all I ask."

He hung up, got into his car.

Behind him, the warehouse was silent.

But Dimitri knew that inside, Isabella was screaming.

Crying.

Breaking.

And tomorrow, when she didn’t confess, they’d move her to the dark room.

And the day after that, if she still refused to talk...

Dimitri would find other methods.

More painful methods.

Until she told him the truth.

Or until he had proof without her confession.

Either way, Isabella Russo wasn’t leaving that warehouse until he had answers.

No matter how long it took.

No matter what he had to do to get them.