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“Good. Keep her there.” Tension riddles his voice, so I know something has gone wrong. “We ran into some of Barone’s guys. And it wasn’t good.”
Deep in the pit of my stomach, I know Isabella’s real father has a good idea of where she is and who has had her all these years. “What does Daniel know?”
“Not everything. Not by far. But he’s on the right track,” John lets me know.
Hearing the sound of the door opening behind me, I turn to see Isabella coming out of the ballroom. I can’t let her leave now. “Hang on, let me call you right back.” Ending the call, I shove the phone into my pocket as I go to her. “There’s been a change of plans.”
Her brows arch in question. “Okay.”
“The wedding has been moved up.”
Casting her eyes to the floor, she sighs. “Okay. How long do I have to get things ready?”
“Less than twenty-four hours. The wedding will be tomorrow.” Knowing this is going to freak her out, I add, “You can have as much of the staff as you need. Just get everyone going on this.”
Her jaw hangs open. She’s clearly stunned. “How am I going to do this?”
Placing my hand on her shoulder, I give her my most confident smile. “I believe in you, Isabella. If anyone can pull this off, it’s you. I have a cousin who’s a florist. I’ll have my assistant text you all the phone numbers you’ll need to get things done.”
She begins to lose focus, stammering, “I . . . I . . . can’t . . .”
Tightening my hand on her shoulder, I try to pull her back to what’s really important. “Hey, listen to me. This won’t be that hard. For starters, since it’s become a rushed thing, there won’t be that many people here. Plan for fifty, max. I have some things to take care of, but when I’m done, I’ll come to you and help with anything you have left.”
Her eyes brighten as she begins to relax. “You’ll come help? You’ll tell me what you want? And what about your fiancée? Will she be coming tonight to help too?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe.” It’s not a total lie. My fiancée will most definitely be there. Only she has no idea she’s the one I’ll be marrying in the morning.
“But I’ll have you,” she says with a nod. “I can do this. Fifty people isn’t many. I can put this together—with lots of help.” She spins around and heads back to the ballroom, set on making the wedding work even though I’ve made it extremely difficult for her.
Heading to my home office, I call John back. He answers, “Hey, I’m on my way to you now.”
“Great. Meet me in my office. And you should know that I’ve made the decision to have the wedding in the morning. Before noon tomorrow, Isabella will be my legal wife. I can’t give Daniel Barone any chance of taking her. Even that asshole knows that if he even attempts to kidnap my wife, it will mean war. A war he cannot win.”
“So, you told Bella about this?” John asks, sounding concerned.
“I told her she has to stay here and get things finished so we can have the wedding tomorrow. I didn’t tell her everything.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll be there soon, and we can talk.”
An hour later, I’m sitting in my office when John comes in. He takes a seat on the sofa opposite me, huffing with aggravation. “Someone has to have been talking about Bella. Barone knows too much.”
“What does he know?” Leaning forward, I fill a whiskey glass then slide it to John across the coffee table that separates us.
Taking the glass, he drinks it all down and then places it back on the coffee table. “His thugs didn’t tell me much. But they did threaten my life. They said that the truth is out there, and I will die.”
Leaning back, I stretch my arm along the back of the sofa. “The truth is out there,” I murmur, contemplating what that could mean. Aside from the fact that Barone knows about Isabella and how the family took her in after her real mother’s death. “Do you think it was a chance meeting that had you running into his men?”
With a slight chuckle, he shakes his head. “Are there any chance meetings between men like us?”
I know what he means and shake my head. “You were followed.”
“Yeah. I had three of our guys with me, so I know they were following me long enough for them to get twice as many men on their side before they came out of the shadows to make their threats.” He refills his glass, then leans back and takes a sip. “I don’t think they know she’s here or about our plans for her. But I know they want her back. And they know I’ll protect her with my life.”
Running my fingers over the soft fabric of the sofa, I think about the situation at hand. “Right now, they think you’re her only protector. But she’s really under my protection. Once they know that—and we will make sure everyone knows that by tomorrow evening—the search for her should end abruptly.”
His chest rises and falls as he sighs deeply. “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that, Carlo. See, on my drive over here, I made some calls to see what the little birds I have flying around town might’ve overheard. Talk of overthrowing the Vietti dynasty has been thrown around. And none more talkative about it than Daniel Barone.”
“This can’t be new,” I growl. “How come I haven’t heard about this before now? Shit like this has to be squashed before it can gain any momentum.” My jaw is so tight I can barely speak. “Do we know who has sided with Barone?”
