He rips something off the side of the crate and Danny mumbles something about bullshit and signing papers. The door slams shut, the engine starts, and we are off. I cry the entire trip. I don’t know how long it is, but I’m so happy.
I’m free.
We finally come to a stop and the forklift starts up. I’m lifted and there’s a bumpy ride to the dock I know so well. The forklift leaves and I wait anxiously to hear the garage door slam shut.
The side panel pops open, Anna’s face appears.
“Is my bestie in there?” She sings songs as she digs through the packing. I sit up, cover my face in my hands, uncontrollable sobs rack my body and Anna stops digging.
“Oh, my love. You either get out or I’m getting in. You’re breaking my heart, Izzy.”
I reach for her hand, and she helps me out and I gather her in my arms and hug her tight once I’m out. She holds me through it all and I cry so hard. I can’t let her go as we walk to the back staircase heading to my temporary home.
Anna squeezes me. “I got you, baby.”
Chapter 16 ~ Alexander
My heart is beating so fast, and the tight feeling in my chest is slowly constricting my lungs, letting less and less air in. I have to leave this house and get away from her before I go back in there and do more than choke her. Reaching my office, I slam open the door, and it bounces off the wall. I go straight to my desk and grip the edge, my nails digging into the wood. I want to break everything in this room, throw that desk, and watch it shatter into a million pieces, just like I’m breaking inside.
Pulling the tie loose from my throat, I unbutton my shirt and try to draw in a deep lungful of air. How could she? I can’t believe that she did it or that she is a part of it. I held out a small hope, thinking that maybe she was innocent, or her dad was playing her, but it was all right there in front of us the whole time in black and white
Isabella Gallo. Her signature is on every page.
All this time, she’s been in his back pocket. Isabella signs for it; Robert takes the money and hides it, but it all comes back to her, and they both win. With five votes, my father will lose his seat, and Robert will have the money and influence to do it. I kick my chair and clench my fist. How far had they intended to go with this? If it were me, once I held all the authority, I’d take the old regime out to avoid a power struggle.
It won’t be long till he comes after the whole family and that thought makes me sick. My innocent mother, my father andbrothers. We all stand in his way, and he put Isabella right in the middle of us like a ticking time bomb ready to detonate when he is ready.
Right now, I don’t have the answers, and it’s driving me crazy. The longer I have to wait to find them, the more my thoughts spiral. We will know more after this weekend, and I want to get on that plane right fucken now and find out. But all I can see are Isabella’s green eyes, red with tears, and her pale blue lips as she tried to spill more lies in my face.
And I did fall for them. Every lie that slipped from her sweet mouth.I almost fell for her. I was so fucking close to that line I could feel my body burn at the thought of the possibility that maybe there could be an us. Like the couple dancing in that painting.
Fucking stupid.
I push off the mantel and look down at the papers on my desk. I can’t even stand to see them. It makes me feel nauseous. The evidence of their betrayal spread out before me. As hard as I try, there is no way to make excuses for her. This entire scheme depends on her compliance. She has to sign those transfers or the whole thing will fail. She is the center of it all, and I missed it.
Gripping the back of my chair, I hang my head off my shoulders. The pressure in my chest is so tight; I rip my tie off and throw it away. I want to rage, destroy, and go back up there and ask why? But I know why: money and power. I need to stay calm. My father stays cool in times like this, so I try to think like he would.
I take a minute to just inhale some air, count to ten, and breathe. I can’t do any more about it right now than I already have. I need to get to California today, so concentrate on that. Get to the airport and get the hell out of here.
Both Sebastian and Carlos come into the office and stand motionless, staring at me. I don’t know if they figured I’d go nuclear and burn the house down. Every fiber of my being wants to, but it’s not going to help me find the underlying cause of this. I don’t have time for any more bullshit emotions and lying women. We need to focus on what needs to be done.
I tried playing the game as suggested. Be kind to her, like my father and Carlos advised. And what did it get me? Stabbed in the chest with the truth I felt weeks ago. Screw this, I’m getting our jet and getting that safe deposit box now.
I grab my phone off my desk and open the drawer, take my wallet and the envelope with the key, and put it in my pocket. I approach and stand before Carlos and Sebastian at the entryway. Both stood there in silence, terrified that I would lose my temper and destroy the entire office.
“I want out of here. I’m not sitting around here waiting for that goddamn flight. Fuck taking a commercial. We’re taking the private plane. I need to get out of here now!Grab that bag and meet me in the car. We’re getting the fuck out of here and going to California.”
Sebastian slowly nods, and Carlos turns and grabs the bag as I walk out and open the front door, and head down to the car. Sebastian follows me and stands beside me. Both of us unable to find the words to say to each other, both of us were too stunned to say anything. I feel bad for him. He was the one to discover her betrayal and bring us the truth, and he most of all stood by her side more than anyone and stuck up for her the most. If I feel betrayed, I can only imagine how Sebastian is feeling.
I turn to face him. His eyes and nose are both red and he hasn’t gotten any sleep in days.
“You okay, brother?”
He looks straight ahead and his voice cracks. “No, I’m not okay. I’m so far from fucking okay.”
He turns his head towards me. “Areyouokay? You are far too calm about what happened up there.” His face cringes, “You could have killed her, Alexander, Jesus.”
My fists clench at my sides and I grit my teeth.
