10 Chapter 10
“Scumbag! I swear, if I ever see him again, the Kelly family enforcers will deal with him on the spot!”
I had thought that once I left New York, left the territories of the Falcone and Moretti families, Dante would never find me.
I was wrong.
A month later, when he suddenly appeared before me, I thought I was hallucinating.
He was supposed to be the pride of the Moretti family–once tall, handsome, radiating the confidence of an Underboss.
But the man before me was a ghost. Gaunt and skeletal, with sunken eyes and skin so pale it seemed stretched over his sharp cheekbones.
His entire aura of authority had vanished, leaving only an empty shell.
His once–thick black hair had thinned, with shocks of white at the roots.
“Isabella!” he gasped, reaching for me as he staggered forward.
When I instinctively took a step back, he looked heartbroken, as if he might fall to his knees right there.
I held my breath, trying to remain composed.
Dante, knowing I despised him, stubbornly tried to close the distance between us.
“Isabella, I found you. Please don’t leave me… I can’t live without you.”
Just then, Siobhan returned. The moment she saw Dante, she rolled up her sleeves and charged.
“Scumbag! How dare you show your face here!”
She barked into her radio, “All units, my location. I’ve got some Moretti trash that needs to be taken out.”
Before I could react, Siobhan had summoned a group of her men.
They were fierce, the kind of men who settled problems, especially for morally bankrupt Scoundrels.
Each one was built like a brick wall, muscles straining their suits, eyes like daggers, guns holstered at their waists.
Dante frowned when he saw them but made no move to run.
Instead, he dropped to his knees, the dirt digging into the fine fabric of his pants,
“Isabella, do anything to me, he begged. “Whatever it takes to make this right. I’ll take any punishment”
“I dealt with Carina. I sent her home myself. Her father married her off to some brutal chieftain in a remote region for his own gain.
10 Chapter 10
She can never threaten you again.
“And those women? All of them, gone. I cut all ties. I haven’t set foot in that club since that day! I’ll give up everything if you just forgive me!”
Unfortunately for him, I no longer believed a word he said.
I would never forget his cold, dismissive voice on the phone.
I never wanted to see the images of him with other women in my mind again.
It was all supposed to be over.
tugged on Siobhan’s arm, signaling that it was time to go.
Dante crawled desperately toward me, grabbing the hem of my pants, sobbing.
“Isabella, please, don’t leave! I swear I’ll never betray you again. I know I made an unforgivable mistake, but from the very beginning, I have only ever loved you. I never wanted to marry anyone else!”
“Dante,” I said, my voice like ice. “You have nothing left to offer. Your only choice now is to disappear from my life.”
Siobhan’s men closed in, their leather shoes crunching on the gravel.]
I saw one of the hulking men fix his eyes on Dante, his hand hovering over his gun.
Siobhan waved them on.
“Go ahead. Don’t hold back.”
Dante remained motionless, tossing his own weapon aside and baring his neck as they approached.
“I won’t fight back, Isabella. As long as it makes you forgive me…”
“Stop!” I finally said.
The men halted. Siobhan stared at me, her voice urgent.
“Isabella! A man like him doesn’t deserve your sympathy!”
A flicker of hope crossed Dante’s eyes, and he crawled closer, trying to reach me.
“Isabella, I knew you still cared…”
“Dante,” I said, my voice devoid of all warmth.
“I don’t care about you. I just don’t want your blood staining my new life. Stay away from me.”
He froze, my words shattering what little hope he had left.
He knelt there, fists clenched, head bowed. A broken, “Okay…” escaped his lips.
His body collapsed to the ground as the enforcers surrounded him, not even bothering to touch him, as if disgusted by his cowardice.
Siobhan pointed at him and shouted to her men, “This is the Underboss of the Moretti family, a scumbag who fakes being sick to cheat on his woman! Remember his face. Whenever you see him, teach him a lesson.
10 Chapter 10
Dante curled up on the ground like a stray dog, not even daring to cry, just lifting his head to watch my retreating back.
“Isabella, I’m sorry…”
I didn’t look back. I just walked away with Siobhan.
He didn’t know it, but I didn’t need his “sorry.”
What I had needed was his loyalty.
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