My Sweet Isabella (The Ambassador Trilogy #3) (21 page)

“Of course. This is nothing. I swear to you I won’t lie again or keep things from you. I will be honest and open from now on. I will be back in two days. I would take you with me, but this is something I need to handle myself.”

“I know. I will get settled in here and cook and when you come back to me I will be officially living here. Please eat while you are gone.” She smiled up at me and I could have taken her right then.

“I’m so happy you aren’t angry again. And we are going to get married soon. The sooner I make you my wife the better my life will be.”

Love filled my heart as I looked at her standing in front of me. I loved when she didn’t wear makeup and her hair was wild. Her swollen mouth still showed signs of the amazing sex we had the night before. Her eyes were alive again and so bright. She was my hope and dreams. She was my happiness and my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The flight to Rome was uneventful. I landed and was taken to the Italian prison outside the city. During the flight, I had to let Washington know what was happening. I made a call to Homeland Security explained what happened. Romain wasn’t an American citizen so there was nothing they could do about that, but I wanted to be upfront and honest about what was going on. I called my father after I spoke to Gustan and explained the situation to him. He agreed to meet me in Rome. I could do what I had to do and get the hell out of there. The biggest problem was getting inside the prison. A car and driver were provided for me and once we pulled up the reporters were everywhere. It didn’t take long for the news to put two and two together and link my brother, his fiancé, and the terrorist attack together. My car was swarmed with reporters yelling questions. I said nothing as I pushed my way through the doors. They had him held in the Regina Coeli jail in Rome. This prison was once a monastery but was now horrifyingly dilapidated and overcrowded. I couldn’t picture my brother in there. He couldn’t handle the conditions at a luxury rehab let alone what was going on in this prison. I met up with my dad before we were taken to a room to await my brother. While we waited, he told me I looked better than the last time he’d seen me. At least I was able to unknowingly bring a small piece of comfort to him. I had told him the week before Isabella and I were back together.

“Tell me what’s going on, Fabrice?” He was upset with Romain, I could see the disappointment in his eyes, and I heard the sadness in his voice. I saw that look many times before when Romain would be arrested, or sent to rehab. He still didn’t know about Andrea and her connection to me, the hostage taking, and the terrorist attack.

“Dad, listen to me before you go in there. While I was in Paris, Pierre had Romain followed. He also had his fiancé trailed, and they discovered she was the widow to the man I killed in the hostage siege. We didn’t know if Romain was aware or involved in any way. I didn’t say anything to anyone about this because I feared for your safety. I believe this has something to do with that.”

“Jesus, he better start doing some explaining. I swear to God if he had anything to do with your shooting in any way, I will kill him myself.” My dad had lived through Romain’s lies and told me several times if it was not for our mother he would have no contact with him. He spent many nights bailing him out of jail, tracking him down, and giving him money. Repeatedly, I had heard the bullshit would be the last time, but because Romain was his son, he wouldn’t give up on him.

We were led down a cold looking corridor. The walls were crumbling and cracked. The smell of the prison was putrid like a combination of urine and sweat. The heat inside was intolerable. Men were hanging out of their cells yelling, and some were crying in desperation. I was amazed at the condition this place was in. There were three and four men to an overcrowded cell, laundry hanging on ropes across the cells, and men yelling at each other. We reached my brothers cell. Romain sat alone, not looking up. The clanging of the lock on the cell door spurred his attention. Our eyes locked onto each other. He was ashamed and I was pissed and confused. Drugs were one thing, but murder was something totally different. Even if this were justified, he would be in for a long battle.

They grabbed him roughly and handcuffed him. His face looked a mess. He had bruises all over him, and his lips were cut up as if he had been hit with something repeatedly. We were led to a room and they left us there together with a guard standing in the corner.

When he sat down I was on him with questions.

“What the fuck, Romain?” I blurted out. He had no expression in his eyes.

“I had to.”

“Had to? Have you confessed?” My gaze tore into him. I tried to read his face as I sat in front of him. My father sat quiet and still. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed off or letting me do all the talking.

“Yes,” he said and nodded his head. I rolled my eyes. This fucker was an idiot. I felt sorry for him that he was this stupid. Now was my turn to play stupid and ask him questions I already knew the answers to.

“Did you know who she was?’

He looked up at me, and his eyes came to life.

“Only right before I killed her. She told me she was sent to kill you, Mamma, Dad, and Isabella. I had no choice, Fabrice. I had no clue until she told me. She was going to kill me and go after all of you. I did what I had to do.”

“You never had any suspicion she was a terrorist?”

“No,” he yelled. His nerves were rattled and I could tell by the nervousness in his voice.

“She was good at disguising herself. From the moment I met her she talked about living in London and wanting to travel. She said she was a historian and had to travel all the time. I believed her, Fabrice.”

I could understand how he could be easily swayed. He always was weak when it came to most things, but women along with drugs, were his biggest weakness. The conditions in the prison made me shiver in the stifling heat. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I looked at my dad and I could see he was heartbroken. Here he had this son that was nothing but a problem from day one, and now he confessed to murdering a woman who threatened to kill me. I couldn’t imagine the heartache he was feeling at that moment. I couldn’t imagine the pain and heartache my brother was going through. He was genuinely in love with this woman who was only pretending to love him to hurt me.

“Do you have a lawyer?” My dad finally spoke.

Romain shook his head no. “They were going to provide me with one.”

“Bullshit, I will get you one. I know one of the best here. I already called him and he will be meeting with you today.”

“Why did you want to see me, Romain?” I was still confused as to why I had to be there.

“I have to make you understand. I want you to know what happened. I’m not a murderer, Fabrice.”

“Tell me. I have had men following her for quite some time. I knew who she was. That is why I had to get Isabella back to Washington. I didn’t know if you were involved.”

“I didn’t know. I swear to you.” He smashed his handcuffed hands down on the table trying to make me understand.

“I believe you. I had you followed, too. I needed proof that you were not involved in this.”

He looked at me with shock. “You can’t think I would do that!”

“Look at your track record, Romain. I had no idea what you may have been up to. As soon as I heard she was involved in this terrorist attack on me, I had to do whatever was necessary to protect me, Isabella, and our parent’s. I had to know you had nothing to do with trying to kill me.”

“I may be a lot of things, but I would not hurt you like that. You’re my fucking brother, Fabrice. We were raised by the same parents. Nothing, and I mean nothing would make me want do something that would cause you bodily harm. I truly thought she loved me. She used me to get to you.” His gaze left mine, and he hung his head.

“I know what she did.”

There was a silence. I looked around to see another person come in. My dad jumped up and greeted him. That must be the lawyer.

My dad introduced me to him. His name was Pablo Bassi, and he and my dad went way back. He lived in Italy, and was one of the best lawyers around.

Before they talked legal issues, I needed to hear from Romain what had happened. How did he know she was sent to kill me?

My dad gave him a cigarette, and he took a long drag and seemed to settle down a bit. He was ready to talk, but whether or not he would be honest was yet to be seen. I would know if he was lying. I always knew. He told me his story of how he met her at a narcotics anonymous meeting. She told him she was a former user, and he believed her. They became friends, and she acted rather needy always wanting him around when she was in town. She traveled a lot and said her constant traveling was for work because she was a historian. He was happy with her. They seemed to have so many similar likes and interests. They fell in love quickly, and he asked her to marry him last year. He not once suspected she was anything other than what she said she was. He did admit he had not met anyone in her family, and she never talked about her family and only a couple of times did she meet my parents. Everything was normal until last night. She was acting strange. She had come back from a trip to London, and Romain said she acted irritated and put off. He thought her behavior was from being tired. He left her alone until the evening when they went to dinner in Rome and came back to Romains apartment. That’s where she came after him with a knife. She told him he had to die because he was not playing the game right. He was to die and then she was going to kill our parents and me. The killings would be revenge for Fabrice killing her husband ten years ago. She attacked him with the knife and put up a good fight. She managed to cut him across his stomach. He lifted up his shirt and showed us the wound. Bandages covered his stomach, and his wound was evidence he did get in some altercation with someone. That is why his face was so beat up he said. She put up a good fight, but Romain wrestled the knife away from her. She kept coming after him, punching him, and grabbing another knife under her pants leg and coming after him again. She wasn’t going to stop until Romain was dead. He managed to grab his gun he kept in his drawer by the bed, and he shot her. She wouldn’t go down though, and he had to shoot her a second time. Only then did she stop coming after him and he knew he had killed her. The police were called, he was brought here, and he asked for me. He was set for a hearing the next day. With the facts in front of him, the lawyer seemed to think Romain would not spend much time in jail. He would have the information verified before they went in front of the judge and the lawyer asked if I would testify as to what happened to me and how this situation was related. I agreed, reminding them I would be returning home the day after. The guard reminded us that our time was up. We said our goodbyes and Romain was in tears when they led him back to his cell. My heart hurt for him. He may be an idiot and a chronic drug user, but he was my brother and he was there because he actually was doing something good for a change.

I left my father and the lawyer there and went back to my hotel. I was exhausted, in need of a drink, and I wanted to talk to Isabella. This time I avoided the mass of reporters by meeting my driver in the garage area.

The accommodations at my hotel were perfect. I had a wonderful view of the city, a nice walk out balcony, and a bed big enough for ten people. I ordered room service and turned on the news to see my brother discussed along with me. The story was of the terrorist connection and the murder of Andrea Noir by my brother. My phone rang like crazy, and before I could talk to Isabella, I had to speak to Washington. They said a representative from Homeland Security was flying down that evening. They offered me protection which I declined, and they promised to help my brother if his story was proven to be true. I discussed what I knew and that I would meet with them again the next day.

I was able to speak to my girl afterwards and relaxed as I listened to the sound of her voice. I couldn’t wait to get back to her and share my home with her. Her brother and dad helped her move in. She was now officially back in my life and mine. I smiled to myself, laid my head on the pillow and actually slept for the first time in a long time.

I
made my way to the first family Sunday dinner at the Piori house. I had flown in from Rome in the early morning hours and then headed over to Isabella’s family home. The entire family was gathered around the table, and everyone was there to see me, and happy Isabella and I were back together. Through the entire dinner, I couldn’t wait to get Isabella home and fuck her brains out. I had not touched her in four days and my cock became hard just looking at her. Of course, she had to wear one of my favorite dresses and while I stood in the kitchen she whispered in my ear she was wearing nothing underneath. After that, I knew something had to be done before dinner was served.