Chapter 2 2

Isabella POV

Jason blinked, momentarily thrown off balance by my chilling calm. But before he could formulate another pathetic excuse, I shattered his illusion.

"Love?" I let out a dark, hollow laugh that made him flinch. "You don't want love, Jason. You want the Falcone wealth and our dock routes. You planned to marry me, and then have this viper slip arsenic into my food, day after day, until I choked on my own blood. All so she could rightfully take my place as the lady of the Brennan house and swallow my inheritance."

The remaining color drained from Jason's face. Beside him, Elena gasped, her eyes wide with a terror that confirmed every word I said.

My father's hand gripped the handle of his gun. The air in the room turned lethal. This was no longer a broken engagement; it was a *Vendetta*.

Sensing the impending execution, Elena dropped to her knees before my father, tears streaming down her face. "Uncle Marco, please! I love him! My father bled his last drop for the Falcone family! I beg you, for the sake of his loyalty, let us be!"

My mother stepped forward, her voice a lethal whip. "Your father's loyalty was an honor, and you dare use it to barter for your filthy treason? You don't deserve to speak his name!"

Before my father could draw his weapon, heavy footsteps thundered in the hallway. The splintered doorframe was shoved aside as Sean Brennan, the Capo of the Brennan family, rushed in with his wife, Catherine.

Taking in the scene-the naked fear, the unmade bed, my father's murderous glare-Sean didn't hesitate. He lunged forward and drove his fist into Jason's jaw, sending his son crashing to the floor.

"You absolute disgrace!" Sean roared. He immediately turned to my father, his posture submissive, desperate to stop the bleeding of this alliance. "Marco, I apologize. She is nothing but a cheap whore who seduced an honest boy. The Brennans will never let this trash into our home. I will handle her myself."

"No!" Jason scrambled up, shielding a sobbing Elena with his body. He glared at his father in a foolish, desperate defiance. "I love her! I won't marry anyone else!" He lifted his chin, playing his final, suicidal card. "Besides, she might already be carrying my child. We were just together before you arrived."

The silence that followed was deafening. A bastard child born of betrayal.

Sean's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. He grabbed Jason by the collar, pulling him close, his voice a vicious, terrified hiss that carried through the small room. "You idiot! You think this is just a wedding? The Old Man is watching us! Constantine Gallo is waiting for us to make a mistake so he can hand our territory to Alistair! This alliance with the Falcones is our only shield! The wedding happens, or our entire family burns!"

Seeing violence failing to break her son's delusion, Catherine Brennan turned her desperate eyes to me. She reached out, trying to take my hand with a sickeningly sweet, pleading smile.

"Bella, dear, be reasonable," Catherine coaxed softly. "Marry him. You will be the official wife, the Mafia Queen. He can keep her quietly on the side. It's how our world works."

I snatched my hand back in absolute disgust. "The husband of Isabella Falcone shares his bed with no one, Mrs. Brennan."

The formal title struck her like a physical blow. Catherine's mask of warmth vanished, replaced by a cornered, vicious glare. She bared her teeth, pulling out the ultimate weapon.

"You cannot break this engagement!" Catherine hissed, her voice trembling with rage and fear. "This union was blessed by Don Gallo himself! Canceling it now is a direct insult to The Old Man. Do you want to bring that kind of wrath upon your own family?"

The threat hung heavy in the suffocating air. She was right about one thing: defying Constantine Gallo was a death sentence. But I had seen the future, and I would rather walk into the fires of hell than marry the man who would orchestrate my murder. I just needed a weapon sharp enough to cut the Don's iron decree.