Page 95 of Venomous Throne

It was time the two met.

If only I could find the bloody arsehole. I could picture the little guido’s face, the look of surprise when I showed up in his bedroom. Bonetti deserved more than a bullet between the eyes.But this one was unfortunately going to be a quick kill. The threat to Isabella needed to be exterminated.

I was barely on the expressway, struggling to keep the stolen vehicle under the speed limit, when my phone buzzed with a text. Pressing the text-to-voice feature, the robotic female read:

“I know that you are probably busy. But something happened.”

I know it did, bella. I saw what they did to your house.

My heart thumped wildly as I watched the bubble that showed her typing the next message.

“Can you come over?”

The brakes screamed in protest. A trucker blared as I shot off the exit ramp, cutting him off. My sincerest apologies went out to the trucker. They deserved more credit than they got in this country for the long hours they logged hauling crap from city to city.

One hand on the wheel, I tapped the screen without looking.

I’m coming.

It was simple. She called, I came.

Even death waited for her.

Isabella sent back a reply that she wasn’t at her house, which of course, I already knew. She gave me a new address, where I’d already been, scouting the location before disappearing to find one of Bonetti’s men.

Taking the side roads, I maneuvered to the upscale neighborhood. This vehicle didn’t belong here. Hell…Ididn’t belong here either.

I slid past the gate that opened for me. The guard gave me a cold look as I passed, but luckily for him, he didn’t try and stop me.

If Isabella’s old house, the one that was now a heap of smoldering ash, was a mansion, this grand house was a palace.

I swept a hand over my hair, shifting in the seat.

There wasn’t time to feel uncomfortable.

Bursting through the front door, wrapped in a dark silk robe that engulfed her frame, Isabella stood waiting on the front steps.

My breath stuck in my throat at the sight of her.

The moonlight caught in her dark hair, casting a halo around her face. Even bruised and weary, she was ethereal. Something inside me unraveled—a knot I hadn’t realized was there until it loosened.

I killed the engine and stepped out, my body moving toward her of its own volition.

“You came,” she whispered, her voice carrying across the night air.

Those two simple words struck me with unexpected force. Throughout my career, I’d been a shadow, a whisper, a nightmare—never a presence someone waited for, hoped for. Yet here she stood, relief washing over her face at the mere sight of me.

The sensation was intoxicating. Addictive.

Isabella saw me—not the stray, not the ghost, not the weapon. She saw the man beneath the carefully constructed facade. She made me feel like I belonged.

And I wasn’t losing that. Not now, not ever.

Chapter 36 – Isabella

There were about two hours until the sun rose. I tried to sleep. I really did. But while my men were off doing damage control, I was forced to hide. And I wasn’t alone. My nightmares came in full force, plaguing me even before I shut my eyes. The moment sleep dragged me under, I was lost in the swirling vortex of pain and suffering, destruction and misery.

I woke with a start, heart pounding. What business did I have to be a mob boss?