Page 100 of The Cost of Silence

“Could you take Isabella’s mother home? Make sure she gets to her door safely and text me when you’re back.”

“Actually, I’m treating myself to a night in a fancy hotel tonight. I didn’t want to worry about getting home and I like the thought of taking a bath in a big tub and ordering room service breakfast.”

I smile and make a mental note to pay for an upgrade before she gets there, and settle her tab before she leaves.

“Then Rossi will take you.”

He nods. “Of course.”

Isabella’s mom rises, coming to say goodbye to her daughter first. Their embrace is quiet, fierce, intimate in the way only mother–daughter love can be.

Then she turns to me.

She extends her hand.

I take it.

Her grip is small but firm. “Thank you for having me in your home,” she says softly.

“You’re welcome any time,” I reply.

She studies me for a long moment before nodding to Rossi. “Alright. Let’s go before I start crying like a fool in front of strangers.”

“They’re not strangers,” Isabella murmurs.

Her mother kisses her cheek one last time, then lets Rossi lead her to the door.

When it shuts, the room feels strangely still.

For the first time since morning, it’s just the two of us.

I turn to her.

She’s watching the Christmas tree glow in the dimmed lights, quiet music drifting from the speaker in the corner.

I walk up behind her and sit on the couch, then gently tug her toward me until she’s settled between my knees, her back against my chest, her fingers tracing lazy shapes against my thigh.

“This was…” she whispers, voice fragile with something soft, something real.

“Good,” I finish for her.

“Surprising, but yes, good.”

“You’re a surprise, Isabella. I never imagined you’d crash into my life and implode it in the best way.”

She turns to face me, fingers skimming my face. “And I never expected to fall for a Mafia CEO.”

“Mafia CEO?”

“That’s what you heard?”

Her face is incredulous, and it makes me grin like an idiot. “No, I heard the rest, and I feel the same way.”

“Is this crazy, Nico? Are we heading for a huge fall, jumping in like this?”

I shrug because I don’t know. “I don’t know and, honestly, I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. You’ve bewitched me since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

“Good.”