Chapter 5: THE PAST

ISABELLA’S P.O.V. Any girl with half a brain would have taken one look at Lorenzo and assumed that he was the kind to run from commitment so when I woke up in a hotel room with his head between my thighs, I was shocked and confused. I expected him to throw me out and ask me to leave but he did the opposite and bought me breakfast. I knew that fraternizing with your boss was incredibly stupid but I couldn't bring myself to care. For the next two weeks, I tried to keep our affair on the down low but he made that hard considering he left hickeys the size of small cities all over my body and he hated when I covered them up but I was still doing fine with keeping it quiet until Lorenzo and his men strolled into the casino again. He didn’t bring many people with him this time and when he went to the private room, I was relieved. I didn’t serve the private room so that meant that I didn’t have to see him. My relief was short-lived when the manager walked up to me. “You’re requested in the private rooms,” he told me and my eyes widened in shock. I stood there staring at him like he had spoken a different language. “I don’t know what you did but you caught the attention of Lorenzo and he personally requested you. I would tread carefully from here if I were you.” “What are you talking about? Who is he?” The manager laughed. “You don’t know who he is? That is Lorenzo DeLucia. I assume you have heard of his family." I had. The De Lucia family was among the richest in New York. They held a major part of the businesses and investments. They knew everyone and they controlled almost everything. There were rumors that they were involved in some illegal activities but no one knew for sure. They were the type of trouble that I was supposed to be avoiding. “I can’t go in there,” I begged but he gave me a small smile. “There is nothing I can do. You are on his radar and nothing can get you off it.” I reluctantly made my way to the private room. I was furious that he had lied to me. During our two weeks together he could have told me who he really was. I made up my mind to pretend like nothing had happened between us and I didn't know who he was because I didn't. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time but I ignored him. I only went to him when I had to serve him. I could feel his annoyance rolling off him in waves and it made me smile. His friend was watching the both of us with interest. When I went to serve him, his hand wrapped around my wrist. “What is so special about you?” “Excuse me?” I asked and the friend said nothing. “You can let go of my hand now.” “I know, the question is if I want to.” I didn’t know what game he was playing but I wanted no part of it. I tried to jerk my hand out but he pulled me so I was leaning over the table and he could whisper into my ears. “I guarantee that in five seconds, Lorenzo is going to come to save you.” “What are you talking about?” Before he could answer, I felt a presence behind me. “Unhand her, Matteo.” The guy- Matteo- smiled at me and released my hand. “Good luck, sweetheart.” I wanted to ask what he meant by that but Lorenzo grabbed my upper arm and pulled me away from the table. Most people ignored us but a few of them were watching us with varying levels of interest. I tried to pull my hand out of his grip but he refused to let me go. He dragged me into a bathroom and locked the door behind us. As soon as the door was shut, I whirled on him. "What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled. "This is my job, you can't pull me away from my job." "I'm your boss, remember?" I let out a growl. He sighed and took a slow step towards me. "I wanted to talk to you, I thought you would like that." "You lied to me," I told him and his brows scrunched up. "I am going to need you to be more specific because as far as I know, I have never lied to you about anything." "You are a DeLucia." Awareness filled his gaze and he sighed deeply. He suddenly looked tired as if the name itself carried a lot of weight. I felt a twinge of pity in my chest but I refused to allow myself to dwell on it and I frowned at him. "I didn't lie to you," he spoke finally. "I simply did not tell you everything." "Lying by omission still counts as lying." "All my life, I have had women flock to me because of my last name. You did not know who I was when we met and it was refreshing. There was something about the anonymity that made me feel powerful. I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was important." "That wasn't for you to decide." "Maybe, are you upset?" "No," I admitted. "Just confused." “Good, I never lie. I might give the occasional half-truth but I never lie." He took another slow step until he was standing directly in front of me and I thought he was going to kiss me but instead, he cleared his throat. "That isn’t why I am here. We need to talk." I hated when a conversation started that way because it usually meant I was being dumped. "If you want to end whatever it is we are doing then you don't need to do all of this." He chuckled darkly. "I am far from done with you, you can believe that. I came here to offer a proposition.” I was instantly on edge. If he offered me to be his personal call girl, I was going to punch him. “What is it?” “I know you’re short for money and I want to offer you something where you will never have to worry again,” he paused and I interrupted him before he said what I thought he was going to say. “Don’t tell me you want a call girl.” “Of course not.” He frowned. “I need a wife.” I laughed because I thought he was joking. There was no way he was asking me to marry him when we had only met two weeks ago. I laughed until my sides hurt and once I regained my composure, I turned to him but he wasn’t smiling. “You’re serious,” I deduced and he nodded. “You don’t even know me, you’re a stranger and so am I.” “Marry me, Isabella, and you will never have another problem in your life.”