Bait on the Battlefield

Isabella Rossi's POV

The slap snapped my head to the side. A high-pitched ringing filled my ears, and my left ear—already failing me—went completely deaf.

"Who gave you permission to kill it?"

Lorenzo seized my collar, his eyes burning with terrifying intensity. "Isabella, your life isn't worth as much as Elena's dog. You frightened her. For that, you deserve to die."

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and looked up at the man I had once risked everything to protect.

In my memory, Lorenzo had been just as feral as that Rottweiler. Back then, even if he accidentally hurt me, I would cradle his head and gently stroke his back until the madness left him.

I had turned him from a rabid man into a loyal Underboss. But now, for the sake of a dog, he wanted my life.

"You're right." I lowered my head, my voice eerily calm. "The dog is dead. The show's ruined. Keep the hundred grand."

With that, I turned to leave.

"Stand right there."

Lorenzo's icy voice rang out behind me.

"Since you frightened Elena, you'll pay according to the Legge della famiglia. Get in the pool outside. You don't come out until she stops crying."

It was the dead of winter. The temperature outside had dropped to 20°F.

But I didn't look back. Dragging my bleeding arm, I walked out and plunged into the bone-chilling water.

The instant the icy water swallowed me, the cold stabbed into every pore like needles.

The sensation was hauntingly familiar.

Three years ago, the night had been just as cold. The Rossi famiglia was being purged by our arch-rivals, the Serpentellis. Lorenzo and I had been cornered at the edge of a cliff overlooking the river.

He was critically wounded and unconscious. To make matters worse, the only inflatable life raft we had was a one-seater.

I strapped the only bulletproof vest onto him and shoved him into the raft. Then, I lured the assassins away before plunging into the freezing river myself.

Later, I was captured, tortured, framed, and imprisoned.

But in Lorenzo's memory, I was the one who betrayed him—pushing him toward the Serpentellis to buy myself time, fleeing in the only bulletproof vest available. He believed it was Elena—passing by at just the right moment—who had saved him.

Underwater, I let my eyes drift shut. The ice seeped into my wounds, turning searing pain into numbness.

Just as I thought I might actually die there, a hand fisted in my hair and yanked me back to the surface.

I broke into a fit of hacking coughs. Lorenzo crouched at the edge of the pool, gripping my chin, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Isabella, are you that desperate to die?"

As he saw my lips turning purple from the cold, an inexplicable irritation surged through him. He should have felt satisfied. But looking into my lifeless eyes made him feel as though something in his own chest was being hollowed out.

"Don Santoro…"

Trembling, I pulled a soaked plastic pouch from my pocket. Inside lay the check. The waterproof seal had held. The check was still dry.

"Have I… soaked long enough? Can I have my hundred grand now? Consider it a Soldato's compensation."

Lorenzo let out a laugh of pure, jagged rage and shoved my face away.

"Fine. You're unbelievable, Isabella. There truly isn't anything you won't do for a paycheck, is there?"

He stood up, looking down at me. "Tomorrow, there's a major project—a rescue drill for the Underbosses. Play your part, and I'll give you five million dollars."

Five million dollars.

That was enough to reclaim the signet ring, pay for Nonna's kidney transplant, and buy my one-way ticket out of this hell.

A faint spark flickered back to life in my eyes. Even knowing it was likely another trap, I had to walk into it.

"Fine. I'm in."