Chapter 31

(Isabella's POV)

The air in the safe house felt thick with tension. Tony was barely clinging to life on the couch, his blood-stained shirt a grim reminder of what he'd been through. I'd never imagined that I'd find myself in this position-fighting to save someone who had betrayed me so thoroughly. But here I was, torn between my anger and the instinct to protect.

Enzo paced back and forth, his boots pounding against the cracked floor. "I still don't understand why you're doing this, Isabella." His voice was tight with frustration.

"I'm doing this because we need him," I said through gritted teeth. "We need answers, and Tony's the only one who can give them to us."

"Answers?" Enzo stopped mid-step and turned to face me, his eyes hard. "Or are you just playing the hero? You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment, Isabella."

I could feel my heart pounding, the blood rushing in my ears. "This isn't about emotions. This is about survival. If there's another enemy, we need to know who they are, and Tony is the key."

Enzo shook his head, muttering something under his breath as he returned to his pacing.

I couldn't stop myself from looking at Tony again. He was unconscious, his face pale, his breaths shallow. Even now, after everything he'd done to me, a part of me still cared-still wanted him to survive. I hated myself for it.

"You know he's dangerous, right?" Enzo's voice cut through my thoughts.

"I know," I whispered. "But if there's even a chance that he's telling the truth-"

"Then what? You're going to trust him again?" Enzo snapped, turning back toward me. "You've already trusted him once, Isabella. Look where that got you."

I flinched at his words, the sting of betrayal still raw. "I'm not stupid, Enzo. I know what Tony is. But that doesn't mean we can't use him."

"And when he betrays you again?" Enzo's tone was full of doubt, but there was something else there-something I couldn't quite place.

Before I could respond, Sienna entered, her face grim as always. She didn't say anything at first, just looked at the two of us like we were children fighting over a toy.

"We don't have time for this," she said finally. "We need to figure out what we're going to do next."

Her words snapped me out of my anger, and I straightened up. "What do you mean?"

Sienna glanced at Tony, then back at us. "He's not going to last much longer. We need to make a decision-now. Whether we save him or let him die, we need to move quickly."

My heart skipped a beat. Let him die? I couldn't even process the thought.

But Enzo was already shaking his head. "We're not saving him."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Sienna spoke before I could. "We don't have the luxury of debating this. Whatever's happening, it's bigger than just Tony. If we don't make a move now, we're dead."

I hated that she was right.

Enzo growled under his breath and pushed past me. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

I watched him storm out of the room, feeling a tight knot form in my stomach. He wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

(Enzo's POV)

I slammed the door behind me, the sound echoing through the empty hallway. I didn't want to be here-didn't want to be dealing with any of this.

But the truth was, we were all in too deep now. The Morettis, the mole, Tony-it was all tangled up in a mess that none of us could escape.

I couldn't believe Isabella was willing to risk everything for a man who had betrayed us all. She couldn't see it, but I could. Tony wasn't the only problem. He was just a symptom of a much larger disease.

I rubbed my temples, trying to calm the storm raging in my head. There were too many unanswered questions, and I couldn't stand it. But what choice did we have?

The hallway was dark, and the flickering overhead lights made everything feel off-kilter. I could hear Isabella's voice from behind the door, muffled and distant, but I didn't go back.

Instead, I moved toward the small makeshift kitchen and poured myself a drink. The burn of the whiskey didn't help. Nothing ever helped.

Then came a knock on the door, sharp and demanding.

I sighed, setting the glass down on the counter before crossing the room to answer. I didn't need to look through the peephole to know who it was.

Sienna stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, her dark eyes locked on mine.

"You look like hell," she said dryly, crossing her arms.

I didn't answer her. Instead, I reached for the whiskey again, pouring another glass.

"I'm not in the mood, Sienna."

She didn't move. "You never are, but we need to talk."

I tossed back the whiskey in one go and set the glass down with a sharp click. "About what?"

She leaned in, her gaze intense. "You're making a mistake. Pushing Isabella away like this... It's not going to end well."

"I'm not the one making the mistake." I exhaled through my nose, my temper flaring. "She's too close to this. She's letting her feelings for Tony cloud her judgment, and it's going to get us all killed."

Sienna stepped closer, her voice low. "And what about you? You think you're the only one who knows what's best? You've been shutting her out for weeks, Enzo. You're just as guilty."

I snapped my head around to face her, fury rising in my chest. "Don't lecture me. You have no idea what I've been through."

Sienna's eyes softened, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something that wasn't frustration-something like understanding. "I know you're scared. We all are. But pushing Isabella away isn't going to fix anything. You need to talk to her."

I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a breath. "I can't. Not right now."

She didn't respond. Instead, she just stared at me, waiting. The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.

Finally, I relented, my shoulders slumping. "I don't know how to fix this."

Sienna's voice softened, but there was a firmness there, too. "You don't have to fix everything. You just have to be there. For her."

I didn't answer her. I didn't know if I could.

(Isabella's POV)

The room was heavy with the weight of decisions left unspoken. Tony was still unconscious, but the clock was ticking, and every passing second made it harder to ignore the inevitable.

Sienna had gone to check on the perimeter, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my emotions. Enzo was somewhere in the building, avoiding me like the plague. And Tony-well, he was still alive, but barely.

I stood in front of him, watching his shallow breaths, my fingers hovering just above his skin but not quite touching.

A part of me wanted to walk away, to let him die, to rid myself of the complicated mess that had once been my life. But another part of me-one I couldn't deny-still cared.

"Why?" I whispered, my voice barely audible in the stillness of the room. "Why did you have to make things so complicated?"

He didn't answer.

But I wasn't expecting him to.

Footsteps approached, and I knew it was Enzo before he even stepped into the room. I could feel his presence like a storm on the horizon, and it made my chest tighten.

"I'm not going to leave him here," I said without turning around.

Enzo's voice was steady, but there was a hardness there, something I couldn't ignore. "You're making a mistake, Isabella."

I finally turned to face him, meeting his gaze. "Maybe. But I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

He didn't respond, but I could see the conflict in his eyes.

And then, just as quickly as it came, the moment passed, and the decision was made.

We were in this together-whether we liked it or not.

Tony was gone. Not physically-he was still unconscious on the couch-but in every other way, he was slipping further away. And as the hours passed, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming.

Sienna and I had spent the better part of the night scanning through the information we'd recovered, piecing together clues. But no matter how hard we tried, the answers seemed just out of reach.

And then I found it.

A file is hidden deep in Tony's phone-encrypted beyond belief, but not impossible to crack.

I opened it, my heart pounding. And there it was, clear as day: a message sent to Tony from an unknown number.

The words on the screen hit me like a punch to the stomach.

"We know what you're planning. Don't make us come for you."

The blood drained from my face.

I looked up at Sienna, who was standing over my shoulder, her face just as pale as mine. "What does this mean?"

Sienna didn't answer, but I could see the answer in her eyes.

Someone was coming. And it wasn't the Morettis.