3. Izzy

Chapter 3

Izzy

Present Day

M y head was throbbing, and nothing made sense. I had dreamed that Emilio would return to my life one day, but not like this.

And who was this man in place of the teenage boy I had given myself to all those years ago?

I hadn’t even recognized him at the reunion for fuck’s sake.

I wiped away my tears and turned in the seat to him. “Where are you taking me?”

Emilio didn’t meet my eyes immediately, reaching behind him instead. “Sign this NDA first, and then I can answer your questions.”

I glanced down at the paper as he thrust a pen into my hand. I scanned it cursorily before signing. He took it and replaced it with a similar form.

I signed the form, only for him to replace it with another, and so on, for 10 more pages. The shock of what had just happened with Sebastian was wearing off, and in its place, annoyance grew. “Emilio, what is this?”

“I can’t have you in my life without this. It is just precautionary.” He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to mine. “You trust me, don’t you? You know I would never hurt you? Don’t you, my good girl? My Bella?”

Something about his words mixed with his guttural tone sparked a memory to the forefront of my mind .

“You? It was you! You met with Yara? You were the one, you…” My face flushed in embarrassment. I should be angry, but instead, I was happy . Relieved that it had been Emilio. That it wasn’t some stranger but a man that I was already intrinsically connected to.

“I fulfilled your darkest desires and woke you up on my fingers? Yes Isa. It was me. Now, there’s one more thing we have to do before you reunite with the two annoyances that have infiltrated your life.”

I fell back into my seat. The leather was sticking to my bare thighs, and I was acutely aware I was fully dressed in other men’s clothes.

Maddox’s boxers and Emilio’s shirt.

Emilio followed my attention, leaning forward to survey me. His eyes darkened as he found the fresh marks left on my body and then stopped on my bottom half. “I suppose this outfit will have to do. I need to get you back to Maddox and Oliver shortly.”

My hands fanned my lap, gripping the material uncomfortably and wiping the sweat away. I was doing my best to stay calm, cool, and collected, but I was, in fact, not any of those things.

There was a hummingbird in my heart fluttering its wings and a typhoon in my stomach rolling with the vehicle. The only reason I hadn’t completely dissolved into a puddle of irreparable mush was that I knew Emilio. I trusted him. At least I did at one time.

I didn’t bother to ask how he seemed to know Maddox and Oliver. “Where are we going?” I chose the most pressing question instead. The moon shone through as the primary source of light as we continued down an area I wasn’t familiar with.

“Boss, you need to tell her.” The voice came from the driver’s seat. “Yara won’t be happy about this.”

“Yara is dealing with her own mess.” The warmth in Emilio’s voice prior was gone. His tone was short, curt, authoritative .

“What do you mean?” Panic shot through me. Was she okay? The bump bump bump as the vehicle skirted off the road was jarring, but the driver quickly adjusted.

“Kazi, you should know better than to try to hide anything from me. We will discuss this later. There’s a reason I made you stay behind, but Mateo will keep an eye out for her. Don’t worry too much.”

“How do you know Yara?” I pitched forward in my seat, trying to catch the man’s face in the mirror, but it was shrouded in shadows.

“Isa, you didn’t think I would leave your friend unprotected, did you?” Emilio tugged me back and over to his side, wrapping his strong arms around me. His muscles hardened as he secured me in a tight embrace. His head fell to my shoulder, burying his face there.

“Emilio.” I struggled for a moment against his hold, but then the memory of our recent night together and of the summer all those years ago edged their way into my mind.

My body relaxed on its own accord, heat pooling between my thighs. My reaction had me once again questioning my sanity.

I had just seen a man’s head explode into pieces.

Why isn’t that bothering me?

“That’s it, I’m not going to hurt you, and you instinctually know that, don’t you? You’re wet for me, aren’t you? I bet I could easily sink my cock into you right now. Your body is always ready for mine.”

I grumbled in attempted disagreement. But he was right. I was anxious and on edge but beneath that was unmistakable neediness. A comfortability.

I wanted this man again. My body recognized his.

But what about Oliver and Maddox ?

He moved my hair aside to lay a single kiss on the column of my throat, directly over the mark he had left behind. “It’s been 10 years, my Bella Isa, surely you haven’t forgotten your promise.”

Promise. Promise ?

I wracked my brain, trying to catch up with the information overload.

The vehicle slammed to a stop. Squirming out of Emilio’s embrace, I looked out the window.

A church?

“I was hoping for it to go a bit differently, but your two friends threw a wrench into my plans. No matter, a pact is a pact.”

Promise? Pact? Ten years.

Realization flushed through me. “Emilio, you can’t be serious.” I attempted to fling myself out the other door, furthest from him, but he caught me by the waist.

In my stupor, Emilio was able to manhandle me into his arms, and that is where I was wrapped as he carried us up the chapel’s steps.

It was a huge building that appeared to be hundreds of years old based on the design, but it wasn’t falling apart at all. On the contrary, it was clearly well taken care of, even the small patch of grass in the front was well manicured.

For a moment, I thought I might be in some type of fever dream, but when the driver, Kazi, opened the door, I could no longer deny I was seated in reality.

The pews were lined in rows and eerily empty, cast in shadows by the candles.

This was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

Why wasn’t I running? Screaming?

There were also hundreds of rainbow fairy lights adorning the walls, fresh flowers at the ends of the pews between the candles, and beautiful crimson stained glass moths hung from the large windows. It turned the nightmare into something…oddly soothing. Comforting. Someone had put a lot of effort into this chapel, but why?

Emilio tightened his grip on me, the rough pads of his fingers digging into my skin, as he walked us down the aisle. “Come on, Isa, it’s past midnight. I waited the full 10 years as promised, but now it’s time to follow through on our pact. We’re getting married.”