Dangerous Vows

Chapter 2: A Dangerous Alliance

After the funeral, the De Luca estate was undertaken by an atmosphere of heavy, oppressive silence. The mourners were all gone, and only close family and very few trusted associates remained. Isabella was staying in the big study where her father spent most of his time, determined to face up to him about Marco's death.

She did take the trouble to open the heavy oak door; Giovanni was standing by the window, looking out into the darkening sky. His back to her, he was quite straight. She could tell that there had been tension generated in the room from his posture.

"Papa," Isabella began firmly, using her voice to try to mask the churning turmoil inside her.

He didn't turn around. "Bella, you shouldn't be here."

Isabella furrowed her brow and responded, "What do you mean? I have every right to be here. Marco was my brother."

Turning finally to look at her, Giovanni showed weariness and worry lines she had never seen before on his face. "This is not your fight, Bella. You left this world for a reason. I don't want you getting involved."

She closed the space between them, crossing the room. "You don't have a choice, *Papa.* Marco's dead, and I aim to know why. I need to understand what happened to him."

He shook his head, not meeting her gaze. "Some things are better left buried. You've got to trust me on this."

"Trust you?" Isabella repeated incredulously. "How can I trust you when you won't even tell me the truth? I deserve to know what happened, *Papa.* You owe me that much."

Giovanni's gaze flickered, and for a moment, a knife of pain cut through Isabella's anger. "Bella, please. Let this go. For your own sake."

But Isabella couldn't just let it be; an image of Marco lying cold and still in that casket fixed right into her mind. She had to know about what had caused it, what had taken her brother away from her.

Before she could ask anything more, there was a knock on the door. They both turned to see Enzo Romano standing at the door, expressionless as he could get. His presence turned up the tension.

"Mr. De Luca," he nodded fractionally toward Giovanni, his gaze never straying from Isabella's face.

At the sight of Enzo, the expression on Giovanni's features tightened further. "Business before family this time, Romano."

"There is business to discuss," Enzo replied with his usual smoothness before he walked into the room without having been invited first. "But it appears that I have interrupted a family matter right now."

"Whatever business you have can wait." There was an uncharacteristic sharpness in his tone now as Giovanni snapped, "This is a private conversation."

"On the contrary," Enzo said, looking back straight into Isabella's eyes. He said, "I think it regards her also. Just as much as you."

Isabella's heart did a little skip. There was something in what he said” No actually, there was something in his eyes” that told her he knew more than what he was letting on.

"Papa," she said softly, her voice edged with steel, "let him speak.".

Giovanni's jaw flexed, yet he did not argue. Instead he turned about again, putting his back to them once more. Whatever it was that Enzo wished to say, it seemed fairly obvious that Giovanni either did not wish to hear it or did not wish Isabella to.

It seemed Enzo took that as his cue to continue. Stepping closer to Isabella, his voice was low. "Marco was involved in something dangerous, Bella. Something that put not just him, but your whole family in jeopardy."

"What do you mean?" With her heart pounding, Isabella demanded, "What was Marco involved in?"

Enzo flicked his gaze toward Giovanni, who continued to stay annoyingly silent, then back to Isabella. "Your brother was dealing with some very powerful people. People who don't take kindly to betrayal."

"Betrayal?" The word gave Isabella a shiver down the spine. "You mean Marco betrayed someone?"

Enzo's face was grave. "It appears he had been playing both sides against each other; he was working our family's interests but at the same time making some sort of deals with other people. Something went wrong, and now those people are seeking revenge."

Giovanni set his shoulders a little higher, at a more acute angle, and still did not turn around.

"Who are those people?" Isabella pressed insistently for her answer.

"They're not the kind you can reason with," Enzo said, the one to measure his words. "They're the kind who send a red-letter message. Marco got that, but even he thought he could outmaneuver them. Boy, how wrong was he."

She let out a deep breath, sucking in slightly against her fear as the full weight of what he said settled around her shoulders. "And now they come for us," she whispered, the realization seeping in.

"That's exactly what's happening," Enzo answered. "Marco's death was just the beginning. If we don't find a way to contain this, your entire family could be in danger."

Giovanni finally turned, and his expression was thunderous. "And you think you can protect us, Romano” that it should be you watching my son's back?"

The brunet's face was flat and had no expression. "I failed Marco, yes, but I will not fail you; there is yet a chance we will stop this from getting any worse."

"What do you suggest?" Isabella's tone was quivering, still from fear, but also with mixes of the steely determination. "What are we supposed to do??"

"We have to know exactly what Marco was into and who he crossed off the list," Enzo pleaded. "That is the only way we are going to be able to protect your family and ensure no more blood is shed."

Isabella nodded slowly, and the real danger finally penetrated. "Then I'm in," she said with finality. "I will help you find out what Marco was doing, and we're going to stop these people before they hurt another soul."

"Bella, no," Giovanni said sharply, stepping forward. "This isn't your fight."

"Yeah, it is," Isabella fired back. "For all I knew, Marco was my brother. I need to know what happened to him. And if that means I have to get involved in this mess, then so be it."

Giovanni watched from the corner of his eye as pride and fear shifted back and forth, knowing the urge to protect her at all costs but knowing she wasn't a little girl anymore, whose world he could make small and safe.

Enzo's gaze was wordless and expressionless, observing the transactions. A minute passed, and he spoke up, "If we're really doing this, then we better get a move on. Whoever laid Marco low is not going to be waiting much longer before they move."

The force of determination surged through Isabella. "Then we get started now. What's our first step?"

Enzo's eyes locked on hers, and for the first time ever she had the feeling of what might have been a flicker of something that might be respected. "We need to go through Marco's belongings. His phone, his laptop” anything that might give us a clue about who he was dealing with."

Giovanni's face darkened further. "You want us to sift through the remnants of my son's life in hope of finding something that may ruin us all?

"If we don't," murmured Enzo, "someone else will."

Silence filled the heavy room. The burden rested on all of them as such a decision hung in the air. Isabella's eyes floated from her father to Enzo and back again, heavy-hearted as she knew there was no turning back.

"So be it," Isabella eventually said, her voice still firm. "I will go through Marco's things. If there is something in there, I will find it."

Enzo nodded, his expression set. "I'll help you. We'll do this together."

No sooner had these words escaped, a piercing explosion rocked the entire estate. Windows rattled with terrible violence, and the ground vibrated where they stood. The heart of Isabella leaped into her throat as the sound of shattering glass and the roar of flames filled the air.

Giovanni's what the hell”? was swallowed up in the vortex only a foot away.

In the end, it was Enzo who waved through, grabbing Isabella by the arm toward the door. "Get low!" he shouted when the two of them burst out of the study and onto the hallway.

The scene outside was one of utter ruin. A car just off the front entrance to the estate was incinerated, the remains a twisted, flaming wreck. Flames perked their way through the tangled metal, which still seemed to be in flames, a portentous quality that had managed to seep into almost everything in its radius. Estate security was falling apart outside, attempting to hold the fire at bay, blurting billowing commands into handheld radios.

Isabella stared at the inferno; her brain did not take in what just had occurred. Those were no coincidences; those were too much of a blast for an accident.

"Everyone inside! Now!" Giovanni shouted, commanding. "We can't be sure that that's all there is to it!

Enzo's grip on Isabella's arm tightened as he pulled her back toward the mansion. "This is just the beginning," he said grimly. "They're letting us know they're here, and they won't stop until they've gotten what they want.".

She realized her pulse was racing as they ushered quickly back inside. Her mind whirled in the after-impacts of what had just gone down. It was a blunt reminder” really blunt” that they played a dangerous game, one that could just as easily get costly if they weren't careful enough.

The doors of the mansion slammed shut behind her. There was no going back at all now. The alliance she had just forged with Enzo might be her and Stefan's last hope of survival, yet it was so very shaky.