Isabella's POV
I ducked behind a vending machine.
My heart hammered so hard I thought everyone in the cafeteria could hear it. Through the gap between the machines, I could see Victoria pointing the gun directly at Alexander's chest.
"You think you can just break our engagement?" Victoria's voice was deadly calm. "You think my family will just let you walk away?"
Alexander didn't move. Didn't even flinch. "Put the gun down, Victoria. You're making a scene."
"A scene?" She laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "You're about to humiliate me in front of the entire city, and you're worried about a scene?"
I needed to do something. Call security. Call the police. But my phone was in my purse back in Sofia's room. And if I moved, Victoria might see me.
"I'll compensate your family," Alexander said. "Name your price."
"This isn't about money!" Victoria's hand shook. The gun shook with it. "My father made a deal with your father. Our families were supposed to unite. And now you want to throw it all away for what? Some waitress and her sick kid?"
Her words hit me like a slap. Some waitress. That's all I was to people like her.
"Don't talk about them," Alexander's voice dropped low. Dangerous. "This is between us."
"No, it's between our families. And when my father finds out you're breaking the engagement, there will be war." Victoria stood up. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to come with me right now. We're going to get married tonight. And that waitress and her daughter will get nothing."
"I said no."
Victoria's finger moved toward the trigger.
I couldn't just stand there and watch. Without thinking, I grabbed a coffee pot from the warmer behind me and stepped out from behind the vending machine.
"Hey!"
Victoria spun around. The gun turned with her.
Time seemed to slow down. I saw her finger squeeze. Saw the flash. Heard the bang that echoed through the cafeteria.
Pain exploded in my shoulder.
I fell backward, dropping the coffee pot. It shattered on the floor, just like everything else in my life.
"Isabella!" Alexander was suddenly there, catching me before I hit the ground.
Victoria stared at the gun in her hand like she couldn't believe what she'd done. "I didn't... I wasn't trying to..."
Security guards burst through the cafeteria doors. Someone was screaming. Maybe me. I couldn't tell.
Everything hurt. My shoulder was on fire.
"Stay with me," Alexander said. His face was right above mine. "Look at me, Isabella. Stay awake."
"Sofia," I managed to whisper. "If I die... promise you'll take care of Sofia."
"You're not going to die. I won't let you."
He scooped me up in his arms and started running. I heard Victoria shouting behind us. Heard the security guards yelling. Heard the chaos spreading through the hospital.
But all I could think about was Sofia. Who would take care of her if I died? Who would hold her hand during the surgery? Who would tell her bedtime stories?
Alexander kicked open the door to the emergency room. "I need a doctor! Now!"
Nurses rushed over. Hands pulled me from Alexander's arms onto a gurney. Bright lights flashed above me as they wheeled me down a hallway.
"Ma'am, can you hear me? What's your name?"
"Isabella Martinez. My daughter... Sofia Martinez... third floor... someone needs to check on her..."
"We'll send someone. Try to stay calm."
Stay calm? I'd just been shot. My daughter was dying upstairs. And the man who'd left me six years ago was trying to buy me with a marriage proposal.
How was I supposed to stay calm?
The doctor cut away my shirt. I felt pressure on my shoulder. Then a sharp sting as something cold touched the wound.
"The bullet went through," the doctor said. "That's good. Missed the bone. You're very lucky."
Lucky. Right.
They gave me something for the pain. The room started to blur and spin.
"Sofia," I said again. "I need to see Sofia."
"After we stitch you up," a nurse promised. "Just a few more minutes."
But I didn't have minutes. Alexander's deadline was passing. If I didn't give him an answer, he'd walk away. The money would disappear. Sofia's chance would be gone.
"Where's Alexander?" I tried to sit up, but hands pushed me back down.
"You need to stay still."
"I need to talk to him! Please!"
The doors burst open again. But it wasn't Alexander.
It was a man I'd never seen before. Tall, with dark hair and eyes that looked right through me. He wore an expensive suit and had the kind of face that made people step back.
Three men in black suits followed him into the room.
"Everyone out," the stranger said calmly.
"Sir, this is a restricted area—" the doctor started.
The stranger pulled out a wallet and showed something to the doctor. I couldn't see what it was, but the doctor's face went white.
"Of course. We'll just... we'll be outside if you need us." The doctor and nurses practically ran out of the room.
The stranger walked up to my gurney. He looked down at me with no expression on his face.
"Isabella Martinez," he said. It wasn't a question. "We need to talk."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Dante Moretti." He pulled up a chair and sat down like he owned the place. "And I've been looking for you for a very long time."
My blood turned cold. I knew that name. Everyone in the city knew that name.
Dante Moretti was the most dangerous man in the criminal underworld. More powerful than the Romanos. More ruthless than anyone. If Alexander was scary, Dante was terrifying.
"I don't know you," I said. "I don't know why you'd be looking for me."
"No?" He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Think back five years. A nightclub called The Diamond. You were working there the night it burned down."
My mouth went dry. I remembered that night. Remembered the fire. Remembered running out with barely my life.
"That fire wasn't an accident," Dante continued. "Someone stole something very valuable from me that night. And I have reason to believe you know who."
"I don't know anything about—"
He held up his hand. "Don't lie to me, Isabella. I've spent five years tracking down everyone who was in that club. You were one of the last people in the VIP section before the fire started. The same section where my property was kept."
"I'm just a waitress! I don't steal things!"
"Perhaps not intentionally." Dante leaned forward. "But you saw something that night. Or someone gave you something. And I want it back."
"Even if I had seen something, why would I remember after five years?"
"Because what was stolen from me was worth twenty million dollars."
The room started spinning again, and this time it wasn't from the pain medication.
Twenty million dollars?
"I don't have anything worth twenty million dollars. Look at me! I work two jobs just to pay my daughter's hospital bills!"
Dante's expression didn't change. "Yes, about your daughter. Sofia, correct? Five years old. Heart condition. Needs an expensive surgery." He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture.
It was Sofia. In her hospital bed. Taken tonight.
"How did you..." Fear choked off my words.
"I know everything about you, Isabella. Where you work. Where you live. Who you care about." He put his phone away. "And now I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse."
"What offer?"
"You're going to work for me. You're going to help me find what was stolen. And in return, I'll pay for Sofia's surgery. All of it. Plus enough money to take care of her for the rest of her life."
It was the same offer Alexander had made. But somehow worse. Because I could see in Dante's eyes that saying no wasn't really an option.
"And if I refuse?"
Dante stood up. His men moved closer to the door, blocking any escape.
"Then your daughter stays sick. Alexander Romano loses his money in an unfortunate business deal. And you end up working off your hospital debt for the next twenty years." He buttoned his suit jacket. "Or worse things happen. Things I'd rather not describe in detail."
"You're threatening my daughter?"
"I'm offering you a choice. Work with me, or lose everything." He walked toward the door, then stopped. "Oh, and Isabella? Alexander Romano is outside right now, probably ready to offer you his own deal. But ask yourself this—can you really trust a man who abandoned you once already?"
He left before I could respond.
The doctor and nurses rushed back in, checking my stitches, adjusting my IV. But I barely noticed them.
Two men. Two offers. Both would save Sofia's life.
But which one would destroy mine?
The door opened again. This time it was Alexander. His shirt was covered in my blood.
"Isabella, thank God. Are you—"
"Your hour is up," I interrupted. "You said I had one hour to decide."
He stopped walking. "Yes."
"And Dante Moretti just made me a different offer."
Alexander's face went dark. "What did he want?"
"The same thing you want. My cooperation in exchange for money." I looked him straight in the eye. "So tell me, Alexander. Why should I choose you over him?"
Before he could answer, my phone—which a nurse had retrieved from Sofia's room—started ringing.
It was Dr. Patel.
With shaking hands, I answered.
"Isabella," his voice cracked. "Sofia's crashing again. This time it's worse. You need to decide about the surgery right now. We're out of time."