Isabella's POV
I couldn't breathe.
Alexander stood up so fast his chair fell backward. The beautiful woman next to him grabbed his arm, her perfect red lips forming a question I couldn't hear over the ringing in my ears.
"Isabella?" His voice cut through the music, through the noise, through six years of silence.
My feet finally remembered how to move. I turned and ran.
"Wait!" he called after me, but I didn't stop.
I pushed through the crowd, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might explode. People shouted as I bumped into them. Drinks spilled. Someone cursed. I didn't care.
I had to get away from him. Had to think. Had to figure out what to do.
"Isabella, stop!" Marco grabbed my arm as I rushed past the bar. "What happened? Why did you drop—"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I pulled free and kept moving toward the back hallway. Toward the bathroom. Toward anywhere that wasn't near Alexander Romano.
The bathroom door slammed behind me. I locked it and leaned against the sink, gasping for air.
This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when Sofia was sick. Not when I'd finally built a life without him.
My hands shook as I turned on the cold water and splashed my face. Think, Isabella. Think.
What was Alexander doing here? And who was that woman? His fiancée? His wife?
A hard knock on the door made me jump.
"Isabella, you've got thirty seconds to get out here!" Marco's angry voice boomed through the wood. "You just dropped five hundred dollars worth of champagne on a VIP customer!"
Five hundred dollars. I felt sick. That was more than I made in a week at the café.
"I'm coming!" I dried my face with a paper towel and tried to steady my breathing.
I could do this. I'd been doing hard things for six years. I could face Alexander Romano for one night. I just had to avoid him, finish my shift, and get out of here.
When I opened the door, Marco was waiting with his arms crossed. Behind him stood my coworker, Vanessa.
"Girl, are you okay?" Vanessa asked. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"I'm fine. Just... dizzy for a second." I forced a smile. "Low blood sugar. I forgot to eat dinner."
Marco didn't look convinced. "The men at table seven are asking for you."
My stomach dropped. "Can someone else take their table?"
"They specifically asked for you." Marco's eyes narrowed. "Do you know them?"
"No," I lied. "I've never seen them before in my life."
"Then get back out there and apologize. And Isabella?" He stepped closer, his voice dropping low. "Those men are not the kind of men you want to make angry. Understand?"
I nodded, but my mind was racing. What did that mean? Who was Alexander with?
Vanessa pulled me aside as Marco walked away. "Listen to me. Table seven? Those are Romano family men."
"Romano family?"
"You know, the Romanos." She lowered her voice even more. "They own half the businesses in this city. Restaurants, clubs, construction companies. But everyone knows that's not where their real money comes from."
My blood turned to ice. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying they're mobsters, Isabella. Dangerous men. The kind of men who make people disappear." Vanessa gripped my shoulders. "Whatever you do, be polite, smile, and stay away from them. Got it?"
I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both.
Alexander Romano was in the mob? The same Alexander who used to bring me flowers? Who said he loved me? Who promised we'd have a future together?
"Isabella? Did you hear me?"
"Yeah. I got it."
But as I walked back toward the VIP section, every step felt like walking toward a cliff. My whole body screamed at me to run. To grab my purse and leave and never come back.
But I needed this job. Needed the money. Sofia needed me.
I picked up a new tray of champagne from the bar and took a deep breath.
You can do this, I told myself. Just apologize, serve the drinks, and get out.
The velvet curtains seemed heavier this time when I pushed through them. Alexander was sitting again, but the woman was gone. Instead, two other men sat at the table with him. Both wore dark suits. Both had the kind of faces that said they'd seen things. Done things.
Dangerous men, Vanessa had said.
"Gentlemen, I apologize for—"
"Leave us." Alexander's voice was cold. He didn't even look at me. He was staring at the other two men.
They stood immediately and walked out without a word.
Now we were alone.
My hands tightened on the tray. "Your champagne."
"Sit down, Isabella."
"I can't. I'm working."
"I said sit down." This time his eyes met mine, and I saw something in them that scared me. He wasn't the Alexander I remembered. This man was harder. Colder. A stranger wearing a familiar face.
I sat.
"Six years," he said quietly. "Six years, and you never called. Never wrote. Nothing."
Was he serious? "You left me, Alexander. Remember? You said you had to go away for business. That you'd call when you got back." My voice cracked. "You never called."
"I came back three months later. Your apartment was empty. Your phone was disconnected. You disappeared."
"Because I had nothing left!" The words exploded out of me before I could stop them. "You left me with rent I couldn't pay and a—" I caught myself just in time.
His eyes narrowed. "And a what?"
I stood up. "This conversation is over. Enjoy your champagne."
"Isabella—"
"Is there anything else I can get for you, Mr. Romano?"
Something flickered across his face. Hurt, maybe. Or anger. I couldn't tell anymore.
"No. Nothing else."
I turned to leave, but his next words froze me in place.
"I'm getting married in two weeks. To Victoria Castellano. Maybe you saw her—she was sitting here earlier."
Each word felt like a knife. "Congratulations."
"The wedding will be at St. Catherine's Cathedral. Big event. Everyone who matters will be there." He paused. "I just thought you should know."
Why was he telling me this? To hurt me? To make sure I knew he'd moved on?
"I hope you'll be very happy," I managed to say.
I was almost through the curtain when he spoke again.
"Isabella, wait. There's something I need to—"
"Alexander, darling!" The woman—Victoria—swept back through the curtain. She was even more beautiful up close. Perfect skin. Perfect hair. Perfect everything. "I've been looking everywhere for you. We need to leave soon. Your father wants us at dinner by ten."
She wrapped her arms around Alexander's neck and kissed him.
I watched, unable to look away, as she marked her territory. As she showed me exactly where I stood in Alexander's world.
Nowhere.
"I'll get your bill," I whispered and walked out.
I made it halfway to the bar before Marco intercepted me again.
"Isabella, there's someone here to see you. Says it's an emergency."
My heart stopped. "Who?"
"A woman. She's waiting by the front door. Says her name is—"
"Isabella Martinez?" A nurse I recognized from the hospital pushed through the crowd. Her face was pale. Scared.
No. No, no, no.
"It's Sofia," the nurse said. "You need to come to the hospital right now. She's crashing."