Isabella POV
The morning light filtering into the massive kitchen of the 72nd Street townhouse was as cold and unforgiving as the man I had married. I stood by the stainless-steel island, staring blindly into my black coffee. My palms still tingled with the impossible memory of Damiano's coiled strength from last night, a dangerous puzzle I couldn't solve.
Footsteps broke the silence. Hector Vargas walked in. He wasn't just a butler; he was a Soldier, moving with the lethal, measured grace of a predator. Today, however, his right wrist was heavily wrapped in a thick ACE bandage.
"Good morning, Signora," he said, his tone carefully blank. "An old injury flared up. I am afraid I cannot assist the Don with his therapeutic bath today."
Before I could respond, the quiet hum of an electric wheelchair announced Damiano. He rolled into the sterile room, his storm-gray eyes instantly locking onto Hector's wrist.
"What is this, Hector?" His voice was a freezing, absolute command that demanded the truth.
"My wrist, Boss," Hector replied, bowing his head, though I caught a defiant glint in his eye. "I cannot safely bear your weight. But the doctor's orders regarding your hydrotherapy are strict."
I saw the muscle feathering in Damiano's tight jaw. I thought I understood. It was the agonizing pride of a man forced to expose his weakness, stripped of his dignity. I wanted to bridge the chasm between us, to prove I wasn't just a pawn.
"I can help," I offered softly.
Damiano's head snapped toward me. "Absolutely not."
But Hector smoothly stepped back, sealing the trap. "It is a wife's duty, Boss."
Damiano shot Hector a look of pure, unadulterated murder—a silent promise of violence. But he was cornered by his own medical charade.
Ten minutes later, the master bathroom felt like an execution chamber. It was a claustrophobic cavern of black obsidian marble, thick with suffocating steam. Damiano sat in the massive freestanding tub, the water lapping at his waist. He wore black compression pants, a stark contrast to his bare, heavily scarred torso.
I knelt beside the tub, taking the sponge. The air between us was so tense it was hard to breathe. I began to wash his broad shoulders. Every time the sponge grazed his skin, his breath hitched, his muscles locking down as if bracing for a bullet.
"It's okay," I whispered, trying to soothe what I thought was his wounded pride.
I moved my hands down over his ridged abdomen, reaching for the water line where the compression fabric clung to his thighs.
The second my fingers brushed the expanse of his thigh, Damiano erupted.
Before I could even register the unnatural, rock-hard heat beneath the wet fabric, his hand shot out like a viper. He clamped his fingers around my wrist with bone-crushing force. With his free hand, he violently struck the water, sending a massive wave crashing over the marble floor to mask whatever movement his body had just made.
"Do not touch me!" he roared.
It wasn't a command; it was the feral, panicked snarl of a cornered beast. His eyes were wild, dilated, and entirely terrifying.
"Get out! Get the fuck out of my sight, Isabella!"
The sheer violence of his revulsion hit me like a physical blow to the chest. He wasn't just proud. He was utterly, physically disgusted by me. The realization shattered whatever fragile hope I had been clinging to.
Tears of profound humiliation burned my eyes. I ripped my bruised wrist from his grip and stumbled backward, slipping on the wet marble. I didn't wait for him to yell again. I turned and fled the suffocating heat of the bathroom, the sound of my own muffled sobs echoing in the empty hallway.
