Chapter 9 A fresh start

Abruptly waking up from the deep slumber she was about to indulge in, Isabella immediately stood up, wanting to strip herself naked.

However, the uncertainty of where she was came over her once again, thus, she scanned the room for any obvious cameras.

Not finding any, she didn't want to take that risk, especially with the thought of cameras hidden in the room, away from plain sight.

She grabbed the uniform, her towel, and the oil she had taken just in case to act as a moisturizer and went into the bathroom.

Isabella was going to do all the changing in the bathroom.

She didn't think she could particularly maintain a skincare routine with all the work she had to do, thus, she brought a considerable amount.

It took a while, but she came out all dressed, her hair in a messy bun.

She approached the mirror attached to the wardrobe, smoothening the apron on the dress.

Letting out a deep breath, Isabella heard knocking on the door.

~~~

In the Morales house, the ladies had woken up minutes before noon as they savored the nap they couldn't take the night before.

“Start making breakfast, or should I say lunch, we need to put something in our stomachs before we go about our day?!”, Mrs Morales said to her younger daughters after they had done their daily chores.

“Yes mama!” , the girls answered as they approached the kitchen.

Mrs Morales headed to her husband's office as her anger had mostly dissolved.

He was her husband after all, and she was rather worried when he didn't sleep in their room.

Knocking, Mrs Morales waited for the “come in!” She would usually hear before opening the door.

“Amore?”, she called out as she opened the door.

She took a deep sigh seeing that her husband was on his couch, a document on his face as he slept.

She noticed the rhythm of his breathing as she took steps closer to where he laid.

Taking the document off his face with the intentions of him breathing properly, Mr Morales opened his eyes, surprised to see his wife.

He quickly squinted from the rays of the sun that seeped in through the window in his office.

“What, what time is it?”* He asked as he stood up, his wife helping him sit properly on the couch.

He winced in pain as she slightly pressed on his shoulder.

“It's time to go to bed!”, Mrs Morales said, helping her husband up.

It seemed like he had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, finally taking a nap on the couch in a very uncomfortable position.

“I'm sorry for taking my emotions out on you yesterday!”, Mr Morales said to his wife.

“It's fine!”, She replied.

“Come on, you need to take a nap, and then after that you'll have something to eat!”, Mrs Morales continued.

“But I still need to do one more thing!”, Mr Morales said, trying to refute.

“Nope! That one more thing can wait until you're energized!”, Mrs Morales answered.

“But…!”,

“No buts amore! Always so stubborn!”, Mrs Morales said, leading her husband to their bedroom.

~~~

“What's the update on his shoulder!”, Luciano asked as they boarded the car designated to receive them.

“He's doing very well sir! He just needs rest!”, Andreas answered.

“I doubt the old man understands what rest is. What about the girl?”, Luciano asked, the image of Isabella coming out of the hatch with her black hair in a bun resurfacing in his head.

“She's already in the house as you requested sir, Madam Paula is making sure she works in the house until your arrival!”, Andreas said.

“Very well. Take us to the hospital!”, Luciano ordered as the car drove out of the airport and onto the beautiful streets of Venice that led to the hospital his uncle was admitted in.

They arrived soon after, Luciano's excitement clouded under his emotionless face.

“I want a report on this resistance and the status of the operation later !”, Luciano said to Andreas as they reached the door to Luigi Rossi’s hospital room.

“Yes Don!”, Andreas said, going to take a seat by the entrance to start work immediately.

Luciano entered the room to find his uncle giving orders to his assistant.

“... I don't want any mistakes!”, Luciano heard as he entered the room.

“Uncle!”, Luciano called, his eyes gleaming with joy.

“Aww my boy!”, Luigi responded as his assistant left the room for the both of them.

“The point of being in a hospital is to rest uncle!”, Luciano said as he wrapped his uncle in a hug.

Luigi winced from the injury sustained in his shoulder.

“This is a good reminder for you to actually have some rest!”, Luciano stressed.

“I’m aware of all that you're saying, but things have been in a mess for a while. I honestly thought I could handle it! However, it turns out I have gotten way too old for these things!”, Luigi answered .

“It's fine uncle, I want you to rest well! I'll be here for a while to sort things out!”, Luciano answered, crossing one leg over the other.

“Oh really? You don't need to stay! I can handle this! I just need to heal quickly!”, Luigi said, trying to refuse Luciano's help.

Shaking his head, Luciano said, “you can't even move your shoulder and you want to hold a gun!”

“Who said I can't hold a gun?!”, Luigi said, sneering.

His nephew was making fun of him.

“It's alright uncle, I'll be here till you can handle things. Now you need rest!”, Luciano answered.

“I'll have someone send you food! I need to tend to the situation immediately!”, Luciano said, hugging his uncle once again before he left.

Seeing The Don had come out, Andreas immediately stood up, following

after Luciano.

“What's the situation?!”, Luciano asked.

“It's worse than we think sir!”, Andreas answered.