It's late af for me right now it's almost like two thirty in the morning lol but here's your guys chapter my babies 🫶🏼 ignore all typos I'll be back to fix any mistakes I missed later on. Enjoy ❤️

Hailey's POV

Empty. The bed is empty again.

I wake up to an empty bed again, just like I have been the last two months.

We fall asleep together every night, Isaac holds me, helps me fall asleep, but somehow he always manages to sneak out of bed and out of the bedroom without me feeling him or hearing him.

It's not just in the mornings anymore, it's now progressed to the middle of the nights as well. I don't know if I subconsciously wake up because I don't feel Isaac's around but I wake up almost every night at two in the morning because I have to pee and my husband is nowhere around.

I go looking for him everytime I wake up and he's not in bed and can usually always find him in his office asleep either on top of his desk on paperwork, or sitting in front of the fireplace, a copper drink lingering around nearby. Mirroring an exact replica of Carmelo on his long days.

I wake Isaac up every other night and drag him back up to bed with me and wake up to him being gone all over again in the morning because he's already left to start his day.

He doesn't sleep, he barely eats, he hardly talks to me now and it completely breaks my heart. He's holding so much in that I'm afraid he's gonna lose himself completely if he doesn't start to open up.

He definitely wasn't wrong when he told me he was about to become a person I wasn't going to like weeks ago, this isn't the person that I imagine would sprint out though.

I expected his angry side to take over completely, I expected him to turn into a jerk, I expected him to lose the soft side to him, but instead he's just numbed himself and shut me out, he's shut everyone out.

My phone vibrates on the nightstand beside me and I'm quickly reaching over for it and find a text message from Isaac. "Good morning princess, I'm sorry about today, please eat before you leave, I love you."

There's a small ache in my chest after I'm done reading his message.

We're officially twenty eight weeks as of two days ago and it's time to check up on Isaiah and make sure that he's growing and doing okay.

The thought of going to my prenatal appointment alone makes me want to curl up into a little ball and cry my eyes out.

Isaac promised that he would go to every appointment with me, he promised that he'd be there every step of the way- that of course was before his father was killed, now everything's different.

Now he's the leader of an entire Italian mafia, now he's busy twenty four seven. I hardly ever get to spend any alone time with him because when he is home he's locked up in that office working on god knows what, and when he comes to bed I'm usually too exhausted to stay up and I'm out within a few minutes of cuddling.

Now I'm starting to feel lonely.

I actually spend most of the day/days with Ric, or whoever the hell else is on my security team that day, it usually is Patrick because I always ask for him. I hate being home all day without Isaac being here so I'll either go over to Angela's and hang out with her, Dion, and the baby, or I'll go to my dads because I'm not exactly allowed to go anywhere else without Isaac, even if I have high security.

Dion's mentioned multiple times that he'll talk to Isaac because he sees just how lonely I feel and I always tell him, to just leave it alone, he has a million other things to worry about that don't include my sensitive feelings.

I don't text him back and drag myself out of bed giving him a taste of his one medicine, I let him know once I leave the house.

My shirts lifted about half way when I climbed out of bed because nothing I own hardly fits anymore. I usually go to sleep in one of Isaac's big shirts or lounge around in them here at the house but I have to go out in public today so I have to dress decently.

Isaac keeps promising that he'll take me shopping during the weekend because it's usually when he has a little more free time but every time we get ready to head out something always comes up and he's rushing to his headquarters and leaving me home alone, again.

I hop into the shower real quick and wash my body off. I actually just washed my hair last night so I really wasn't in the mood to wait for it to dry today.

I sit down at my vanity desk that Isaac had his men install into the bedroom last month and call Angela on FaceTime and get ready why we talk on the phone and ask her if I can go over after my appointment because I really didn't want to come home to any empty house, but I also don't want to annoy them with me stopping by every other day.

She of course doesn't mind and even mentions how she's home alone today because Dion's actually trying to transition into going back to work and he's been gone for about an hour now and isn't sure what time he'll be back since Mr. Matteo has a busy schedule and has to make time for his best friends now.

I hand up our call once I'm done with my hair and make up and make my way into our walk-in closet and get out of the comfortable clothes that I'm in and put on a really cute black dress that Angela actually bought me.

I grab a coat and my purse and step out of the bedroom to find Dominic already walking in my direction.

"Good morning, Mrs. Matteo."

"Morning, Dom."

"Any preference on today's driver?" He questions.

I smile, "you ask me this every time, Dom, and my answer never changes, you know who I prefer."

He smiles softly, "unfortunately, Patricio is not available today, ma'am. He's out of town."

I feel my entire mood instantly change. And here comes the loneliness. Stupid hormones.

"Then why even bother asking what preference I have, Dominic."

"Because your comfort around the guys is your husband's main concern," he answers, never once losing the softness in his voice. " Second favorite maybe?" I open my mouth, ready to give Dominic my second choice when he's quickly talking over me. "Beanie isn't available today either, I'm sorry, your usuals aren't actually."

"Then I guess it really doesn't matter who drives me around then, does it?"

"I mean I can take you to your appointment, Hailey, I'm available."

"You've been up all night, Dom."

"I don't mind, Mrs. Matteo, really."

I shake my head, "I'll be fine with whomever you send, Dom, I promise."

He nods his head and stays quiet for about a second or so, "do you think we can talk before you head out?"

"Of course, what's going on?"

"In your bedroom preferably," he says. I quickly frown at this and he's shaking his head. "It's one of the many rooms that actually doesn't have surveillance. I need to talk to you privately and he can't know about it."

"Okay," I trail off softly and reach for the bedroom door knob.

"I can't just walk in, there's a camera behind me, you'll need to invite me in. Make some kind of motion so it looks like it's your idea on the screen."

I don't nod my head, afraid of the security team picking up on that and open the door to the bedroom and step to the side, "you know I don't think the sink in the bathroom is draining properly, can you check it out for me, Dom?" I point a thumb behind me.

Dominic smiles and nods as he walks past me and into the bedroom, "there's no audio, little red, you could've just pointed."

I playfully rolled my eyes, "get in the damn room, Dominic."

"Yes ma'am," he continues to smile. "Make sure to leave the door open," he comments as I step into my bedroom.

I do.

I cross my arms and walk over to him, he's standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking around. "Well you're in here, talk."

His gaze drops down to my stomach and I watch his smile grow for a second or two, "you being pregnant brings back so many memories of the queen being pregnant with Isaac. She was far more moody I'll admit."

I smile softly, "what's up, Don?"

His smile slowly starts to disappear as his usual stern look replaces it. "It's Isaac."

"Is he okay?!" Panic quickly sets in at the mention of my husband's name.

"Physically, yes. Emotionally, mentally, no."

"He's grieving, Dom."

"Is he though? Is he really? Because It's been over two months that he's been dead, Hailey, over a month since we buried him, since I buried my closest friend and we've still done nothing yet."

"I don't know what you want me to do here, Dominic, this is out of my control. I don't know what happens outside these walls, how you guys even got about plotting your revenge."

"I need you to break him," he blurts out.

"I'm sorry?" I frown, trying hard to comprehend if I heard correctly or not.

"I need you to take a play right out of Carmelo's book and break his son.. I need you to push your husband over the edge and break him."

"I- I don't understand what you're asking me to do, Dom."

"I'm gonna be as blunt as I can be, Hailey, without trying to upset you or hurt your feelings. Isaac will never reach his full potential while you're around though."

I immediately scoff, "how dare you-"

"Let me finish," Dominic waves a hand in my direction, taking over me. "He'll never become the ruthless leader he needs to be because of his devotion to you.. It's no secret that your husband thinks very highly of you, Hailey, you hold him back unintentionally in his head."

I frown not following.

"Isaac-" he sighs. "He's a great kid, I love him to death like if he were my own, I would do anything to keep this entire family safe, this empire alive, but he won't listen to me, to anyone he doesn't give two fucks about."

"He cares about you, Dom-"

"Not in the way he cares for you, for his mother, his actual blood," he states. "He's exactly like his father, Hailey, to him I'm just another person on his payroll, he doesn't give two fucks about what I think about him. Carmelo- he had a gift at pulling the anger right out of that kid by simply getting inside his fucking head. He knew how to manipulate his way around anyone."

That he did.

"Before you came into that kids life he was the most selfish little asshole that I'd ever met in my entire life that his own dad couldn't even handle him at one point. He would stress me the fuck out when Carmelo would send him my way, he was peeking right before you met him, that's who I need back, that's who I need to run this family. He's done an amazing job, in fact he's killing it, but he's letting shit slide here and there because he's afraid of things getting back to his wife, things that will make this family look weak."

"I already told him I wasn't going anywhere, Dom, we literally talked about it, I told him he has my full support on whatever he did, I know what I married into."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Hailey, but you weren't always the most accepting back then and I think that's what he latches onto."

Ouch, that definitely didn't hurt.

"Subconsciously I think he's afraid to really let himself be great because he hangs onto his guilt. I need that kid to feel every ounce of hurt in order to get that rage out of him. I need him to not care about anyone's feelings including his own. We can't take this city down, back, when you're at the back of his mind. He's more afraid of disappointing you again that it's gonna ruin everything his father worked so hard to build for him, for your family," he waves towards my stomach.

I place my hands on my belly and inhale a deep breath, the mild pain in my chest growing, "just tell me what I need to do, what I have to say," I mutter.

"I can't," his voice drops to a softer tone. "Only you know Isaac in a way that no one else does, Hailey. You need to find a way to get inside his head and push him over the edge and trigger that anger he bottles up. The second that rage kicks in, his guilt and any other little feelings he thinks makes him weak will go away and his father's prodigy will make an appearance."

I softly begin to shake my head, "I'm scared.. What if he ends up hating me? What if it goes too far?"

Dominic frowns as he crosses his arms along his chest, "are you saying that you're scared that he might physically hit you?"

I shake my head again, "I'm afraid I'll lose him. I've fought so hard to keep him out of that head space, to help him love himself for who he actually is and this will ruin him, Dom."

"You're carrying his baby, little Red, you'll get your husband back, I promise. That little peanut that you're growing inside of you," he unfolds his arms for about a second, pointing over at me. "It'll snap him back to reality, it'll remind him of who he bettered himself for."

"And if it doesn't?"

"It will.. I've seen it with my own eyes," he smiles looking down at the ground. "Carmelo was so far gone with his humanity the day he met Adriana. He became the most machiavellian, narcissistic, self centered, psychopath, after his parents death. The man used to take life's because he was bored, because it made him feel better when he was having shitty days and the second he fell in love with the kids mom his bad traits only amplified and possessiveness joined the party. Just like Isaac he was a fucking headache to be around, and it nearly drove Adriana away. I can still count all the times the woman actually left that man."

He chuckles softly, "Adriana actually went into labor and gave birth to their son, your husband, without Carmelo knowing because they were on such bad terms that she didn't have the need to let him know. She was terrified to be around him. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the news about 'the baby' being born and the boss wasn't aware of it. I honestly didn't know how he was gonna react, I genuinely believed that he would hurt her because I'd never seen the man so angry in my life and he was a pretty hateful person that I desperately tried to get him to calm down while we rushed over to the hospital and nearly lost my mind when I saw him break in that hospital room."

I stay quiet, looking in Dominic's direction, listening as he continues to reminisce about the past. There's a small smile on his face, a smile that holds back sadness for his long time friend.

"If a man like Carmelo can be saved, little red, then Isaac can be as well. As much as I hate myself for asking you to do this, for putting you in this position, I know that you got it, you'll get through to him. He needs the most important person in his life to manipulate him, to push him to his breaking point."

***

Go in, dude, go in, just go in, I keep telling myself mentally, but I literally can't move, I can't unbuckle myself, I can't breathe, I can't think. I can't do anything ever since Dominic left our bedroom and I left the house.

We've been sitting in the truck, in the doctor's office parking lot for the last fifteen minutes debating whether I wanted to go in or not- technically I'm already considered late because of their Grace period, although I was actually here on time, I just haven't been able to get myself out of the damn SUV.

Aj, who happens to be my driver today, sits in the driver seat quietly, patiently, occasionally glancing back through his rear view mirror every three minutes.

I was actually really relieved when Aj came into the house to ask if I was ready to go. I was currently sitting in the living room waiting for Luca to show up because that's who Dominic had originally assigned to me this morning.

Apparently Luca had to attend an emergency situation that happened and Aj just so happened to be checking in for the day so Dominic quickly switched them out and sent Aj my way.

I immediately told Aj to give me a second when we pulled into the parking lot and he killed the engine, getting ready to hop out and open my door, it's been more than a few seconds...

I glance at the building to my left, the doctors office, and inhale another deep breath turning my gaze back down to my phone in my hands, on my lap.

I have the 'find my' app open. Isaac is back from wherever he took off too this morning and is at his warehouse, he's been there for more than thirty minutes now meaning he's probably not going anywhere anytime soon.

"Break him," - Dominic's voice continues to linger at the back of my head.

Why me? Why can't he do it? I mean I know why, he literally explained everything, but why does it have to land on me? I'm not Carmelo, I can belittle his son without feeling guilty about it, I'm already stressing over it, giving myself a damn panic attack.

I get goosebumps and my heart thumps viciously in my chest as I try and play out multiple scenarios in my head.

I can't do it.

I don't want to do it, I don't want to hurt his feelings, I don't want to see the hurt look in his eyes, hear the pain in his voice. I don't want him to think that he's losing me, disappointing me, after he just told me that his biggest fear right now is losing me.

I also don't want to disappoint Dominic, Carmelo. I don't want Isaac to lose the part of his dad that has stayed behind with him. I know Isaac already, he's not going to let this go, he needs to get his revenge, he needs to let his emotions out the only way he knows how, and now I know why he's been holding back.

Dominic proceeded to explain how they have a plan already to take down Carmelo's murder, the men are literally just waiting for Isaac's approval, for his okay and for some strange reason Isaac wasn't giving it to them, apparently he needs more time and I understand why now.

They're going after Cris- and Dominic believes that my husband needs my approval to go after him.

Isaac's never once mentioned who he thinks killed his father, we actually rarely ever talk about what happened because he's shut down completely, but apparently Cris is their only lead to Carmelo's death.

I refuse to believe that Cris is capable of doing something so horrific, but after Dominic explained everything it slowly started to make sense and all fingers pointed at him. My heart immediately began to ache for him.

To actually think that Cris actually turned out to be the one person he fought so hard to step out of his shadows, to think that he would legitimately get disgusted when people compared him to Axel only to come out being even worse, I didn't want to believe it.

Dom mentioned that my husband is also struggling to believe it as well. He says it's too easy to pin the murder on Cris but the men now have actual evidence that Cris was in fact the one to pull the trigger and kill Carmelo.

The men actually demanded that they extract the bullet from Carmelo's body before they buried him and run any fingerprints that could've come from the bullet, they just recently got the results back from forensics last month..

They were his, the fingerprints belong to Cris, someone who I genuinely thought was a friend not only to myself but to my husband and his family. I still don't want to believe it's true, I really don't, I want to believe Cris is better than his family but at this point I'm losing all hope, maybe some people genuinely just don't change.

I have to let my husband know that I'm okay with him going after Cris, that I'll still stand by his side after he decides to execute him. I need to reassure Isaac that he's doing the right thing, that he's not interfering with a friendship that I want to watch him bring down his fathers murder.

"Mrs. Matteo?" Aj's voice pulls me out of my pensive state of mind.

"Hmm?" I look up to find him looking through the rear view mirror.

"Is there a reason why we're hanging out in the truck and not going into your appointment. Not that I mind hanging out, but I believe we're late," he says looking over at his watch on his wrist.

I smile, "I'm pretty sure even if I was an hour late they would still see me, Aj, Isaac made a hell of an impression the last time we were here."

He offers a small smile and a curt nod, "are you okay?"

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"This is the quietest I've ever seen you, no disrespect of course. Ric says nothing but good things and has mentioned from time to time that if you're extra quiet you're most likely in your head, or having anxiety." I stare over at him. "It's our job to know these things, when you're not being yourself.."

I inhale a deep breath looking away from the mirror and back down at my phone, "I- I just hate that he's not here," I murmur.

I glance back up to find Aj staring at me with an apologetic look on his face.

"Let's just go home."

He quickly frowns, "I'm sorry you want to leave? We haven't even went insi-"

"I'll reschedule," I tell him. "For a different day, a day that he's available."

"Mrs. Matteo- Hailey, I don't think that's-"

"Take me to the warehouse," I quickly cut him off and talked over him. "Now, Aj."

He inhales a deep breath and starts the truck engine, "yes ma'am," he nods.

My anxiety immediately spikes when we leave the parking lot and stays extremely high on the drive as I think about what I'm about to do. If what Dominic asked me to do is even the right thing to do, wondering if I even have the balls to do what he asked me to do.

I begin to slowly psych myself out.

Going into my contacts I call Dion about half way through the drive so that he can give me some advice, peace of mind, motivate me if anything, and quickly hang up after the second ring when I realized that Aj will be listening in on my call.

One of the many things Dom asked me to do, to keep our conversation between us.

Dion of course calls back almost immediately and I lie to him saying that I accidentally clicked on his contact rather than my dads and hang up without mentioning anything. I think about texting just because I can't put my mind at ease but go against that too because for all I know the tech team screens our messages now that Isaac is in charge.

Fifteen minutes later we're passing through the security gates at the warehouse and parking in my spot near the entrance, sitting in the truck all over again.

"Y-you know, you can talk to me, Hailey." Aj speaks softly from the driver seat. He turns to look behind him, rather than through the rear view mirror. "Somethings going on in that head of yours," he smiles almost sadly.

I mimic his smile and shake my head, "nothing ever comes good from me stepping through those doors so I'm just trying to prepare myself."

"You're married to the king, Mrs. Matteo, you now control what happens in that building, anywhere you go really. You no longer have to feel small anymore, these men,myself, we will break our necks to keep the queen happy, the boss happy."

I smile, "you're so much like him."

Aj frowns.

"Ric," I clarify. "You remind me of the person he used to be."

Aj smiles, "so what you're saying is that I annoy you? Because I've been told plenty of times that he used to be annoying before he got all dark and broody."

I laugh softly and shake my head, "that's exactly what I'm talking about.. Ric had one of the happiest personalities, he always had the need to keep everyone smiling.. How is he?"

Aj smile slowly begins to get smaller and smaller until it's completely gone and he's shrugging his shoulders, "he has his good and bad days. I offered him the spare bedroom that Metcalf and I have in the loft. The bad days get worse and worse every time the loneliness hits and I'm afraid that I won't be able to get to him on time when he calls. They told me about his overdose."

I nod, "he's using again?"

"Not that I know of but I'd rather be safe than sorry you know?"

I nod again, "do you have any family?"

Aj shakes his head, "my mom died of an overdose when I was like ten and my dads locked up in prison."

"You don't have any siblings?"

"One," he answers softly. "A younger brother."

"What's his name?"

"Raul," his voice comes out almost as a whisper as he sits back in his seat. "Rj," he scoffs.

I smile and frown at the same time as I look over in Aj's direction.

He begins to grin, "junkie mom couldn't even keep it together and stay sober long enough to give us different names."

"Stop, I like it, it's cute. Aj and Rj."

"We have the same middle name, Hailey, it's not cute," he chortles.

"Do you still keep in touch?"

Aj shakes his head, "he's seven years younger than me. He was three when our mom died, five when I went into the system, I doubt he'll even remember me. My grandma didn't let me come home when I got out of juvie. I reminded her too much of my dad and left me in the streets because she didn't want me anywhere near Rj, I was back in jail two months later for theft."

"How did you get involved with The Matteo's?"

He shakes his head, "we should probably head inside now."

I nod not wanting to push the subject, "thank you," I lean forward and place a hand on his right shoulder.

He looks over and frowns.

"For the distraction," I smile.

He smiles and is reaching for the driver door. He climbs out of his seat and is opening my door a second later as I climb out myself.

"If he's not in his office then he's gonna be down stairs and whoever's guarding that door most likely will not let you go through, ma'am."

I smile and grab my purse from my seat, it's heavier than usual because the gun Carmelo gifted me a couple months ago is in it. Isaac makes me carry the damn thing around whenever he's not with me.

I sling the chain on my shoulder and look over at Aj, "you just said I'm the queen of these establishments, Adolfo, if I want to get through those doors I will."

He grins and nods as he shuts the SUV door, "after you ma'am."

Grabbing onto my chain a little tighter than usual I begin to walk towards the double doors, Aj following closely behind me.

My heart begins to race in my chest as I get closer and closer towards the entrance. I haven't been back here since Carmelo was alive and the thought of him not being here is enough to make me wanna cry.

Aj quickly runs up from behind me and is reaching for one of the double doors as we walk up to them and is holding it wide open as I step inside.

Loud music is instantly blaring throughout the building like it always is everytime I step into these walls. I walked deeper into the building and came to a quick stop once I reached a small crowd of men working out on a bunch of different machinery.

"Can I help you?" I speak out loud as nearly a dozen men stop mid-workout to watch my every move. They don't say anything and immediately get back to what they were doing, looking away from me. "That's what I thought," I commented under my breath.

I continue to make my way towards Carmelo's office to find the blind on the windows open and look through them to find the small space is empty, Isaac isn't in there which means he's gonna be in the lower levels just like Aj mentioned.

I turn to look behind me to find that Aj is no longer lingering behind me, he actually stayed back to talk to someone. He continues to carefully watch my every move though as a huge grin begins to form on his face as I walk over towards the man that's guarding the door to the lower levels.

Then man in a black Shirt and black pants immediately greets me, "morning, Mrs. Matteo."

"Good morning," I smile. Unfortunately I didn't know his name, I'd seen his face around before but it's hard trying to remember every single one of these men's names.

He pulls his phone out of his pants, "let me fetch him for you."

I place my hand on top of his phone, "I wanna talk to him personally."

"Of course, I'll have him come right up and meet you in his office."

I pull my hand away from his phone and cross my arms along my chest, "I wanna go downstairs."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Matteo, I can't let you through."

"Open the door and get out of the way," I commanded.

"I understand your frustration ma'am, even if I did move out of the way, I have no way of letting you pass through, I don't know the passcode."

"I know it," another deep voice says from behind me.

I turn back to find none other than Isaac's old trainer Jeremiah standing behind me. He tilts his head to the side, "go find something to do real quick, Frankie."

"Yes sir."

Jeremiah walks over to the keypad once Frankie has left his post and is pushing some numbers and the little lights are turning green a second later. Jer places his hand on the handle and is opening the door, holding it open as he steps to the side, "please, after you."

I glance up at him, "why are you letting me in?"

"Because if anyone's gonna take the boss out of his nasty mood then it's gonna be his wife."

"He's in a mood?"

"Only for the past few weeks."

"If he wanted to talk, Jer, he would've come to me weeks ago."

"Sometimes as a man we're too prideful to ask for help, Mrs. Matteo." He immediately changes the tone in his voice, it's suddenly deeper, sterner. "Sometimes we need a little push."

I quickly frowned looking up in his direction, "h-how many of you are in on it?"

He stands up straight with a smug smile on his face now, "in on what? I'm not sure I understand what you're asking?"

Hmph sure.

"You don't have to follow me downstairs," I say in my most nonchalant stern voice that I can get out, truth be told I'm a nervous wreck here. "It'll happen, it'll get done."

He releases the door handle, "of course ma'am, I'm not worried at all. There's an emergency button on the wall, should you need any type of back up. He's extra hostile these days when we interrupt his workouts."

"I'll be fine, Jer, thank you."

He nods one last time before I'm walking into the room and he's closing the door behind me. The elevator doors in front of me quickly open and I'm stepping into the metal box and pushing the first button so that it takes me to the first level of the basement.

A gush of cold air is immediately hitting me in the face when the doors open back up, it's definitely cold enough down here so that Isaac doesn't burn up while he's working out.

Sure enough I find Isaac running on a treadmill as I make my way out of the elevator and walk over to the door entrance. Surprisingly he's not alone though, he has two of his guys standing inside of the gym near the entrance, locked and ready to go.

Paranoia at its finest, they're all over the place. Here. The house. My dads. Everywhere.

I cautiously step into the room and both men are instantly greeting me.

"Mrs. Matteo."

"Hello," I smile to the man that has greeted me verbally. "You guys can leave, I got it from here."

The other man who hasn't said a word smiles, "no can do ma'am." He tilts his head forward, towards my husband who's still running. "Only the big Boss can dismiss us from this post."

I mentally roll my eyes and plaster a fake smile on my face and begin to walk towards the treadmills, towards Isaac.

He doesn't hear me walking up beside him because he has his AirPods in and is too busy focused on running.

I take a peek at the timer on the machine as I walk up in front of him, 42 minutes, he's been running for 42 minutes.

He quickly frowns as I step into his view and is yanking his earbuds out of his ears but doesn't slow on his running.

"What are you doing here?" He says breathlessly and is looking down at his watch. "You couldn't be done that fast."

Anger and annoyance quickly consumes me and I have to try really hard to bite my tongue and not set Isaac off yet but I can't.

"This is why you couldn't make it to your son's appointment? Because you needed to run? Let off some steam?"

Isaac shakes his head as he keeps his steady pace, "I finished early, you were already at the clinic by the time I got here."

"You could've tried," I muttered. "To make a little more of an effort to show up. You knew how important this was for me, how much I didn't want to go alone, Isaac."

"I'm sorry," he says, his tone almost flat, unbothered.

"Can you please stop running! I'm trying to talk to you here, Isaac!"

He pushes the emergency stop button on the treadmill and it's immediately bringing him to a stop.

"What, Hailey, what?! I'm sorry, what else could you possibly want me to say right now?" He huffed out of breath.

Oh no he fucking didn't.

"Excuse me!?" I quickly exclaimed.

Isaac says nothing in return and I begin to lose my fucking mind pronto.

Stupid hormones, they will be the death of me.

"Get out!" I say loudly while looking my husband in the eyes. I'm not talking to him though, I'm talking to his guards towards the back. Surprisingly they don't hesitate and leave the room in a matter of seconds.

Isaac steps off of the treadmill as the guys leave the floor and I hurriedly make my way around the machine and walk up behind Isaac shoving him forward "who the hell do you think you are raising your voice at me?!"

He turns around, bewilderment and frustration written all across his face.

"Scusami?" He speaks in Italian. Yup he's definitely annoyed right now, guess that makes two of us.

"Don't give me that scusami bullshit Antonio, the hells the matter with you?!"

"I don't know what you want from me, Hail, I can't read your fucking mind," he points a finger at his head.

"Great, you're back to being an asshole, that's good, shows you're angry.."

He stays quiet and I have to stop myself from running over to him and hugging him. I know him well enough by now to know that he's not doing okay, that he's barely hanging on by a thread so if I push him right now he'll definitely break, the only thing is that Dom doesn't exactly want him to break down because if he breaks down he's gonna shut down and I know the little anger that's inside him right now it's what's keeping him going.

The thought alone of hurting him is enough to make me feel sick, I don't know how Carmelo did it so many times without feeling an ounce of guilt, remorse.

I inhale a deep breath attempting to keep my voice from shaking. "Why haven't you done anything, Isaac? Why haven't you talked to me?"

"Tell hell are you talking about, Hail? I talk to you all the time. Why the fuck are you picking a fight all of a sudden, out of no where?"

"You know what I mean! You haven't said two words about your father since he died."

He goes silent and is rolling his eyes and turning around to walk away.

I quickly follow after him and reach for the empty water bottle next to the treadmill and throw it at his back, "don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

My stomach churns. I honestly can't remember the last time we actually had a heated argument like this, or the last time we actually got into a fight and as much as I hate it, it needs to happen, I need to save him from himself, his emotions.

Isaac turns around, looking down at the bottle he points over at it, "did you- just chuck that at me?"

"It didn't throw itself."

He inhales a deep breath, "Go. Home. Hail. I am not gonna argue with my pregnant wife."

"Who's arguing? I'm talking, loudly."

"Hailey."

"Tell me why are you holding yourself back and I'll leave. Tell me why haven't you done anything, why aren't we fighting back? You would always talk to me, Isaac, always, no matter how bad it got or was."

"Hail, just go home."

"No."

"No?" He scoffs.

"No. I am not leaving this warehouse until you let out some type of emotion or talk to me!"

"I can't!" He shouts rushing over to me. "Why can't you just understand that I can't!"

"You can, you just don't want to."

"Fine. I don't want to. You happy now?"

"No."

He inhales another deep breath and speaks softer, "I can't let it out without completely losing myself, Hail. My skin literally feels like it's on fire 24/7 because of all the anger that's bottled up inside! Im trying to keep myself together, I'm trying to keep myself compose for my fucking family, for my men, but it literally feels like I'm suffocating, I can barely breathe these days!"

"Then break baby," I take a step towards him and he instantly takes one back. "Just let it out."

He shakes his head, "I can't, I can't be that guy again."

"Says who?"

"Says me!" He taps his hands against his chest. "I can't think clearly when angers clouding my judgment!"

"Then don't think clearly! You have me, you have Dion, Dominic, Ric, Milo, an entire fucking army that will think for you! You have to climb out of whatever hole you've allowed to sink yourself into, baby! I need you back on the surface with us, with me. I need the hot-tempered man who would do anything for his family, Isaac."

"I can't be reckless around, Hail, not anymore," he waves a hand towards my stomach. "If I allow myself to get lost in the anger then I'm not capable of protecting you from what may come out of it, and I'm nothing if I can't protect you, Hailey. This family doesn't matter to me if I don't have you right beside me, if I lose you in the madness."

"Isaac-"

"You, Isaiah, and my mom are all I have left right now. That's what I'm hanging onto right now."

"Baby, have you checked on your mom lately? Really checked on her?"

He glances up at me and frowns as my heart continues to pound in my chest, "she is miserable," I say.

Here goes nothing.

"Not because she lost the love of her life, I mean she's torn up about that too, but because she doesn't know who did it. You are not the only person your dad groomed into this lifestyle, baby. Your dad dragged your mother into this world way before you came along, she's been living in this lifestyle twice as long. She's like every other widow in this life, she's stuck, she can't move on. She needs his vengeance just as much as you or those men do, maybe even more. She's lost your dad already, baby, I don't want her to lose her son too. You get angry and do something about it and you do it right now, Isaac."

"Babe-"

"You put this family and your mother out of their misery, Isaac. You become the king pin you were meant to fucking be and take this city back! If not for you or your son, then you do it for your mother."

"Baby-"

"I swear to God if I have to smack it out of you I will, Isaac. I need you to get angry, I need you to stop caring, I need you to stop being scared and show me just how ruthless you can be."

"Even if you tried you couldn't hit me hard enough to provoke me," he smirks.

Before I can even think it through or process what I've just done- I'm connecting the back of my hand with Isaac's face, slapping him.

Ow.

There's an instant switch in his dark gaze, it's small, but it's there, the soft features have officially left the chat and my heart is now immediately trying to come out of my chest.

You're dead, you're dead, you're dead, he's gonna kill you.

Isaac scoffs, slightly tilting his head to side, "did you just back hand me?"

I gulp swallowing any little fear at the back of my throat. I know for a fact that no matter how many times I hit this man, my husband will not lay a hand on me, especially now while I carry his child.

What I am scared of is the monster that I'm about to unleash if I can get to him. I've only ever got a glimpse of the asshole Isaac used to be, I don't know the man everyone feared before I came into his life. I'm afraid that even after everything's done with I won't get back the man I fell in love with, I'm afraid that I won't be able to save him from himself after I break him.

Putting my best poker face on I nod, "it piss you off yet?"

"No," he scoffs a second time. "In fact I feel quite the opposite," he smirks, taking a step forward.

Of course it turned him on.

He reaches for my waist and I'm quickly taking a step back connecting my hand with the side of his face again. "You mad now?"

"No," he grits in between clenched teeth. "But now I am annoyed."

I slapped him a third time, "the word we're looking for is angry."

"Hail-"

I slap him a fourth time, this time with my left hand on his left cheek.

"What about now?"

Isaac doesn't say anything. He stares me down, his nostrils flaring, chest now heaving. He's almost there, I can tell that he's about to lose his shit and I mentally thank God because my hand is really starting to hurt here.

"You're crossing a very thin fucking line, Hailey."

Ignoring him, I go to hit him for a fifth time but my hand never connects with his skin this time because he's catching my hand mid air.

He wraps his large hand around my wrist pulling me into him, "Stop. Fucking. Hitting. Me," he snarls dangerously low.

I want to coward away but I don't. I lean in our noses mere inches from each other, "Do. Something. About it."

He inhales a deep breath and is abruptly letting go of my hand and storming away from me.

He digs his hand into his sweats and is gluing his phone to his ear.

He stops once he's put a good amount of distance from each other and is turning around to face me, chills immediately run down my back when I see the sinister smile on his face.

A part of me is afraid that I've pushed him too far and he's calling for backup, he's calling his men to come escort me out of the gym, and instantly get anxious as he speaks.

"Shut the cameras off and lock it down," he commands. "NOW."

My heart begins to beat faster as a loud rattling sound starts out of nowhere. I watch black security shutters come down every glass window, blocking anyone from looking in and us looking out as a metal black door slides out from inside of the wall closing off the open entrance to the gym.

I slightly flinch at how loud the door is when it gets bolted shut and it's suddenly darker in here.

Isaac pulls his phone away from his ear and is quickly sending it flying as he throws it against the shatters behind him and he's pointing to the cameras behind me as he begins to move forward.

I look up at the corner of the ceilings where each camera is at and watch every single little red light turn off and feel my breath hitch when I realize he's cut us off to the outside world and we're alone in here.

I don't hear him walk up behind me, instead I feel him press himself against my back as he leans down and his hot breath is hitting my ear, "you wanna fucking play, I'll play."

I quickly turn around to face him and I'm immediately thrown off guard when he's wrapping his hand around my throat.

It's the tightest it's ever been and a part of me begins to panic as he begins to move us back and I feel my back colliding with something. It's the wall.

"This is what you fucking want?" He snarls, forcing me to look up at him. "This is the monster you want to see?"

I don't say anything, I stare up at him, my hands still wrapped around his wrist as he continues to keep his grip around my throat.

His hold on my throat isn't tight enough to where I can't breathe, but it's definitely tight enough to where it does trigger the fight or flight in me, making me very uncomfortable.

Isaac leans forward as I continue to wiggle around and is crashing his lips on mine, aggressively, "this is who turns you on?" He snarls into my ear, trailing sloppy kisses down my neck and chills are instantly running up my body. "This is who you were begging to let out? Who you want to fuck you, right here, right now?"

I pick my knee up and connect it with his crotch and his hold on my neck is immediately losing as he doubled over in pain and I'm quickly getting out of the cage he's trapped me in and rushing over to the emergency button on the wall, pushing it.

A loud alarm instantly begins to ring and the metal shields are instantly going up a couple seconds later and the door is unbolting as a handful of men rush down stairs and into the room.

Beans is actually in front of the group, his gun in his hand as he confusingly looks back and forth from Isaac and I. "The hells going on?" Jeremiah's standing right next to him.

I hold up a hand behind me as I walk back over to my husband.

He has a hand up on the wall still holding himself up as his other hand is laying on top of his crotch as he continues to breathe through his pain.

I walk up to him, keeping a decent amount of distance between us, enough for me to get in his face.

"Look at me, Isaac."

He does.

There's a mean death glare on his face still, he's definitely mad but I don't know if it's enough to push him over the edge so I do the last thing I can think of and connect my fist with his face.

I Immediately hear a shuffle of feet behind me but don't turn to look back.

I crouch down to level with my husband, "don't you ever fucking degrade me again like I'm one of your little whores, Isaac." I'm so sorry baby. "If you want a cheap meaningless fuck then you know who to go to, Matteo. I am your wife. I am the mother of your child that I'm carrying. I am your fucking backbone, your queen, and you will treat me like the fucking Queen your dad thought me to fucking be."