Chapter 12
Grant requested a formal meeting.
Not with Massimo.
With Isabella.
She agreed only with attorneys present.
Massimo was not invited.
That bothered him.
He stayed away anyway.
Later Isabella told him what happened.
Grant arrived without arrogance.
No threats.
No mocking.
He looked tired.
He apologized for grabbing her.
For hiding bruises.
For allowing Vanessa to interfere.
He denied deliberately stealing her designs.
He claimed business lines had simply become blurred.
Isabella asked one question.
“Why did you make Noah use Hale?”
Grant answered:
“Because that’s what you wanted.”
She shook her head.
“I wanted him safer.”
“I thought that meant away from Lombardi.”
“It never meant away from me.”
Grant looked down.
That sentence broke through everything.
The school forms.
The medical contacts.
The public event lists.
The professional emails.
Grant had gradually substituted himself and Vanessa for Isabella’s original goal.
She wanted fewer Lombardi controls around Noah.
Grant created more Hale controls instead.
Then Isabella asked about the bruises.
Grant’s answer was weaker.
“We fought.”
“You held me.”
“You were leaving.”
“You stopped me.”
“I panicked.”
“You covered the marks afterward.”
Silence.
“You told Noah I fall.”
Silence.
“You let Vanessa help.”
Grant finally looked up.
“I didn't want your father to know.”
“Why?”
“Because he would do exactly what he did.”
Isabella stared at him.
“You were more afraid of my father hitting you than of becoming the man he would hit.”
Grant had no response.
When Isabella returned to Massimo’s townhouse, she looked exhausted.
“What did you decide?” Massimo asked.
“Nothing yet.”
He nodded.
May you like
A year earlier he would have demanded the answer.
Now he made tea.
