Handsome and Haunting

Chapter 36

Isabella woke up the next morning to her alarm. She was about to roll over to kiss her husband but then realized she was on the opposite coast from him. Sighing, she sat up and stretched popping her back. After turning her alarm off, she realized she had a new text message. It had come in very late the night before. She had to smile at her husband. It was true he didn't tell her he loved her all the time but he did sometimes and she cherished them. He showed her he loved her and that meant more than mere words.

Happy: Sorry for not answering earlier. Music was so loud I didn't hear my phone go off. I love you too. We made it safe. I'll let you know when we're on our way back. I'm always safe. You be safe while you're in NY. Night.

She took a quick shower before getting dressed, doing her make-up, and then curling her hair. Her father wanted to meet downstairs for a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant so she grabbed her purse and headed downstairs. Her father wasn't there yet so she had the hostess show her to a table where she could await him. To her surprise their table was next to a large glass window overlooking a beautiful zen garden. She was busy staring at it when her father finally arrived. They discussed what could be going on with the property as they ate breakfast. She hoped it wasn't any legal issues. Although their lawyer was good at working those things out, they did cause kinks with their plans.

They took a cab to the location of his property to check it out. As she usually was, she was conservatively, albeit well, dressed. Her father was in a simple navy pin-strip suit. Several of the construction workers began whistling and cat-calling her but she paid them no mind. The general contractor was explaining about what was taking so long for the construction to be complete to the pair. She followed her father who was following the contractor and taking notes. Michael stated he would go personally and see what he could do about untying some of the knots that were holding up the development of the property.

It was a set of condos he was sure was going to make a lot of people a lot of money when all was said and done. The property was in a prime location and the design had been overseen by himself and his daughter. He was sure they were going to be popular once the condos were finished. Michael chatted with the contractor about solutions to some of the problems he noted during their walk-through. The contractor reassured him that everything would be up to code and as he wanted it to be by the time the condos were finished and ready to be sold. Isabella tripped and twisted her ankle making her father worry about her. She promised she was fine but had to limp because of the pain.

Once they were done with their walk-through of the condos, Michael helped his daughter back to the front so he could call a cab. Wearing heels didn't help her ankle any as she tried her best to walk on her own. Her ankle was throbbing and she wanted to sit down. Her father told her they'd head back to the hotel so she could put her ankle up and get some rest. The pair made plans to meet downstairs so they could go to dinner together later that evening. The cab finally arrived and Michael helped his daughter into the backseat. There was nothing said as they rode along back to their hotel. He paid the cabbie when they arrived then climbed out to help his daughter.

He walked her to her room which was to the right of his before heading to his room. She quickly slipped out of her heels and stretched out on the bed. Covering her face in her hands, she felt embarrassed that she'd tripped and twisted her ankle. She was usually more graceful than that. The rest of the day she just laid on her bed with a pillow under her ankle trying to keep from making her ankle any worse. Around six pm, she headed downstairs to meet her father. There was a steakhouse a few blocks from their hotel he wanted to try so they made the trip slowly down the sidewalk. He could tell her ankle was still bothering her since she was still limping.

Both ordered the ten-ounce steak after they were seated and had their drinks. She wanted the loaded baked potato and salad with hers while he opted for the steamed broccoli and loaded baked potato. He had a glass of wine with dinner but she opted to stick with water since she was taking Tylenol to help ease the pain and swelling of her ankle. They chatted about what to do about the kinks that were holding up the construction of his property over dinner.

He wanted to head to the offices to speak with the people in charge so he could get things moving again for his property. She would accompany him as he did. He was trying to groom her for taking over the family business and teach her everything he knew about property development and dealing with others. She was already quite skilled at what she did for him and he knew that would come in handy when she took over. He tried to teach her how to spot properties that were good for developing and how to decide what to develop on said properties.

As they were slowly walking back to their hotel, a masked man with a gun bolted out of an alleyway between two buildings. He told Isabella if she screamed he'd shoot her. Both Isabella and Michael held their hands in the air. He took Michael's watch and rings, one which had several diamonds in it, as well as Isabella's watch and a ring she wore on her right hand. He took all the money they had and their credit cards. Isabella flinched when he took her watch out of her hand making him angry. He punched her, fist landing in her eye, causing Michael to rush at the perpetrator. It resulted in him being hit in the temple by the butt of the masked man's gun.

They were once again told to remain quiet or he'd shoot them both. He decided he wanted their wedding rings but Isabella refused to give hers up. The masked man hit her upside the head causing a bad gash across her temple. Michael rushed at him again so the guy aimed and shot. The bullet grazed Michael's arm as they struggled. Isabella grabbed her phone out of her purse and quickly dialed 9-1-1. The masked man let Michael go before turning and running down the street. Michael wanted to go after him but Isabella convinced him to remain there with her. The police were on their way and he needed to be seen by paramedics.

When the police arrived a few minutes later, Isabella was still shaking from the attack. They both had to give their statements separately of what had transpired. Once Michael had given his, he was seen by the paramedics. One officer decided Isabella needed to be seen due to the gash across her temple. Michael insisted she be looked at when she refused telling them she was fine. At her father's insistence, she finally let the paramedics look her over. She would be sporting a black eye as well as the gash to her temple. Sighing, she knew her husband was not going to like this when he saw her.

When they were free to leave, Michael walked Isabella as quickly as he could with her ankle back to their hotel room. He made her promise to lock her door when they arrived on their floor. She reassured him she always locked her door. The mugging had unnerved Michael as he hugged his daughter good night. She slipped into her room, locked the door, and changed for bed. She debated on sending a text to Happy about what had transpired but opted not to. She figured he didn't need any more stress if he was still dealing with club business in Tacoma. She took another Tylenol before she turned out the lights and got settled for bed.

A/N: How do you think Happy is going to react when he sees his wife?

Please review and vote below!