What. The. Fuck.
She looks like some kind of femme fatale—like a siren, ready to draw men in to their torturous deaths.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asks angrily, as if she's the one who has the right to be angry in this situation.
"We're looking for you," I seethe, "because you fucking ran off."
"How the hell did you even know that was Isa?" Calum asks. "I mean, I know now because of her voice, but holy shit you look like a completely different person."
"Wow, it's almost like that's the point," she says sarcastically before pulling off a fake nose and peeling what looks like putty off her face.
"When the fuck did you learn to do that?" Even I can hear how much Calum's anger rises in his tone of voice at the question. "And why are you dressed like a high-end hooker? And stealing from Sebastian Archer?"
"First of all, there are so many other skills that you don't know I have," Isabella retorts. "And second, it's not stealing if we're fucking saving a person from being trafficked." She returns her attention to the two girls standing with her and tells them to get in their car.
"Absolutely not, you're not going anywhere," Calum says.
"When the fuck did you start condoning human trafficking?" she exclaims in anger. Steam would be coming out of her ears right now if this were a cartoon.
"I don't, but I also didn't come here to make an enemy out of someone who has been good at conceding to our family for years. He has never given us trouble, and we're not going to give him any reason to start."
"Then it's a good thing nobody knows who's helping her escape."
"What makes you so sure it won't be tracked back? I don't care who these two are, they're not worth this risk in any capacity. Just do what I say, and let's go," Calum declares.
"They," Isabella points to the pair of girls as she emphasizes the word, "were my family when my own blood fucking sent me away. I've grown up with these girls more than I ever did with you. So don't stand there acting all indignant, because I came here to help people who had my back when you turned yours on me."
"That's not fair! Dad and I did what we had to do to protect you!"
"And look where it got us!" she shouts. "I am not some fragile little girl that needs to be coddled. I grew up Calum. I learned how to fucking survive—I had a kid. I've run with people so dangerous that they make you look like a low-level street gang."
"I own America's underworld, and it would do you good to fucking remember that."
"Wow, that first step off your high horse is going to hurt like hell, brother," the last word comes out mockingly, as if it was a curse and not the blood relation between the two.
"Excuse me?" he snarls.
"I managed to evade your radar for years. And I'm talking beyond America. I have friends that are high up in cartels, mobs, mafias, and every other crime syndicate you can imagine worldwide. I have more connections than you could ever dream of having. Now fuck off."
"You aren't going anywhere except home. We can talk about this bullshit in my office when you get a clear head again, because obviously you're on drugs or something," Calum states.
"We're fucking leaving, and you're going to let us, or you're going to get a bullet in your kneecap."
"You wouldn't shoot me, you haven't changed that much."
"You don't know me anymore, Calum." And with those words, Isabella shoots with perfect aim, hitting her brother in the shoulder before turning to get in the car, and driving off with her two friends.
"What the fuck!" Jess exclaims, instantly tending to Calum's wound.
"It was a minor shot," Calum brushes it off, "she knew it wouldn't kill me, or even affect my body enough to cause long-term damage the way a bullet in the knee would. It was just to stop us from following them."
"Dude, it still doesn't change the fact that she fucking shot you. Not to mention all the shit she said!" Jess shouts.
"We can deal with it back at the house, did you get the license plate?"
"Yeah, but—"
Calum cuts his friend off, "good. Then let's go." No more conversation is exchanged when we get into the car that one of Calum's men sent for us and drive back to the house. But my mind still trails off to the woman that holds my heart. I always knew she could take of herself, and I knew that she had disappeared fairly often, but never did I think it was to mingle with higher-ups in the criminal underworld. She's the mother of my child—the woman I love more than breathing, and yet, I feel like she's a completely new person.
"We were gonna go back to Chicago, where we have a respectable base," I say. "But I'm thinking it might be better to just go back to Italy instead. I'm going to have Matteo alter the plans when we get back to your place."
Calum simply nods his head in approval of my suggested plan, although it wasn't much of a suggestion—more a comment about what I will do, rather than what I want to do. Imagining Isabella in my bed again, back home where she belongs, and knowing that Christian will be just down the hall, it warms my heart. Those two are my home. Regardless of whatever Bella has gone through or done, she is mine. My heart, my treasure, my light—and I will show her how much she means to me.
Even if it kills me.
YOU ARE READING
Finding Isabella
أدب المراهقينIsabella's life was never easy. But how could it be when your father is head of the American mafia? At seven years old, she watched as her mother almost died from the first assassination attempt. At ten years old, she was injured in the same car "ac...
