Protecting The Principessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 3 ~

Izzy narrowed her eyes slightly but was wise enough to shut her mouth. She glared at him as Tony put her in the car and though she liked Tony, she refused to say anything to either of them. In fact, on the ride to the private plane, she didn't say anything at all. She knew from the moment she laid eyes on him that Adriano was an asshole, with him pulling a gun on her, it was clear. And she hated dealing with men who were assholes; she had enough of those in her life.

"Izzy?" She wanted to ignore that voice, but she had heard it so many times throughout her life growing up and she couldn't ignore it now. She turned her head and looked at Tony, a brow raised in question. "I got to come back to close out my apartment and when I do, I'll close out yours." Izzy gave a brisk nod but inside she was seething. Though he meant well, it was another reminder that she wasn't as far away from her dad and his fucking power as she believed. She also vowed that when she got to New York and could have a private meeting with him, she was going to demand one. Because she knew her life wasn't in New York and wanted nothing to do with what was there.

Once the car stopped, she followed Adriano out and up to the plane, seeing her father already there. She spared him a glance before walking to the farthest seat away that she could and stared out the window. New Mexico had some of the most gorgeous sunsets, but the rain that started as she bid goodbye to her mother hadn't stopped, and she almost cringed at the thought of taking off in a rain storm. But, maybe it was all fitting given her current feelings about this new start, not that she saw it as that.

What could New York possibly offer her? She knew about Carlo's new family, so she knew she had step-siblings. She also wished, without a doubt, that she never had to meet them, and look at what she was doing. And since she had a lick of sense, she knew that he was probably going to state that she needed to live in his house. She could fight it, but what would she win? Not a damn thing. He was the boss, and in his eyes, he was her boss, though she could mentally tell him to go to hell, he still wouldn't listen. She sighed as she rested her head on her hand to stare out the window.

"That was a deep sigh."

"What can I help you with, Carlo?" From the seat across the aisle, she heard the intake of breath and imagined that her response to her father shocked the hell out of Tony, and probably Adriano, but she didn't care.

"Is this how you're going to be? Rude, moody, brooding all the time?" Her gaze shifted from the window to him once the plane took off.

"I don't see what I have to be happy about, do you? My mother died, my quiet, absent father pretty much commands that I live with him, his men hate me and I hate them, and I'm not too keen to meet the siblings I've seen on the internet. So, again, what do I have to be happy about?" Carlo sat back in the seat, crossing his legs, and watched her.

"I talked to your mother before she passed, you know?" She swallowed hard at that, but no, she didn't know because her mom hadn't said anything. Then again, why would she have?

"No, mom didn't say anything about that." She glanced down at her nails, so badly wanting to pick the polish off, but as the one thing she spoiled herself on, her manicure was a gel set and couldn't quite be picked away. "What did you guys say?"

"Ignazia, she begged me to come to you, to take you away. You may think that nothing will happen to you, but your mother knew better." Izzy snapped her eyes up to her father, staring at him.

"I don't understand why you think I'm not safe on my own. Tony was there the whole time to watch over us, right? And according to you, mom was protecting me too." Carlo sighed and waved Adriano to go do something.

"You have three step-siblings, two sisters, and a brother." Izzy stopped from rolling her eyes; this was all information she already knew. "I love my children, all of them, you included. And I love my wife, however, I am not IN love with her, she is not my soul mate, your mother was, and your mother knew this. I won't lie and say it was easy for her to watch me have another family, but your mother was quite the understanding woman and knew what my life was going to become. She couldn't risk you any more than I could." With that, she watched as Adriano handed a folder to Carlo and the man opened it, laying it on the table that was between her and him. "I'm going to assume you know this man?" Izzy glanced down at the picture and frowned.

"Yeah, that's my ex-boyfriend, Joe, what about him?" she asked. Carlo closed the folder and handed it back to Adriano.

"He's with a Chicago mob family." Izzy glanced at him and slowly shook her head.

"I don't...understand."

"Joe was told to get close to you, to see if you could be used on me. They had every intention of making you a hostage, or torturing you, to get close to me," her dad said and she paled at those words. Joe was someone she had met at a coffee shop downtown. He was sweet, funny, good-looking, outgoing, and at the time she had questioned why he would glance her way. But he always said she was beautiful, smart, witty, and funny, and he loved hanging out with her. Now she saw the lie for what it was.

"How did you know about him?" Her dad waved to Tony across the way.

"Your mom knew after Tony told her, but as a guard, it's really important for Tony to know the faces and who they belong to," Carlo answered. Out of habit, Izzy rubbed her necklace, the only thing she really treasured from her father, a gift when she turned 15.

"He broke us up after only four months of dating...," she started but trailed off.

"No, I made sure Tony had words with him. That you weren't easy prey and that you were being protected so he could tell his family to Vaffanculo (fuck off)," Carlo said but all she could do was nod. That was really the last thing she expected to hear and it made her wonder who all in her life were real, or who all was fake?

"So, what, all friends and boyfriends were monitored?" She watched Carlo, wondering if he could sense her growing frustration over finding something like this.

"Yes," he answered without pause, concern, or remorse. "You don't really see the lengths I will go to protect you. You saw your mother as weak right? Someone who wouldn't ever fight?" Izzy nodded because that was true. She loved her mom, but her mom always seemed too weak, like she didn't like confrontations. "She was a better fighter than most of my men and knew how to put someone unconscious. She loved you Ignazia and would have protected you. I wouldn't have asked her to, she just would have done it. Why can't you see that your biggest bubble of protection is now gone and I need you safe?"

Izzy sat back as she thought over those words. She never saw her mom in a fight, but she could recall a conversation that she had with her mom about fighting. Her mom even told her that if Izzy wanted to fight, her mom would teach her. Izzy recalled laughing at that because, at that point, she thought her mom was joking because she had no skills. But as she got older and her mom went to the gym more and more, Izzy would now guess that was to stay in shape, to fight, or punch, to keep up on her skills. Why didn't she question these things before?

"Do you need me to explain more?" Izzy looked up from the table and to her dad, shaking her head. To be honest, she wasn't sure she could take on any more information actually. It all made sense, she couldn't dispute that. The problem was, that she didn't want it to make sense. From an early age, she knew her dad was important and as she got older, she realized why he was important. But she had always assumed she was far away from it. But she could clearly see now that though it wasn't a world she wanted to be part of it, it was still a world that was part of her.

"I just always assumed...," but she trailed off, her thoughts jumping around and Carlo reached for her hand.

"Your mom and I didn't want this to be your world, we wanted to keep you as far away as we could, and did well; until now. And I am sorry for how this ended up being, believe me." Adriano stood up and walked over to Carlo, pressing the cell phone to his shoulder.

"The men will be ready to walk us off." Izzy looked at the man and then at her dad.

"What does that mean?" she asked and Carlo sighed and ran his hand over his face before shooting her a smile.

"It seems, my dear Ignazia, your arrival has already made news and we have to be extra careful."