Protecting The Principessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 11 ~

"Are you ready?" Izzy glanced over her shoulder as Adriano walked up to the bar. She lifted the last tray of drinks and shrugged.

"Let me run this to the back and I will be."

"I got it, Izzy." Izzy smiled her thanks at the other bartender and then undid her apron.

"Well, if he has it, I'm good," she told Adriano who nodded.

"I already clocked you out." With that, he gently took her arm and led her out the backway. There were still quite a few people in the club, but it had died down a lot since when it first opened for the night.

"Do you always come and go from the backway?" she asked as he opened the door.

"Always. First of all, I don't want people to have an easy target." He waved at the trees and bushes that lined the walk away and she could see that it would be harder to get a clear shot off. "Second, I don't like dealing with crowds of people. The rumor is going around that this club is a mafia club, and the owner is one. However, it's never been confirmed or denied, which makes it all the worse. But when I leave out the front, women stop me, trying to get all over me, and then the men want to talk, it's a circus I want nothing to do with." He opened the car door for her, glancing around as she slipped in. She waited for him to walk around as she put her seat belt on.

"I'm also going to assume you never let your guard down?" she asked, and he glanced at her as he started the car.

"Never. It's a good way to be a dead man. That's the first thing the boss taught me when I was young." She smirked as he pulled out of the parking lot. Izzy undid the ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. "How was your first night?"

"I didn't kill anyone, and Chuck is a jerk, but otherwise, not horrible." Adriano laughed as he turned down the interstate to start the trip home.

"Chuck is an interesting man."

"That's putting it mildly, I say."

"Don't like your boss?" Adriano asked, casting a glance at her. She turned her head and lifted a brow.

"Are you the boss, or is he? The answer to either would be no." He barked out another laugh and leaned back in his seat. "Does he know what you are?" Adriano tilted his head and then slowly shook it.

"Honestly, I don't think he does. However, I do think he knows I'm something bad. He hasn't tried to cross me, and I don't think he would. This town is big, obviously, but my name and the names I associate with are pretty damn heavy. I'm the last person you want to cross because I can make any life a living hell."

"So, though he's an asshole to your staff, he's never crossed you?" Adriano glanced at her with a raised brow.

"Chuck has never really been that way with anyone, just you." Izzy crossed her arms and sighed.

"Yippie for me I guess."

"I try very hard not to piss him off. He is my manager and I do trust him to do this job. He hasn't screwed me over and so I don't screw him over. I let him hire, and fire, those he wants or sees fit to. So, by me bringing you on without a word to him, yeah, I can see why he would take offense. It's not something I've ever done."

"So, you're rocking the boat," she started, tilting her head as she regarded him, "because you're watching me."

"When the boss tells me to do something, I do it, regardless of what the job is. I've killed men because he's told me to, I've hijacked trucks because he's told me to, and I've dealt quite a bit of drugs because he's told me. So again, when they tell you to do something, you do it.