Protecting The Principessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 23 ~

"Adriano, please," Santino whispered, blood dripping from his mouth as well. Izzy looked between the two men, wondering what happened in the span of just a few minutes.

"I don't want some God damn excuse," Adriano growled out, shoving the gun further into his face. "Some asshole just fucking stole 250 thousand from the boss and since no one is here but you, I should lay the blame at your God damn feet!"

"It wasn't me; I swear!" Adriano roared as the butt of his gun fell down on the already broken nose and Santino howled in pain.

"Fucking speak up before I do more damage to you and your ass doesn't walk out of here!" Adriano took a step back and Santino slowly stood up, his free hand clutching his nose.

"I was coming to load up, I swear, I wouldn't cheat the boss! As I was coming in, Hector was leaving, his coat was full. When I went into the tank to take out the packages, I noticed there was a shit ton gone without the money to back it up. I called Victor as soon as I figured it out and I went out to chase Hector, but he was gone."

"Where's Mike?"

"I don't know. I told him I needed to load up, so he was supposed to meet me here and he hasn't shown up yet."

"Mike left this place unlocked and allowed Hector to take that shit?" Izzy stayed back along the wall, not wanting to make a peep but she was confused. Was Mike here while Adriano was gone? Or was Mike the only one who had a key? And who was Hector? Was that the pair of eyes she felt on her?

"No! I don't know what exactly happened, but I know Mike was here," Santino said, still trying to stop the bleeding from his nose.

"Find me Hector and Mike, or heads are going to roll!" With that, Adriano backed away and then turned around, giving Izzy no chance to escape. Sure, it was dark by the door, but she had no doubt that he would see her. And even from the distance, she could see his eyes flash and she knew she fucked up. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" He was standing in front of her within seconds and had her upper arm in a tight grip. "I told you to keep your ass in the car and you fucking didn't listen!" She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She wasn't afraid, exactly, but the fire, the anger, those were all things she hadn't seen from him before, not like this.

"I....," she stopped and shook her head, but nothing more was coming out.

"Well?" he ground out and she swallowed hard.

"I didn't feel safe," she whispered, and that was the truth. She didn't. She got out of the car not just because she was curious but because she felt something was off. And when she stepped out, she felt eyes on her, but she couldn't figure out from where, nor did she have any clue who would be watching her either.

"In my car? That was locked? And a safe distance away?" She could only nod. His eyes narrowed at that response. It was obvious that was not what he was expecting, and she couldn't blame him. "Let's go." He hauled her right back outside, leaving Santino to call whomever he was calling; probably trying to figure out what was going on himself. "Still feeling like that?"

"Actually, yeah." That had him quickly stopping and she almost stumbled by his side. She wasn't sure what was going on, but her eyes danced around. No one was in sight, but from the way his stance changed, Adriano felt it too. Without a word, he quickly turned around, his gun aimed and fired before she could blink. She heard a cry and then a thud and took a step back against Adriano. He had seen the man? How the hell was that possible?

But as he walked the distance to the tree line, she realized there was a lot about this man she didn't know. She was lusting after someone she had no clue about, and that was pretty fucking dangerous in her book. She had better check herself before she wound up doing something dumb and reckless, okay, more than she already had. She licked her lips as she took a tentative step but someone else came up next to her to lightly grab her arm.