Babydoll (Steel Rebels MC #1) [Completed]

THIRTYFIVE - Play pretend

Isabella

Isabella woke up to the sound of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" playing rather loudly next to her ear. With a jolt she sat up in her chair. It was Tuesday early afternoon and she had fallen asleep over her study notes. Since her first exam the day previously hadn't gone as smoothly as she had expected it to, she had started to panic and studied until late in the evening and then gotten up super early to read for her next test, while Knux continued snoozing on the bed next to her. But after also not sleeping too much on the previous nights, Isabella was exhausted and had apparently nodded off while reading for her anatomy exam.

Groggily she picked up her phone to see that her brother's best friend, Anton, was calling.

Pulling her eyebrows together in confusion, she pressed the receiver button.
"Hello?" She answered cautiously.

Anton had never called her before. She only had his phone number, because Roman had put it in before he left for college, along with Anton's younger brother Benjamin's number and a few other people that he trusted.

"Lil sis," her brother's voice greeted her. "It's me, Roman."

"Oh," she said surprised and confused.

Why was Roman calling her from his friend's phone? Did his own break?

Even though surprised, Isabella couldn't stop the yawn that stretched her face. Damn, she was tired.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Kind of. I fell asleep while studying," she admitted.

She was happy to hear from her brother, but she also remembered how strained their last meeting had been. And now worry mixed into the anxiety. Something wasn't right, she could feel it.

Roman hummed.
"How are you?"

"I'm okay. Getting better actually," Isabella replied. 

She wasn't lying. She felt better. Sure, things were still going up and down but she felt stronger than before. More stable. Knux had also gotten over his disagreement with Wrecker and was again his calm, supportive self. 

"That's good," Roman said, but sounded distracted. "Sorry for calling you from Anton's cell."

"It's okay. At least I had his number."

She might not have answered if it was an unknown number.

"Yeah."

"Is everything okay?" She finally asked.

Roman exhaled.
"Can we meet on the weekend?" He asked instead of answering.

"Sure," she agreed quickly, while a foreboding feeling settled in her stomach. The way Roman was speaking told her that he wasn't free to talk right now.

"Are you coming here?" She offered.

She was pretty sure that Knux would agree to letting Roman on the compound. They could chat in the garden again.

"I can't," Roman replied seriously.

"You can't?" Isabella repeated his words, like she didn't understand them.

"I can't. But it's Anton's birthday next weekend. Benjamin will be there as well. You could catch up," Roman suggested. "We can chat then."

Isabella was quiet, while her mind would go over a hundred reasons why Roman would request something like this. A few weeks ago, this would have seemed innocent enough but now it was worrisome. She knew that her brother had understood that she was cutting ties with her old life. It made no sense for her to show up at his friend's place. She hadn't even been friends with Benjamin, who had been in her class. They were acquaintances at best.