The Phantom's Game | 18+

Chapter 5

The day went by rather slow, just as she anticipated. With work piling up now and then, her mind grew tired and worn out by the end of the day. Isadora walked down to the lobby after turning off the lights in her office. When she walked out of the office, she noted how quiet it was. 

The brunette then looked at the time on her left wrist. 9:43 P.M. She considered getting some dinner before heading home. She grabbed her purse and exited the premises, locking it securely before getting into her car. Fortunately, there was no meeting tonight with her father or her gang, so she was free to do as she pleased.

The brunette left the parking space, making her way towards a restaurant near the manor in her neighborhood. As soon as she stepped out of her car, she spotted a familiar black Ferrari parked by the curb.

A few minutes after that, the tall, slim figure of the blonde man entered the restaurant, followed shortly by one of his men. What was Gabriel doing here, though? Curious, she left her own car and entered the restaurant with her purse in hand. They seemed to be discussing something when Isadora finally reached them.

"Hello, Gabriel," Isadora called in greeting, raising an eyebrow when her eyes landed on the man's arm. It was covered with bandages and wrapped around his torso.

"Izzy, what a surprise," He glanced up from the other man to the brunette before them.

"It's a surprise to see you here as well, Gab. What brings you here?" She inquired, taking a seat beside him.

"We're lying low for a while. Apparently, the men who attacked you before are also attacking us out of the blue."

"And how do you know about that?"

With a sigh, Gabriel took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his phone until he showed her a picture of a man, "Do you recognize this man?"

She studied the man in the photo closely with squinted eyes. He certainly was an attractive man, and he appeared very fit for his age. Black hair, high cheekbones, full tinted lips, but his eyes were covered with sunglasses. She shook her head in response, "No, I can't say that I have ever met him."

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders, "One of my men managed to capture this picture."

Before they could continue talking, a waiter approached the table, asking them if they were ready to order. The three of them ordered, and after waiting for their food to arrive and drinking a glass of water, Gabriel returned to the topic of the attack.

"So... what do you make of it?" He asked, putting away his phone in his pocket, and looked at the brunette.

"I don't know much, but I certainly think this is the man Enzo described. We need to look up on this guy."

"That man's name is Vincent," The man beside Gabriel spoke up finally. "He's a part of the Falcone family. But other than that, we know nothing of this guy."

They both stared at the man, puzzled. When he mentioned the Falcone family, Isadora's body stiffened. The Falcone family was a rival of her family's, hence the reason they had an intense rivalry in the underworld. She was well aware of their history and reputation. Soon, the waitress arrived with their food and left quickly to serve other customers.

"Are you sure this guy is the one who tried to kill you?" The question came from Isadora, who was clearly concerned.

Gabriel answered, "Pretty sure, but we can't confirm it yet."

"How will you confirm it if you don't even know who he is?" Isadora questioned skeptically.

"My men are keeping an eye on him now, and hopefully, we'll learn something about him in the next couple of days."

He replied simply, giving a small nod to show that he had enough on his plate at the moment. When their conversation came to a conclusion, they began to eat. Isadora had intended to order takeaway rather than eat in, but when she saw Gabriel there, she abandoned the plan and joined him and the other man.

Gabriel paid their meals with his money before departing once they finished their meals. The three parted ways, and the brunette promptly returned to the manor. She detected a peculiar noise emanating from within her manor as she approached the entryway. 

A few seconds later, she came to a halt in front of her door and gently opened it, peered inside. Her initial reaction was confusion because she had not heard anything strange.

Her heart skipped a beat and her hands trembled slightly while reaching for her pistol in her purse. There was no doubt that someone, or perhaps two or more people, were breaking into her home. She made her way inside carefully, trying to stay unnoticed and avoid alerting whoever or whatever was inside the place. 

However, it seemed like someone was already there, and they were good at avoiding detection. A faint sound could be heard in one of the rooms, drawing the brunette there as she crept slowly towards it.

She decided to enter after a minute and confirming that there was no one else inside the room but the invader. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down before slowly closing the door behind her, searching the dimly lighted room for her prey. 

It wasn't long before she discovered the source of the noise: a little television set mounted on the wall near the door to another room. The brunette approached the TV with caution, staying close to the walls until she eventually reached it.

When she eventually got to the TV, she stood there, taking in her surroundings. She sensed that something was awry. A click can be heard behind her, and the brunette moved her head to the right, spying someone in the dark behind her. The woman lowered herself to the ground and swept the intruder off his feet, the handgun tumbling out of his hand, in the blink of an eye. 

She kicked the gun away and pointed her own weapon at the stranger, saying, "Who are you and what do you want from me?!"

The figure twisted around and pinned her to the ground, his forearm pressing into her throat. While Isadora strained under him, kicking her legs furiously in an attempt to break his hold, his eyes flashed with a cold glare. She was unable to take another breath since she couldn't breathe correctly. She tried to cry for aid, but her airway was being shut off by the stranger. He was also breathing heavily, and by the appearance of his attire, he was dressed properly.

Then suddenly the person got off of her, allowing her to catch a breath once again. The woman rubbed the soreness on her neck and coughed roughly before standing, glaring daggers at the intruder who had the nerve to attack her without any warning.

"Well, I'll admit, I thought you'd be harder to deal with," He spoke casually.

Isadora cocked an eyebrow in confusion at him. "I... what? Who are you, anyway?" She demanded angrily.

"Why should I tell you?" The man smirked.

"You just break into my manor like it's nothing!"

"Not my fault your security is weak," He smirked once again.

"You..." The brunette clenched her jaw in anger.

The man took a step closer to the woman, looking directly into her eyes, "You may call me... Vincent."

The moment he mentioned his name, Isadora stood still with shock and disbelief. Slowly, the brunette realized who exactly she was talking to. "Vincent Falcone?"