Amore In The Shadows

Chapter 4: Dangerous Curiosity

Enzo

"Hey boss, I have what you asked for," Rico says as he hands me a file. He walks out the door, knowing I'll need to look into it alone. This file consists of everything we could find on Sadie. I begin reading: Sadie Sanchez, 26 years old. Her mother died at age 32 due to a car crash, her father left when Sadie was 5. Sadie was in the car crash with her mother and suffered a concussion, a spinal injury, and a broken wrist. She was in university but dropped out 2 years ago. She had an ex who was abusive, but that's all on him.

Not a lot to go on to get to know my girl. My girl. When did I start thinking of her as mine?

I sit there processing the information. I need to see her, I thought. I push out of my chair, shower, get dressed, grab my keys, and pick up coffee. Within 30 minutes, I am standing outside her rundown apartment. The paint is chipping off to an unhealthy amount, the wood is rotting and falling down, and the door doesn't look like it can lock.

I take a deep breath and go to knock before the door opens.

"Oh hey, Enzo," a small voice says. I look down to find Isabella staring up at me with a grin. She looks between me and the coffee, "Let's hope that's a salted caramel latte, Sadie's favorite." She hides her giggle with her hand and goes to walk out onto the porch before I stop her. "Umm, so is Sadie in?" I half stutter before gaining my composure. "Yeah, she's in the lounge. Good luck, she's in a mood." And off she goes down the road. I look ahead into the house, battling my internal thoughts about whether to go in or shut the door and walk away. But I opt for braving it and going in. This girl has me nervous and second-guessing myself, and something tells me she's going to be the death of me.

I walk in and close the door behind me. If I thought the outside was bad, I was wrong. The inside is worse. Mold coats the walls and ceiling, paint and wallpaper are chipped off, and the floorboards have cracks making it dangerous if you stand on the wrong part. I peer my head around the living room door to see Sadie staring at the laptop with a frown on her face. She looks so cute with a pouty face. I quietly chuckle as I peer over to see what she's looking at. Me. It's me. She's looking at the company home page with the picture of me, Rico, and Ryka in the backyard smiling at the camera. A cocky grin takes over my face and I clear my throat. "Well well well, have we resorted to stalking now?" She jumps and throws the nearest thing at me. A book comes inches from my face. "What the hell are you doing here?" she yells, frantically looking around as if for safety.

She slams her laptop down and walks towards me, a hand flies towards my face before I stop it. I push her towards the wall and use my body to pin her. "You listen here, little clover, you're mine and the sooner you accept that, the easier and more enjoyable this will be for both of us." She squirms against my touch, her breasts pushed against my stomach. "Stop making this so hard," I whisper into her ear. Her cheeks turn a shade of crimson and she stops moving. She stares up at me with a face full of annoyance and a hint of something else, thrill maybe. I let go of her and she soothes her wrists while walking towards the laptop. She places it onto the old splintered coffee table and sits on the couch. "You going to sit with me since you broke into my house? Excuse the mess, didn't realize I'd have guests," she states in a sarcastic tone. She's not so shy anymore. She gets up and walks into the kitchen, leaving me sitting here taking in my surroundings. "How do you even know where I live?" she yells over the kettle boiling in the kitchen. Little does she know I've been doing research on her myself likewise as to what she has been doing.

She comes back in 10 minutes later with two steaming cups of tea and a whole lot of attitude. "You never answered my question," she returns to her seat and glares at me awaiting my answer. "You're not the only one doing your research," I simply say, being careful not to give away how much I really know about her. She huffs, clearly not happy with my answer, and moves on from it. "What are you doing here, Enzo?" she says, letting down a tiny bit of her wall. She looks tired and now that I'm looking at her, she looks like she hasn't eaten in days. She's all skin and bone. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay after your sister's incident," I lied. Really, I just wanted to spend time with her. She looks at me with a swirl of emotion. "Thank you, really, but I'm fine. I'm just glad she's okay," the corner of her lips tip upwards ever so slightly. A real genuine smile. "Good, I'm glad." I go to ask her out for a coffee when my phone rings. Rico. He knows I'm here so would only phone me in an emergency. "Damn, I'm so sorry but I've got to go. I'll see you soon though, my little clover." Without thinking, I kiss her softly on the cheek and walk out the door. This girl is going to destroy me.