the devil wears a suit and tie • billy russo

chapter 1

Isabella Peña had her shit together. Top of her class at Columbia university, with one of the greatest dynasties in American bureaucracy to back her up, she was destined for great success, and she wasn't humble about it. She knew she had the world at her fingertips.

And her brains weren't the only thing she liked to flaunt. She was a natural beauty with sunkissed skin and piercing green eyes. She had the potential to have whatever man she wanted, so she always chose to be picky with her prey when she went out hunting, and rarely allowed herself to be hunted. It took a particularly special man to be given a chance at pursuing her, and one night she happened to meet a man who was indeed just the kind of special she was looking for, and confident enough to chase her to boot.

Sparks flew the moment their eyes locked at a club in Manhattan. He knew it was over for him as soon she blushed and awkwardly went back to talking to her friends, occasionally making quick glances back at him. The guys warned him to to approach her, something about her being a stone cold fox, her mother being Deputy Director of the CIA, and her twin brother being an all around good guy, but liable to snip the balls off anyone who hurt his sister. He didn't care. She was magnetic, tugging him towards her more and more with each passing minute.

When he finally approached her, her friends left on her orders, leaving the two alone, but she didn't feel uncomfortable or intimidated, in fact Bella quite enjoyed the attention given to her by the mystery man. She leaned against a wall as he drew nearer. She was intrigued by him and already had a feeling that the night would most definitely be interesting if she spent it with him.

"You must be Isabella," he finally said, holding his hand out for her to shake, "Billy Russo."

She shook it with a smirk, knowing she had him under her spell, "You can call me Bella, Billy Russo. Lovely to meet you."

"You know everyone was telling me not to talk to you because of your family or something, but I'm not scared of them."

"Oh really?" she laughed, thinking to herself, This guy has to be wasted or something. "So you're a real tough guy, huh?"

He found her laughter contagious, and couldn't help himself from laughing with her, "I never said that."

"Well, tough guy," she continued, "What exactly is it that you do? Let me guess, you're a lawyer. They're always pretty and rarely scared of my family's reputation."

He smiled and felt his cheeks heating up, "While I'm flattered that you think I'm pretty, you're incorrect."

"Damn," she crossed her arms, "I'm usually quite accurate. What do you do then?"

"Marine Force Recon."

"Ah," she raised her eyebrows, becoming even more intrigued by this man, "It makes sense, but I never would've guessed you were a military man."

He couldn't keep himself from smiling, "Why is that?"

"Well," she bit her lip, the corners of her eyes crinkling with a cheeky grin, "we've known each other a whole five minutes, and you haven't knocked me up yet or asked me to marry you. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed, I mean, is there something wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you," he laughed, "us spec ops guys usually give it a week or so."

"I see, you guys like to take it slow."

"We pride ourselves in it."

They shared a long laugh that wasn't totally induced by alcohol—the night was still young.

"You never told me what you do," he said once they had both caught their breath.

"I'm still in college, actually," she answered, "I'm going to Columbia. Career wise, it's probably safe to say I'm destined for the State Department, though."