by Sam Crescent
Smiling to himself, he stepped away from her, giving her the space she required. He didn’t want to step back. No, he actually wanted to fuck her, get to know her, and fuck protocol.
“I want to let you know, Isabella, with me, you don’t have to stick to protocol. I’m quite happy for us to get to know one another on a fundamental basis.”
“You mean you want to sleep with me and then forget all about the wedding.”
He advanced toward her, and she stepped back. They were far from the wall and this time, he trapped her against him and a hard place. “I will never back out. We’re going to be married. You’re going to take my name. It doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun in the process.”
“How can I trust you?” she asked.
He grabbed her hand and placed it against his dick. “Feel that. It’s what you do to me. All I can think about is you.”
Now, against his better instincts, he sank his fingers into her hair, tilted her head back, and kissed her, claiming her. Finally having her all to himself. No woman ever made him feel this … need. She drove him wild and what was more, she didn’t even know it.
Biting down on her lip, he heard her soft cry. He broke the kiss and stepped back.
“Let’s go again.”
Her lips were red from his kiss and she looked so fuckable. All in good time, he’d have everything there was to know about her.
One day.
She was going to be by his side. He was going to make sure of it.
Isabella lowered the blade. “I’d rather fight you in hand-to-hand combat.”
“Then let’s go.”
He waited, watching as she put the blade on the table, and moved back into position. She didn’t raise her hands but the moment she sprang for the attack, he was more than ready for her.
Isabella was strong. He admired that about her. What he wanted to do was make sure she was ready for anyone who thought they could come and take her from him.
She would survive, she’d be his wife, and they would live the rest of their lives together. Isabella was born for him, and he had no interest in squashing her. All he wanted to do was see her thrive.
Chapter Five
“Do I need to be worried about what happened while I was gone?” Randy asked the following morning at the breakfast table.
The house was already in perfect condition. The benefits of knowing the right people and paying just the right amount of money.
Isabella lowered her bruised body into the chair. After deciding on hand-to-hand combat, Damon didn’t let anything go. He gave her his all, and she just kept on going until exhaustion won out. The last time she felt this sore and tired was not long after her father decided she needed to be strong to take over.
“No, you don’t need to be worried.” She winced. Damon had grabbed her leg last night, lifted her up, and spun her around as if she was nothing more than a rag doll. If she’d been fighting him as a kid, she’d likely be dead.
“Do I need to take Damon on the mat? Hurt him?”
“No. He promised not to hold back and he didn’t. I liked it.”
“You liked getting your ass kicked?”
She glared at him. “I didn’t get it kicked a whole lot. Just enough for me to know that I’ve got a lot of work to do. Now enough, tell me everything is okay with them?”
Randy folded up the paper as she reached out to fill her breakfast plate with waffles and all the good stuff that was cooked. She was starved, and she finished her plate with lots of syrup. Yum.
“Everything is fine. They haven’t had any unsuspecting visitors. You can relax.”
“I can’t relax. Not until we figure out who wants to kill me. I know you think it’s the Boss, but I can’t help but think he’d need more evidence. A show of my betrayal or something like that.”
She dug into her breakfast, closing her eyes, moaning.
“You know you pose a risk in helping them,” Randy said.
“Dad gave me the same warning before he died.”
“This is who you are.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going to be a monster and this is the last I’m going to hear about it.”
“Hear about what?” Damon said, entering the dining room.
He didn’t limp or look tired. In fact, she didn’t know how it was possible, he looked even more handsome than the last time she saw him. Stupid man.
“Nothing,” she said.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing and I’m to be part of this family. It will serve me to know all about it.”
“It’s nothing.” She looked at Randy. “Right, it’s nothing?”
“Yes, it is absolutely nothing. Now, I’ve actually been called to the Boss’s estate. He wants an update on all the soldiers.”
“But you can’t go there.”
“I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t like the panic that rushed through her. Randy and all of the lead soldiers had to report to the Boss if he requested it, and knowing that he had, it scared her, especially after last night.
Randy took her hand. “It will give me the opportunity to know if some of the men have heard of a potential attack agreement. I promise I won’t ever be far from your side.”
It didn’t offer her comfort.
He got out of his chair and kissed the top of her head before he left.
“Does he always do that?”
“What? Leave?”
“No, kiss you.”
She looked at Damon, who no longer seemed happy. “He does kiss me. Is that a problem?” Randy had only ever kissed her head or her cheek. There was nothing going on between them, but she couldn’t seem to help but push the issue with Damon.
“I don’t like it and you make sure he keeps his hands to himself.”
“Randy is my best friend and I will kiss him if I want to.”
Damon threw his chair back, advancing toward her too fast. She didn’t have time to move. She watched him.
Waiting.
“Let me be really fucking clear right now, babe. You are mine. You’ll always be mine and there’s no way I’m going to allow anyone else to touch what is mine.”
“I’m not yours.”
He gripped her head and pulled her up. She could have attacked him at any minute but as his lips crushed against hers, she didn’t want him to stop. She’d been forced to know and understand sex, but no man had ever touched her. Heat spread between her thighs, traveling up her body, and as he nibbled on the corner of her mouth, she couldn’t help but moan. The pleasure was instant as it worked through her entire body.
He pressed her against the table and within seconds, he had her lifted up, legs spread.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said.
“I don’t care. You’re mine, Isabella.” His hand dropped from her neck, going to the curve of her breast. The tips of his fingers lightly stroked over her nipple. It wasn’t like she needed much assistance as pleasure rushed through her.
She couldn’t help but spread her thighs a little wider, wanting him to take her. What would it be like to finally feel a man’s dick between her spread thighs?
As he explored her mouth, his hands drove her crazy. They only stayed on her breasts, but it was enough. Just as she was about to beg him to do more, a sound of a throat being cleared filled the air.
In her sudden jolt of awareness of Henrietta, she spilled some food onto the floor.
“I think I need to take a walk out in the garden,” she said.
Without looking at her fiancé or her cook, she quickly rushed outside, needing the fresh air on her skin to cool her down. Damon shouldn’t be able to get to her like this. Small touches shouldn’t make her lose herself and yet, that was exactly what they were doing.
As she made it to the gardens, she quickly removed her shoes and closed her eyes, feeling the grass beneath her feet.
The weather was set to be another scorcher and it wouldn’t be long before the ground was as hot as the day. She’d
enjoy the peace now, even if her body was a mess with need.
****
“You’re not going to scold me?” Damon asked.
“Why on earth would I do that? You forget, boy, I’m a grown woman. I know lust when I see it. I have also been with Isabella Drago since she was a little girl. For the longest time, her only responsibility was to be said girl. Then her brother died after they took her mother, and she was thrust into a world that few can survive. I’ve seen the cruelties of men, and to know she is still one of the sweetest people around, that takes a lot.”
“Sweet?”
“You only see what Isabella wants you to see. Her training says for her to keep a great deal locked up inside, and I can’t say I blame her. This is a horrible world. She deserves to have happiness and to have a man who’ll help to guide her now that her father is gone.”
“Do you agree with what Philip Drago did?” he asked.
Her lips were pursed. “I know it made Isabella grow up. I will see if what he did was for the good of his daughter, or if it will kill her faster.” Henrietta started to clean away the dishes.
His cell phone rang, giving him the perfect opportunity to leave.
“Tell me what you found out,” he said.
He listened to his man detail everything little thing about Randy and Isabella’s secrecy. After hearing what she kept secret, he was a little surprised, but Henrietta’s words came back to him. His betrothed was sweet. With how sore his body was from last night, he’d beg to differ, but then again, she was putting on a show for him.
Disconnecting the call, he made his way into the garden, remembering Randy’s hiding spots and indeed, found her near the rose bushes.
She stood, stroking the petal of a red rose.
“Be careful with the thorns.”
She smiled. “I am. Do you like roses?”
“I don’t give flowers much of a thought,” he said.
“No. Killing. Maiming. That kind of thing?”
“All the time.”
“Is that what you had to grow up with? I know my brother did but Dad always tried to give it a mix so he wasn’t completely overwhelmed with the job and responsibility of taking over as capo.”
“Considering your father was a capo and had a fierce reputation, he raised you both differently.”
“He only did what he did because he loved my mom. She was his very reason for breathing some days. Not long after she died, he became … someone else. It was a short time, but it was like he suddenly realized the monster still lived within him, and her children wouldn’t want to see that side of him.”
Damon vaguely recalled a massacre at the hands of Philip Drago Sr. It showed that even as he was grieving, and how he didn’t always follow in the Family’s footsteps, he still was a force to be reckoned with.
“Do you miss him?”
“I do. I miss them all. I sometimes forget that it’s only me around now. It’s lonely.”
With his recent conversation with Henrietta, he now saw the more vulnerable side to this woman. She wasn’t just a capo’s daughter. A fighter. A force of nature.
As he looked at her, he saw the only daughter left, a sister, someone who had no one other than a soldier who swore his loyalty to her father. There was no one to really take care of her, to love.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close.
She was tense. “What are you doing?”
“I’m your family now.”
“Damon, we’re not even married yet.”
“We will be soon.” He ran his fingers down her back and even as she probably wanted to fight him on it, she didn’t. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on. “I was going to ask you about your family.”
“Go ahead, I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“I’m aware of your father’s viewpoints on women. You’ve told me yourself that I’m nothing more than a baby-making vessel.”
“Yes?”
“How can someone who is raised by a man who sees women as property like me be at your side? Respect me and even grant me all the freedoms I have now?” she asked.
“Watching men and women. The guards and soldiers.”
“That’s it?” she asked.
“My training started when I was very young. Being in pain became second nature to me. It’s all I’ve known for a really long time. My father took me everywhere with him, but because I was a kid, I wasn’t exactly considered that important. I’d wander off. I hated my father and following in his footsteps was never what I wanted to do. Most boys want to impress their dad, me, I wanted him to regret ever having me.”
“That’s … er … intense.”
“It’s who I am. Each day I got stronger but I also saw the way other men treated their women. My father beats my mother, or he used to. I’ve seen the state of the women, and I have no desire to hurt a woman. There’s no power in that. I have killed women, Isabella. Traitors. Women who will try and get us arrested, or rat us out. I’m not perfect.”
“All of this is to spite your father?”
“Yes, and I believe women should be cherished.” He stroked her cheek. “I will cherish you, Isabella. Every single day.”
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this, but I appreciate it, Damon. I do.”
“We have to go and start making the necessary arrangements for our wedding.”
She groaned. “Shopping?”
“Either that or we organize a planner for us.”
“I think a planner would be better. I don’t want to have to deal with all of the fine details.” She wrinkled her nose, looking cute.
In her own time, she’d tell him the truth about her setup, until then, he was going to trust her judgment as to why she kept it a secret from him.
Chapter Six
“You’re getting married in three weeks,” Daniella said.
Isabella looked up from the baby boy in her lap and smiled. “I know. I wanted to invite you but Randy didn’t think it would be a good idea.”
Danielle sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll be with you every step of the way, even if I can’t, you know, be there.”
Glancing around the apartment, Isabella felt so happy for the young woman. Daniella and August were her friends. She held the little boy on her lap as he played with her hair.
“We heard about your father,” Daniella said. “We’re both so sorry.”
“I hope August doesn’t even know what it means.”
“He’s growing up so fast.”
“Tell me about it. I can hardly believe this guy is two years old already. I remember when he was nothing more than a baby bump.” She blew on August’s cheek and the little boy giggled.
“So tell me about your husband-to-be?” Daniella said.
“You know who it is.”
“Damon Romano.”
“Yes. I don’t suppose you know too much about him?” Isabella asked.
“The usual information. He’s a monster. Scares his enemies. Doesn’t feel pain.” Daniella handed her a cup of coffee, taking a seat opposite her.
She didn’t have long before she needed to get back. The only reason she’d been able to escape Damon’s rather invading presence was under the guise of going to try on her wedding dress. She’d tried on the wedding dress, and for the first time since she was twelve, she felt like a woman. A rather strange feeling to her.
“What about the women? Did he visit them?”
Daniella raised her brow.
“What?”
“I have to wonder why you want to know these things.”
“I’m curious about what he’d be like, you know. Nothing more.”
“There is always more to it, but I’ll let this one slide.”
“If you must know, he did visit some of the clubs, at least if rumor was to be believed, but he never took women.”
“He didn’t?” Isabella asked.
“No. He was only ever there to relax. Enjoy a drink. I did hear that if any clients were mean or
hurt them, he’d be the one they had to deal with. Some consider him a monster, me, I thought he sounded more like a hero.”
August wriggled out of her lap and she helped him down to the floor so he could crawl around after his toys.
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out an envelope.
“Isabella, don’t. You’ve already done so much for me.”
“I want you to leave town,” Isabella said. “I organized some passports for you both. I’ve even opened up a bank account with enough funds. You can leave all of this behind.”
“You’re my best friend,” Daniella said.
“And you’re one of mine, but I need to know you’re safe. Please, take it.” Ever since Isabella had learned of the women who were taken off the streets and sold on the black market like nothing more than cattle, she’d made it her personal mission to help as many women as she could.
There was an entire apartment block on the outskirts of the city that helped to house those who were saved, only some of them were in such need as they’d been physically, sexually, and mentally abused by men, some of whom were in the Family.
Daniella was one she’d found during a social meeting in a capo’s home. She’d been chained up with the dogs, covered in all kinds of disgusting mess. She’d been heavily pregnant.
She shouldn’t have been snooping around but social events bored her. She hated being around pompous assholes who really believed they were better than everyone else. That night, she’d snuck Daniella out of the house. She’d never returned to the party, and for the last two and a half years, she’d helped her at every chance she got. She was there when August first came into the world.
Isabella had purchased this apartment, and anything Daniella ever needed, she provided. It had been two and a half years, and Daniella was only eighteen. She’d been taken young, hurt in ways that Isabella could only imagine.
“I don’t want to do this,” Daniella said.
“Someone within the Family is trying to kill me,” Isabella said. “I’ve been selfish allowing you to be so close for so long.” She reached out, taking Daniella’s hands. “I cannot bear the thought of anything happening to the two of you. Please, when all of this blows over, I want you both back, but I can’t guarantee your safety, and to put a guard on you, it could risk you even more.”