Claiming Isabella

by M. E. Clayton

  Quinn snorted. “Puhlease, Iz, the only reason you don’t have any drama is because the universe is afraid of Julian too.”

  “Uh, that’s not exactly true, Q.” I needed some advice. “I got another bouquet of flowers today.”

  She was silent for a second, no doubt wondering what the hell. I met Quinn and Avery a couple of years ago when I literally ran into them and covered them in an order of hot coffees. But, instead of them attacking me, they had fallen to the ground laughing and asked if I was okay.

  Avery was kind and no nonsense, where Quinn was all backbone and attitude.

  They were perfect and we’ve been best friends ever since.

  “You’re going to have to tell Julian, Iz,” she finally advised.

  I let out a deep breath. I knew that’s what she was going to say and she was right. “I know, I know…but, God, Q, he’s going to flip out.”

  “Of course, he’s going to flip out. This is Julian we’re talking about here. However, I think if you tell him before he finds out on his own, it’ll show that you’re taking this serious and you’re being careful. He might only go slightly insane.”

  “You think?” I asked hopefully.

  “Yeah…sure,” she responded doubtfully.

  “I’m fucked, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, my dear friend, you are,” she confirmed.

  Well, hell.

  Julian~

  I had to laugh as I got off the phone with Isabella. When I first started asking her to marry me, I knew she thought I was kidding, and I didn’t blame her. Who asks someone to marry them after one night together?

  I do, apparently.

  But I knew the second she aimed those amber irises up at me that night at Xavier’s, it was over for me. Chase and I had intercepted her and Quinn on their way back from the restrooms, and when we forced the introductions and Isabella gave me her full attention, I changed my vote from not kidnapping the girls in support of Chase’s plan to kidnap them in the event charming them didn’t work.

  Isabella’s eyes pulled me in and coated me in a peace I had never felt before. And that was saying something considering the way Nick, Chase and I grew up.

  We all, three, grew up in Oakland, California in The Deep East. It was the farthest thing from Disneyland that you could imagine. The neighborhoods were so poverty and crime ridden, it’s a wonder they didn’t film T.V. after school specials there.

  Probably because no film crew wanted to get robbed, stabbed or shot.

  Nick’s dad split early enough that none of us really remembered him. He was raised by his mother, Donna, and she was your classic junkie whore. She didn’t beat or starve Nick, though, and she managed to hold down a job. But she wasn’t shy about her drug use and there was a revolving door of men that went in and out of their home.

  When Nick was just ten years old, he had gone home from school one day and walked in on a drug fueled orgy. Donna was being fucked by two men while surrounded by naked male and female bodies everywhere. Nick had thrown up and ran to Chase’s. After that day, there was a quiet understanding that Nick would raise himself. And he did.

  Chase had it the best out of the three of us. His father was a world class piece of shit, but his mother…his mother was our only saving grace and savior in that hell.

  Jonathan Alexander was a wife batterer and serial cheater. Chase and his younger brother, Kane, even had a half-sister somewhere. Jonathan had no shame when it came to his wife. He would beat her in front of her children and he would have his whores drop him off on her front porch.

  It wasn’t until Chase and Kane were old enough to step in between their mother and father that the beatings lessened. The cheating never stopped, but that offense took a back seat to the physical abuse.

  Teresa Alexander endured a lot to try to keep her family together and she didn’t stop there. She always took Nick and me in when we needed it.

  And we needed it. Often.

  Because things affect everyone differently, I hated to say I had it worse than Chase and Nick, because I didn’t know that to be true exactly. On paper, my childhood was worse than theirs, but they might be carrying their scars with the same weight and regret that I did.

  I was raised by my mother, Sandy, and I never knew who my father was. Hell, I don’t think she even knew. Sandy was a combination of Nick’s mom and Chase’s dad. She was a fan of neglect, verbal abuse, physical abuse, drug use and sex with whomever.

  She hated me, and I never knew why. Maybe it was because I didn’t favor her at all, reminding her of my father. Or maybe it was that a kid cramped her lifestyle. Who knows?

  She never worked and I wasn’t shielded by how she made her money.

  Her resentment of me didn’t stop at her hands. Sandy never had a problem letting whichever dick she was sitting on, at the time, abuse me too if that was his deal. It wasn’t until I grew into my size that the beatings stopped, but the damage to my mind had already been done.

  Most people succumb to drugs to forget or condition their minds to believe it never happened, but not me.

  I’m very good friends with all of my demons. I don’t pretend they don’t exist and I don’t pretend I’m normal. I’m far from. But I do my best every day to be a decent human being and I have Teresa Alexander for the days I find I’m struggling with that.

  One day, when we were 16 years old, we decided we weren’t going to fall victim to our circumstances. We got part time after school jobs, and with the help of a few white lies, we were able to save all our money and invest it in a stock Nick picked out, under Chase’s name as soon as he turned 18.

  We made thousands, then turned around and invested that. Within a year, we had enough to move out of Oakland and take Teresa and Kane with us. Chase and I enrolled in college, while Nick took part time classes and kept picking money makers.

  Ten years later, we own one of the most prestigious financial firms in the country and I have more money than I’ll ever know what to do with.

  Sure I have demons I don’t wish upon anyone, but I never forget that I’m blessed every day.

  And I’ll never forget how much of it I owe to Teresa. She loved me when no one else did. She fed me when I had no food to cook. She stitched me up when I couldn’t stop the bleeding. She clothed me during my growth spurts. She held me when I thought of burning down the neighborhood. And she cried with me whenever I thought of killing myself.

  I owe whatever sanity I possess to Teresa Alexander.

  Teresa was the only person who could bring me any resemblance of peace…until I met Isabella.

  All those demons that I’m so friendly with, they fade into the background when I think of her. And they feel almost nonexistent when I’m with her. And I know nothing but Isabella when I’m inside her.

  I don’t know what it is about her, and I don’t care to try to find out. All I know is what is and what she means to me. And I will never let Isabella go.

  And God help anyone who ever tries to take her away from me.

  My thoughts were interrupted by my office door opening. It used to be that only Chase or Nick could enter my office without knocking, but since that night at Xavier’s, Quinn and Avery have been added to that list.

  I looked up to see Chase strolling in. “What’s up?”

  He plopped himself down on one of the armchairs directly across from my desk. “Q’s driving me nuts.”

  I lifted a brow. “And this is different from the rest of the time how?”

  Chase closed his eyes momentarily before looking back at me. “Why can’t she just sit her ass at home until she heals?”

  Quinn and Chase were like fire and ice. They never failed to entertain. “She works from home three days out of the week, Chase,” I reminded him. About a month ago, Quinn got into a really bad car accident and it left her ankle shattered. Chase got her the best orthopedic surgeon in the world and a top notch physical therapist, but her progress was still a slow go.

  “Don’t talk to me about co
mpromises, Julez. She should just listen to me and do what I say,” he, unrealistically, reasoned.

  I laughed. “Yeah, because Quinn’s docile like that.”

  Chase eyed me before ignore me altogether. “I think something’s up with the girls.”

  “Jesus, Chase, something is always up with those three. If you’re hovering, as I suspect you probably are, they’re probably planning your accidental death.”

  He scoffed. “Really? Because if it were Isabella hurt…?”

  “Irrelevant, because Isabella isn’t hurt, Quinn is. And an irritate Quinn isn’t good for anybody. Least of all you, my friend.” One thing Quinn wasn’t….Quinn wasn’t scare of anyone, including Chase.

  “You’re a dick,” he pointed out. “I don’t know how Izzy puts up with you.”

  “She doesn’t have a choice,” I answered back.

  Chase stood up. “We still on for tonight?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, unless something comes up.”

  He headed towards the door but looked back before turning the knob. “I was serious earlier, Julez. I heard Q telling someone that someone was going to flip out. Those girls are up to something or they’re keeping something from us.”

  I took a deep breath as I thought about Chase’s words. Both scenarios were quite possible. Isabella, Quinn and Avery were a formidable trio. There’s no telling what they got into when we weren’t around. Quinn usually led the charge with Avery weighing the pros and cons and Isabella praying to The Good Lord for all their souls. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. It’s not like their CIA operatives, Chase. They’ll either drunkenly blurt it out or call us to save them.”

  Chase let out a huff. “Save them? They’d rot in jail before admitting they fucked up and needed us to bail them out.”

  This was true.

  “I still say we should drug them, find a shady Justice of the Peace and marry them, already. It sure would make things easier,” I suggested, not for the first time.

  Chase shook his head in resignation. “I’m starting to agree with you, but it’s only been a month since Quinn’s stop fighting me. If I drug and kidnap her now, I’ll have to start all over with her.”

  “Just think about it, Chase. I mean, seems like right now is the ideal time for your kidnapping plan.” I shrugged a shoulder. “She can’t outrun you right now.”

  He cocked his head. “I hadn’t thought about that.” He smiled at me. “I’ll think about it, Julez. Thanks!” And with that, he was out of my office.

  I didn’t understand Chase’s relationship with Quinn. As soon as Nick realized he was in love with Avery, he moved her in and put a rock on her finger. Hell, he’d be married to her now if she didn’t want a real wedding.

  Chase was just as in love with Quinn, but for whatever reason, he stopped at moving her in. They could label themselves as just boyfriend and girlfriend all they wanted, but we all knew differently. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if they ended up married before Nick and Avery.

  If Quinn didn’t kill him first.

  But, even with her homicidal tendencies towards Chase, Quinn was solid, as was Avery. I couldn’t have picked two better women on the planet for Nick and Chase to fall in love with. They were, both, loyal, loving and strong.

  I looked around my office that was decorated in glass and chrome with black furniture. It was effective and impersonal. The only thing of color in the entire room was a PixieCold Svenja Jokicke hanging on the wall behind my desk. And the only thing of personal value, in the entire room, was a picture of Isabella sitting on my desk.

  Chase’s and Nick’s offices had the same layout. But Nick’s was professional friendly with a couple of plants and it was decorated in warm whiskey finishes. Chase’s office was more personal and had a couple Oakland Raider autographed pictures on the wall, and where once there was only a picture of Chase, Nick, Kane, Teresa and I on his bookshelf, it now sat next to a picture of Chase and Quinn, as well.

  There were times when I’d still find myself in a daze over everything we’ve accomplished. Nick, Chase and I were examples of the American Dream. We clawed our way out of the gutters and became more than we ever thought we deserved. It still felt surreal, at times.

  And now we had Isabella, Avery and Quinn. And when I say ‘we’…I mean, we…because I know those girls would do anything for any of us three, just like we’d do anything for any of them.

  We’ve come a long way. It’s just too bad our demons came with us.

  Chapter 2

  Sloth: Because being at home with the ones you love is awesome!

  Isabella~

  I was so happy we were all getting together at my place tonight. It had been along week and I had no desire to get dressed up and all snazzy looking to go out clubbing.

  Besides, a little over a month ago, Quinn got into a really bad car wreck, in which her ankle was shattered. She was healing nicely, but she was still a long way from tripping the light fantastic and all, so we all began to hang out at each other’s homes more.

  I was pulling out glasses from the cupboard when I felt the heat from Julian’s body envelope my entire back. “Here, let me get those. Go sit down or something.”

  I turned around and looked up at the gorgeous psycho. “Julian, I’m only pulling out wine glasses. I’m not lugging two-by-fours up the stairs, on my back,” I pointed out.

  He just smirked at my naivety. “I don’t care if you’re carrying a bag of cotton balls.”

  I sighed. Julian was so unreal. “I’m perfectly capable of setting out some wine glasses, Julian.” I wrapped my arms around his waist as I chastised him because…well, because I can’t be near this man and not touch him.

  Julian cocked his head and pierced me with those all-knowing hazel eyes of his. “I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of ruling the world, Isabella. And I have no problem with you fending for yourself and accomplishing world peace when I’m not around.” He held my face in his hands and leaned down, kissing my forehead. “However, it’s when I am around that I’ll be taking care of everything for you.”

  I melted. I mean…come on, how could I not?

  I smiled up at him. “So, what happens when the day comes that you’ve rendered me completely helpless and you’re not around to cater to me?”

  I was teasing, but teasing Julian was a hit a miss kind of thing. I knew he knew I was joking, but the implications of what I said put him in a different head space. He shook his head. “I’ll never not be around. I’ll give up everything I own before I’d not be around for you, Isabella.”

  We were so wrapped up in each other; I didn’t hear the front door open. I did, however, hear the shock and outrage in Avery’s voice. “What in the ever loving hell?”

  Julian let go of me as I walked around his large frame to see what my friend was all about. “Hi to you guys, too.”

  Avery started stomping her way over to the karaoke machine in the corner of my living room. “You got a home karaoke machine?”

  I could hear Julian chuckle behind me. I answered honestly, “Actually, no. Julian got it for-”

  Avery whirled around on Nick before I could finish my sentence. “Did you hear that? Julian got it for her.” She folder her arms across her chest as she glowered at him. “See what perfect boyfriends do?”

  Nick rolled his eyes at her and focused on what was important to him. “I’m not your boyfriend, Imp. I’m your goddamn fiancé.”

  Avery flounced towards the kitchen, completely ignoring him. “I need a drink.”

  “Ave-”

  “Don’t talk to me, Nicholas, until I drink away this neglect I’m feeling.”

  I looked over at Julian and smiled as Nick followed Avery into the kitchen. Julian shook his head, but smiled back, and I swear, my legs almost gave out.

  I always felt weak whenever Julian smiled my way. He very rarely smiled, but when he did, his face became god-like. He was really just that beautiful and those dimples….hmmmm.

  My ogling was
interrupted when I heard the front door open again and was immediately hit with another sound of shock and outrage.

  “What the hell is that?” Quinn screeched.

  I looked over at Quinn, as Chase shut the front door behind them, and saw Q frantically pointing to the offending contraption. “What’s what?” I asked, although I already knew.

  She started jabbing her finger in the direction of the living room corner. “That thing.”

  “Oh,” I replied casually. “That’s a home karaoke machine.”

  “A what?!” she demanded.

  “A home karaoke machine,” I repeated shrugging a shoulder. “Julian bought it for me when he realized that you’d probably be out of commission for a while and he didn’t want me to have withdrawals.”

  She turned around and stink-eyed Chase. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why can’t you love me like that?!”

  “Right?” Ace jumped in, walking out from the kitchen, and I tried to hold in my laughter.

  “For the love of God, Quinn, can you please not,” Nick begged. “Avery is barely starting to talk to me again since we got here and she’s seen that stupid thing.”

  “How could you, Julez?” Chase accused.

  Julian smirked. “Hey, it’s not my fault you’re a shit boyfriend and Nick’s an inconsiderate fiancé. Isabella’s not going to suffer because you two suck.” He threw a wink at me.

  Nick threw his arms in the air. “Did it ever occur to you to give us a heads up? Maybe help us from being blindsided?”

  Julian’s face looked incredulous. “And ruin an opportunity at this kind of entertainment? Why would I want to go and do that?”

  Quinn pointed a finger in Chase’s face. “We’re going to talk about this later.”

  He rolled his eyes at her. “I didn’t even know those stupid ass things existed, Q.”

  She gasped and I didn’t blame her. “Julian knew,” she pointed out.

  “I’m going to kick your ass, Julez,” I heard Nick threaten.