A Kingpin Love Affair (9 page)

Isabella

My teeth sank
hard into my bottom lip as I attempted to force the tears away. These feelings swimming around inside of me reminded me too much of the past. The past I wish didn’t exist.

I never wanted to be one of those girls. The ones who did whatever they could to keep someone happy and to make them stay with them like I had just recently seen on TV or witnessed in the trades as the other girls desperately tried to please the men. The ones who went out of their way to be something they were not simply just to survive. I knew what it was like to survive, but I never tried to be something I wasn’t while doing so. With Jared, I refused to be that as well.

I heard the slamming of the front door and the roar of the motorcycle as it was brought to life. The noise reminded me of the time we spent on it together just today. I had felt as if we were growing closer to one another, learning who the person hiding in the dark inside of us truly was. But now I see we really weren’t.

“You’re so dumb, Isabella…” I muttered into the air, frustrated I had allowed him pass my walls. He knew what I had been through yet he acted as he did? I tried to tell myself it had everything to do with being scared and afraid of the unknown, but in reality, I wasn’t sure what it was.

Once again, I was stuck sitting here alone and in my thoughts because he walked away from me. Minutes ticked by, my stomach growling as a faint reminder of the fact that I hadn’t even eaten dinner yet.

“If I told you that leaving was his fight or flight mechanism, would you believe me?” Bree’s soft voice met my ears as I swung around toward the door of my bedroom. I must’ve been so wrapped up in what I was feeling, what Jared had caused me to feel that I failed to hear her come in.

“I would because he seems to fight against everything good in his life,” I said truthfully. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she smiled at me in understanding. We were both on the same page when it came to Jared.

“His past is lined with jagged rocks. He hasn’t moved on from it and that’s what is holding him back from finding the happiness he desperately is seeking.” Bree walked into the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed. She eyed me cautiously as if she understood the hesitation that ate away at me.

“We all have a past that we never want to resurface. Mine is far worse than his I’m sure, but here I am going through the motions attempting to move on from it,” I bit out. I was so angry he had allowed the past to douse the future in insecurities and pain. He was right about one thing—I did want to save him, but I also wanted more than that. I wanted to save us.

Bree’s hand landed against my knee startling me. When I looked up into her dark eyes, I saw familiarity. It was the situation in general, the pain I had once endured. Maybe not in the same way, but she had endured something.

“Jared’s past is a hard one. Many years ago he lost the only female he ever had in his life.” She paused. “His mom was special to him. She died unexpectedly and it crushed him. Crushed our father, too. A lot of pain and time passed, and they found out I was the daughter our father had been looking for since he found out I existed. Through me, our dad found the little piece of happiness he had lost. I think there are times Jared harbors hard feelings toward me for giving our father something he couldn’t. He looks around and sees everyone so happy while he still hasn’t found his.”

I understood what she was saying. It was like an itch that you got from poison ivy. If you scratched it over and over again, your skin would become irritated, and eventually, the itch would spread all over your body, causing irritation on every piece of your skin. Jared chose to wallow in his misery, to accept his pain as a burden until it tainted him completely from the inside out, spreading agony throughout him.

“He should be grateful for the family he has,” I blurted out without thinking.

“He should be, but we all deal with pain in different ways. The easiest way to let something like that go is to push those who care about you away. It’s easier to not feel when the pain is the worst because not feeling means it’s not real. If you have no emotions toward it, you learn to numb it out.”

One single tear fell from my eye. It was for Jared, for the pain and hurting he was going through. He felt alone in his own world, and I knew what that felt like more than most.

“Don’t cry for him. Don’t let your tears be the symbol of forgiveness, sometimes people need to be pushed to their limits before they can learn to move on from the past. Every once in a while you have to push them off the emotional cliff so they can feel.”

Her words echoed in my head, giving me the comfort I needed at that moment. Jared could say whatever he wanted to push me away, but at the end of the day, I knew what I felt inside of me for him. I knew, when he kissed me, he was just as lost in me as I was in him. I wasn’t going to give in just yet. He was good at blocking people from getting too close, he even did it with his own family. Yet they didn’t give up. If my feelings for him were as true as the words I spoke to him, then I couldn’t either. I would push his boundaries and make him feel he couldn’t walk away.

“How did you know he left?” I whispered softly to her, wondering if Jared had called her.

“He called Zerro. Told him he needed some time to breathe. Gia is with my dad, and I was already in the area, so I figured I would swing by.”

“Well, thank you really, for coming by, for explaining the things that Jared fails to explain.” As soon as the words left my lips, I realized just how messed up what I had said really was. I still had yet to explain to him what had happened to me. I knew he had some idea though as Alzerro was the reason I was free.

Bree laughed which in turn caused me to smile. “We all have a story that we have to tell as our own. He would’ve told you eventually. I just knew that right now I needed to tell you. Jared needs saving, and that’s the bottom line. He needs someone to reach inside of him and pour her light and love into him. I know you have darkness inside of you still. I know this because, for a while, I had it in me. But the same way everyone saw my light even when I didn’t, I see yours... Jared needs yours, Izzy.”

Saving Jared. Those two words coinciding together in my mind, side by side, seemed as if they were impossible.

“I don’t know if Jared can be saved,” I spoke quietly, my fingers drifting over the soft blanket beneath me.

“We all can be saved. It’s just more about when than
if
...”

I nodded my head in agreement knowing her words held the truth that could be reached if you had hope and faith—two things that had now become second nature to me.

I would have faith I could be the light for Jared—even in my own darkness, I would have enough hope for the both of us.

.

“She is as
beautiful as she is smart. Fierce when she needs to be and quiet when she knows danger is lurking. She is an enigma and it is why she shall be yours.” The salesman spoke with ease. He was a short man with a large midsection, telling me he lived a rather lavish lifestyle. His head was bald, and his eyes were dark and beady.

My eyes scanned the picture of the frail girl. Her eyes were dark and filled with fright. Her body was tiny, but you could tell she had a womanly body with curves created solely for hands to peruse. Her hair was long, dark, and curled.

She stood straight up, her chin held high as if she had a point to prove to someone. To most, it may have been a sign of disrespect, maybe even blatant anger. However, to me it was a sign of her worth. Even being treated as a piece of property, the simple gesture of holding her head high told me just how valuable she truly was.

“I want her,” I growled, my hand gripping the photo with force. My cock was growing hard with images of taking her over and over again. She would be my little slut, my woman to do with as I pleased.

“Then she shall be yours, sir,” the salesman replied. He sounded just as excited about the exchange as I did. That in turn made me smile. I gestured to Oliver and watched as he handed over the envelope of cash. Then I smiled even wider, knowing that sooner or later she would be mine. It was all in due time now.

“Boss, I have some news regarding Isabella.” I lifted my eyes, pulling myself from the memory as I waved my hand, motioning for Wyatt to continue on with what he was saying. Wyatt had become one of my men about two months ago. His mother was in need of money when I plucked him from her, bringing him in as my own. Wyatt’s hair had grown out a bit, the brown color looking ragged, his dark eyes bleeding into my own.

“She is being protected by the United States FBI. They have put her under witness protection.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
Witness Protection?
Of course, they would enroll her in something like that as if it would make it less possible for me to find her.

“How do you know this is true?” I questioned, taking a drink of my whiskey. I watched his face grow white as snow as if he didn’t want to tell me the lengths in which he had gone in order to find this tidbit of information.

“I have intel, They work closely with the agent who helped to rescue her. Said they were on the agent’s special recovery team.” I smiled. Money could change a good person into a bad person in five seconds.

“Anything else?” I asked another question, the whiskey in my glass swirling around in a hypnotizing way, drawing my attention to the caramel color that reminded me of her eyes in the picture I was given.

“We have yet to set eyes on her, but from what my intel has told me, she is being protected by a man. Adam’s confirmation on location was correct. He is a driver for a company that does pickups and drop offs, only for the most important people in the state and has been spotted on French Island as he stated.”

My fingers gripped the glass harder than expected thus causing the glass to shatter. Liquid dripped down my hand as glass pieces fell to the floor.
Another man was protecting her? From me, her owner?

“Are you all right, sir?” Stephen rushed to my side as if I were a five-year-old unable to hold my own glass of water.

“Perfectly fine.” I shoved him away as I got up from my seat in search of something to dry my hands with.

“What do you want to do next?” His question bounced around in my mind as I wiped the whiskey from my fingers.
What did I want to do next?
It was still too early for me to make my presence known, but I was also closer to her than I had ever been before. I had the choice to go in early without a well thought out plan and get what belonged to me, or I could act like the leader I was and find out everything I possibly could on the man who signed his death wish the moment he decided to be a hero.

“Gather some information. I need to know who this man is, and I want to know everything. From what he eats for breakfast to what color socks he has on. I will also need to know the exact company he works for, how many drives he goes on a week, even the routes he takes. And then once you’ve given me what my heart desires, I want to meet him. The man who dared to test Isabella’s fate.” I smiled sickly knowing that if I got the chance, I would beat the life from his body one drop of blood at a time.

“Meet him?” Wyatt’s voice surrounded me, causing my jaw to tick. Was he questioning my motives? Or just me in general? With a flick of my wrist, I pulled my knife out, pushing it against his throat before he even had a chance to correct his mistake. He knew better than to question me. They all knew, yet they were all testing me lately it would seem. I stared into his eyes, thoroughly considering his death. I needed to show them just because Isabella had my mind all over the place, I still held their lives in the palm of my hand.

“What seems to be the issue, Wyatt? When I tell you to do something, you do it. Do you want to live, maybe continue to breathe?” I put pressure on the blade, causing it to press harder against his skin. I could see his skin breaking against the metal, a thin line of blood bubbling up over the blade.

“I didn’t mean any harm, sir…” he stammered, his voice alone pissing me off even more.

“You didn’t?” I leaned into him, my voice filled with disgust. Allowing him to walk away without harm being done to him would allow the other men to think they could question me whenever and however they pleased. That was a risk I was not willing to take. The whole reason they were here was because of me. My family had brought them into the United States. They owed me everything. Their lives most importantly. So when they fucked up, they paid in blood. That was the rule, their only option.

“I didn’t, sir… You know I would never question you.” Wyatt’s eyes were begging me to extend my forgiveness, but there was no compassion in me to accept his plea. My body grew more and more alive with every passing second, waiting for another slip up so I could end his pathetic fucking life.

“That’s funny because you already questioned me. So not only have you disobeyed my authority, you also lied straight to my face.” Wyatt’s breath came in heavy pants as I determined what was to be done with him.

“I should have your tongue cut off. Maybe then you would learn to never question me.” I growled at him, squeezing his arm tightly as I jerked him over to the countertop of my bar.
He was going to lose two fingers today. One for being Curious fucking George and another for lying to me.
My men knew better than this.

“Sir…” Antonio called, but I paid no attention to him as I removed the knife from Wyatt’s neck. Whatever he had to say to me would have to wait. I pushed Wyatt down so that the top half of his body was flushed against the smooth surface, his hand laid out in front of me. It was a shame to have to do this to him, I thought briefly as I held the blade up, watching it gleam in the light. Then I gripped his wrist hard, pushing it harder against the countertop. Wyatt’s eyes continued to silently plead with me, but there was no turning back now. I had already taken my knife out and it was hungry for more blood.

“This is your offering to me for your transgressions. Let this be a lesson to you.” I smiled just as I brought the blade down on his thumb and pointer finger. His agony filled scream filled the air as the blade cut through his skin and bone with ease. Blood dripped from the blade as I lifted it up, crimson droplets falling on the surface. Wyatt yanked his hand from the table, hysterical screams falling from his lips.

“Remove him and send Stephen to clean this mess,” I told Antonio, taking a seat back at my desk in the middle of my office. I held the blade in my hand, completely captivated by the blood.

More blood would be shed.

People would die and it would all be at my hands.

I was the new king of the mafia.