My Sweet Isabella (The Ambassador Trilogy #3) (8 page)

“You get shot with a high powered gun by some fucking terrorist and see if you aren’t pissed off.” I walked off and into the kitchen. I would be glad when this fucking night was over with.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I had been home now for almost two months. My leg was still killing me when I woke up in the mornings. I tried to sleep with my leg propped on a pillow, and during the night I moved, and the pillow must have fallen, and it was now on the floor. My Isabella wasn’t in bed with me like I was used to. Where was she? I rolled over to find a note she had left me with my various medications I took each day.

Went for a run. Be back to make you breakfast. Coffee in urn. Luv you tons, Izzy.

I was aware of the silence in the room. I was never alone anymore. It was nice just to be.

I heard Gustan down the hall. I’d forgotten about the meeting we were to have that morning. The knock on my bedroom echoed in the silence as I made an attempt to get my sorry ass out of bed. The pain shot through my leg as I reached for my crutches and pulled myself up.

“Come on in, Gustan.” I yelled so he could hear me through the door. I was naked except for the cast on my leg. I didn’t care. Gustan had seen me this way before.

“Wild night I see.” He smiled at me and tried not to look. If he knew how wrong, he was. Those nights were over for the time being. I made love to Isabella, but the sex was far from wild.

“I need to go get this cast off this morning and then I have to go to the Embassy for a while.”

“Then it’s a good day, Fabrice. No more cast. You’re getting better every day.” I shrugged. I was getting better, but not fast enough.

“Why did you want to meet me this morning?” His message sounded urgent. He had a manila envelope with him.

“You wanted your brother followed. I have been having him followed. Take a look at this” I had finished getting my sweats on and was putting on my white oxford. I pulled out a pair of dress pants and a tie. I threw them at Gustan.

“Here, I want you to bring these. Once this cast comes off these sweats are going in the trash.”

“Back to the suit and tie again. I see things are improving.” He smiled at me and folded my pants carefully and set my tie on top.

“Let’s go to my office and then give me the bad news.” I knew what he was about to tell me. My brother was still on drugs. I didn’t want Isabella to know I had him watched. She would have been pissed I had not trusted him.

I asked him to get us a cup of coffee on the way. Once we were in the office, I shut the doors and sat down behind my desk. Gustan put my folded pants down on the chair and slid the envelope in front of me. I pulled out a black and white snapshot of my brother. The picture was taken in Rome by someone Gustan had hired to follow him. Something that was completely normal. Romain leaving his office and walking home. I pulled out another one and this picture was of him shopping at the local market. Another showed him and his girlfriend walking arm and arm. There were some Gustan had taken of Romain in France. Nothing I could find that looked out of the ordinary. To my shock there wasn’t any. I looked at pictures of Romain going to work and to dinner with a plain looking tall woman. There was nothing in there that pointed to him using drugs again. I put the pictures back in the envelope and looked at Gustan shoving the envelope across my desk.

“He may have changed.” I said sipping my coffee.

“The guy I hired to follow him in Rome said he didn’t see anything other than him going to and from his work and eating out at night.

“I may have you do this again in a few months. He can go off the wagon and then get back on the wagon repeatedly. I’ve seen this before. I don’t know? Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on him but he hasn’t been the best brother. He told me the name of his girlfriend, Andrea Noir. Can you dig up some information on her for me? I want to be sure Isabella and my parents are safe. I have no idea who this woman is and I would feel more comfortable knowing she checks out. I may sound paranoid, but I still don’t trust him.” Gustan wrote her name down on in a small notebook he kept in his shirt pocket.

“You have a right to be suspicious, Fabrice. He fucked you over, and you didn’t know until it was too late. I don’t blame you. Yeah, let me know if you want him followed again. In the meantime, I will see if anything comes up on her.”

He looked at his watch and started to get up. “We better get going. Is Isabella coming with us?” he asked

“No, because I’m going to the Embassy right after for a couple of hours.”

“She’s safe right now, Fabrice. I sent two guys to follow her while she is out running, and while I take you today. They are two of my best. I’m on top of everything.”

“You better make sure she is being watched. I’ll text her on our way.” We left my office and headed to the doctor’s office. Thank God this fucking cast was coming off. My doctor smiled when he came in to remove it.

“I think you are happy for today, Fabrice.”

“You have no idea. This has been a nightmare to say the least.” My thigh itched, the cast was heavy, and I wanted to take a shower like a normal person. I was still in pain and could not put much weight on my leg after they sawed the cast off.

I was officially a freak. The doctor assured me the strength in my leg would get better in time and the size would eventually increase, but probably not be as big as my other leg. The scar would be there permanently along with a slight limp to remind me of the day for the rest of my life. I needed to continue my physical therapy to strengthen my leg every day. The pain would eventually go away, the doctor promised, but not completely. He kept reassuring me how lucky I was to be alive. They were cutting off my prescription pain pills and prescribed a high dose of ibuprofen.

“You came out of this incident better than most would. It was a pleasure and an honor taking care of you, Ambassador.”

“Thank you Doctor, for everything. I will not forget that you saved my life.” I tried to sound optimistic. I stood up and shook his hand. He told me I could get back to the United States within a month after my last follow up appointment. I didn’t want to go back. I was comfortable where I was. I had a lot of thinking to do. I liked my life at the vineyard with only Isabella and me.

“You’re lucky, Ambassador. Things could have turned out very different for you. I have seen people with these gun shots lose limbs, get infections, and die. You surpassed all our expectations.”

I sighed, knowing he was right. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Hearing those words, I knew I was lucky. This whole situation could have turned out so much worse.

I wanted to let the whole staff at the hospital know how grateful I was for them saving my life. I went to the unit where I stayed after my surgery and thanked everyone individually including that nurse I wasn’t too fond of. Hell, she was doing her job, and I had been being an all-out asshole. She was receptive and forgiving when I apologized for my behavior. I walked out of there with my head held high and feeling almost like my old self again.

O
ur
life was amazing on the vineyard and perfect for me to recuperate. I got used to the security and the press had not found out where I was yet. On the weekends, my family was there and we had Sunday dinners like Isabella was used to. She would cook so much food and we would sit outside and eat or in the dining room. Isabella insisted I let Romain come when he was in town. He had been coming home from Italy quite a bit on the weekends, which was unusual. I agreed his visit would be good for everyone but me. His girlfriend never came, and I didn’t ask why. I kept my distance from him as much as possible when he was there. He behaved himself, for the most part, staying away from Isabella. I made sure he knew I watched his every move when he was in my home. My eyes never left him and I made sure he saw that.

Being off all the pain medication was good for my mental state. I seemed to be less angry as the days passed. The depression was still there, but the horrible feelings of anger were easing, or so I thought. I still had a short fuse. I worked from the office at home and went into Paris twice a week. Isabella took a cooking class in town and loved the one night a week she could get away and be with other people. She was making friends and having coffee with them afterwards. She didn’t know, but each time I had Gustan follow her. She still wasn’t that fond of him, and didn’t know why. She wasn’t mean to him, and always treated him well.

“Why don’t you like Gustan?” I asked her one night as we soaked in a hot bath this time. She sat in the back and held me in front of her. Being wrapped in her arms was wonderful. The warm water felt so good, and Isabella would wash my hair and my body. We would sit there for hours listening to music, talking, and drinking wine. When the water became cold, we emptied the tub and filled it up again.

“I don’t trust him, Fabrice. I don’t know, there’s something about him.”

“I trust him with you and with my life. He has been with me for years. We served in Special Ops together.” The washrag dripped water across my back. The feel of her breasts pressed against me felt amazing.

“Maybe I’m wrong. I have a weird feeling. I don’t like his eyes. They’re too close together.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“You can’t be serious? I never see his eyes; he always has those damn sunglasses on.” I turned around and met her gaze squarely.

“Yes, why does he hide his eyes? He could be a mastermind terrorist and had that whole thing set up. He could have told them when you were going to be in the coffee shop that day. Didn’t he ask you to go and get coffee? Where is he from? What are his religious beliefs?”

“You have a very vivid imagination. You may want to start writing books. I know him very well. He did not set me up, he is from France, and he was raised Catholic. Now stop. I think you have been holed up with me too long. Maybe you need to have Avery come down, and you two tear up the town.” She must have too much time on her hands, and this sedentary lifestyle we were currently living was getting to her.

“That’s not a bad idea. I miss her terribly. I’ll call her tomorrow. You wouldn’t mind if she came here?” Isabella raked her fingers through my hair and massaged my scalp. I could have fallen asleep.

“Mind? It’s Avery. I love being around her. She might bring some light to this place.”

“Yes, Pepe, she might.” We both laughed at my nickname she had given to me the first time I started dating Isabella.

With the physical therapy kicking my ass every day, I was exhausted and in pain. Our sex life became nonexistent. Isabella never pushed me, she never complained. She seemed to be content being with me like we were in the bath. But, that night I needed her. I was determined to fuck her brains out the best way I could.

After we were done with our bath, we dried off, and I grabbed her in my arms. She gasped, her gaze shocked.

“I want you. The way I used to make love to you with me in control. I want to be dressed and tell you what to do. I need this.” I whispered in her ear letting my tongue trace the outline. She went limp in my arms.

“Are you sure you’re up for tying me up and telling me what to do?” she asked, in a sexy husky voice she gets when she is horny. My fingers grabbed her naked ass and thrust her against me.

“I’m up for anything that keeps you naked and begging for me. Feel this?” I placed her hand on my throbbing cock. I was hard as stone. I hadn’t been in so long. My cock was suddenly in need of her pussy.

“Oh, what a nice surprise, Fabrice. This is better than the dessert I made for us.”

“Stay naked, Isabella and go lie down on the bed, and we will get to that dessert later.”

She did as I instructed. “Yes, sir,” she smiled at me with lust in her eyes.

I went to my closet and put on my dress pants, white shirt, and tie. I needed to find the strength within me to satisfy her in bed the way she loved and this would do it. Taking control and standing a lot was going to be hard, but I needed to pull myself up and be the man she fell in love with.

I walked over to her as she lay on the bed. I saw the raw lust in her eyes. My cock ached along with my leg.

“Yum,” she moaned looking up at me. I couldn’t help but smile at her. How it could get her so worked up to see me in a pair of pants and a dress shirt was still a mystery to me. She, on the other hand was like looking at a work of fine art spread across my bed.

“I barely recognize you anymore when you wear your tie. I’m so used to you in sweats and a t-shirt. You’re so gorgeous, Fabrice.”