Page 14 of Our Darling Isabelle

“I’ll rip the throat from every other man who has been inside of you. You need to give me a list of names, Belle.” I say before kissing her tenderly. She startles under me before her lips mold to mine. I regretfully slide out of her, making her body tense up.

“I’m going to be limping for a week. I can’t even close my legs.” She huffs. Pride flares in my chest at marking her inside and out. My teeth are marked on her neck, the skin already dark and angry.

“Alec can wait a little longer.” I mumble, curling beside her and drawing her into my embrace. She doesn’t relax in my arms, and I grumble my annoyance.

“This doesn’t change anything. It’s just been a long time since I’ve gotten laid and when in Rome, or whatever the kids say these days.” She shrugs, while scooting away. I grab her chin between my fingers, jerking her head back to look at me.

“You can deny it all you want, but it only took us a day to get you in bed. We are yours just as much as you are ours.” My voice leaves no room for argument, even as she looks away. Desperate to get her to relax, I offer a bargain.

“Two years. Give us two years and if at the end you still want out, you leave with your debt erased.” I offer. Her eyebrows raise as she thinks it over. A few tense moments pass before she gives a curt nod.

“Fine. But at the end of the two years, I’m leaving.” She says firmly. The thought nearly tears my chest open, but I smile and nod, kissing her lips. “Deal.” I whispered against her mouth. I’m a lying son of a bitch. She’s never getting away from me.

Chapter 12—Alec

Isabelle has been here nearly three months, and every day is harder than the last. She’s taken a step back, letting us touch her only until she comes to her senses and slaps our hands away. She swears it was temporary insanity, but we know better. Letting herself spiral within her own mind, Isabelle is convinced if she keeps her distance then at the end of our predicament, she can just walk away. It’s only a matter of time before she comes crawling back to our beds. This has become a competition between Markus and me, to see who can break her walls down faster. I had sworn that all I wanted was a taste of her, but now it’s as if she is all I crave and I’ll starve without her.

Markus is sitting at the conference table, staring daggers at Jared, who isn’t backing down. Isabelle made a deal with my idiot brother that at the end of two years he would let her go free if she chose, but I never agreed to that deal. She wasn’t going anywhere without my permission ever again.

Except apparently to this meeting.

“She can’t be here. What happens if she goes to the other families? The Kane family in Davenport has been itching for a reason to bust into our territory. Don’t be an idiot.” Jared snaps at Markus. Isabelle fidgets nervously in the seat beside my brother, glancing at the door that is directly behind me. Keeping my features calm while seeing her so worked up isn’t easy when the girl has burrowed under my skin, and I still don’t know if I like it.

“I wouldn’t betray Mimi like that. I’d never put her in danger.” Isabelle says quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. She’s still wearing one of my black t-shirts over a pair of tight skinny jeans, making my mouth water. We should take her to get more outfits, but I liked the way she looked in my clothes, so I kept my mouth shut when Markus began hiding her shit. My dick strains against the zipper, making me shift uncomfortably when her citrus shampoo hits me. Jared sighs and runs hands through his hair while Markus smiles fondly at her. I noticed she’s started inching towards the door.

“It’s not personal, princess.” Jared says in a fatherly tone. I hated it when he started calling her that and so did Markus, but she doesn’t mind. To earn her trust, I have been carefully picking my battles, but she liked to push me.

“I don’t need to be here for all this.” Isabelle says, waving her hand at the documents littered over the black table we are standing around. She tucks a long black strand behind her ear, standing and walking towards the door. I sigh and step in front of her, shaking my head once and taking her hand in mine.

“Markus wants you to see this side of us. If you’re going to be part of our world, then you need to at least understand some of it.” I say, guiding her back to sit beside me this time. Markus grins at Jared, flipping him off.

“Dad said my girlfriend can stay for dinner, so suck it.” Markus taunts, making me bite back a groan, and Jared returns the gesture.

“Really hope you know what you’re doing.” Jared mumbles, sitting back down. Isabelle rolls her eyes and picks up a file from the table. Before she opens it, she looks at me from the corner of her eye while her teeth pick at the soft skin inside her lip.

“Well, go on. Ask whatever it is that’s on your mind.” I tell her, making her cheeks pink when I call her out.

“It’s really none of my business, but what happened to your father? I remember the Barone brothers taking over, but nothing specific on what happened to your father. A man like him didn’t just disappear.” Isabelle says. Her tone was gentle, but it felt like blades dragging across my skin.

“You’re right, it is none of your business.” My voice is bitter, and she recoils as if I struck her.

“Alec.” Markus warns me and I look up to see the anger in his eyes. Isabelle clears her throat and plasters on a fake smile.

“No, it’s fine, he’s right. None of this is any of my business. There is nothing I need to know because I won’t be here forever. I shouldn’t even be here to begin with. If it wasn’t for you dragging me here against my will, none of this would even be a problem.” She spits the words at us with venom. Before I can answer, my phone rings and I nod to Isabelle to keep quiet, but she doesn’t look at me. Guilt wars with the anger in my chest, making it hard to focus.

“Barone.” I say, putting it on speaker.

“Lucian wanted to know if you had anything to do with the weapon massacre on the landing strip.” A male’s deep voice crackles through the speaker. I recognize Vincent, Lucian Kane’s right-hand guy. He’s a cold-hearted killer and tough as they come. I frown at Jared and Markus, both shaking their heads.

“No, we didn’t have anything to do with it. Wanna tell me what happened, Vin? I could have some of my men put feelers out.” I offer. Vincent hesitates. We don’t have a history of working together, but knowing who did this would be beneficial for all of us. Lucian and my father hated each other, but he doesn’t hold that same animosity towards us, yet.

“It was a weapons shipment. They took out half a dozen of our men and blew Lucian’s private jet. But they snatched an entire ammo crate and all the guns they could carry before we had time to do anything about it.” Vincent sounds enraged, understandably.

“A hit on your boss and supplies take over, all in one?” Markus asks.

“Seems so. Boss was going to go on that run with us, but last minute he had something come up.” Vincent blows out a tension filled breath. “If you hear anything, you know where I am.” The line clicks off and my screen flashes.

“We have a shipment rolling through tonight.” Jared says solemnly. Markus and I share a look before nodding to him.

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