Page 2 of Our Darling Isabelle

“Maybe we should think about making these doorways a little bigger, Alec.” He pulls a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice. We actually paid to have them lowered last week.” Jared stops in his tracks, and I smirk to myself.

“That was cold, man. The worst part is, I believe you would do some shit like that.” He shakes his head, sticking a cigarette between his lips.

“Those things will kill you one day, Jared.” With a grumble, we step through the double front doors and into the fading sunlight.

“Despite me being the right-hand man of a mob boss, you’re nagging that smoking will kill me?” Jared scoffs at me, lighting his cigarette before pulling out the car keys. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him, unlocking my cell to call my younger brother. He picks up almost immediately, but the background noise nearly drowned his voice out.

“Hey man, I’m at Cassidy.” His voice cuts through the music crackling over the speaker.

“I can hear that you’re in our casino, Markus. Stay put, that’s where we are heading now. It seems we need to remind the world of who the Barone family is.” I say to him. The sound of a door creaking, followed by the fading sound of the casino, is all I hear for a moment.

“So, you decided we should cash in finally?” he says smugly.

“Don’t sound so excited. This is just a matter of business, little brother.” I remind him with a huff. Jared nods to the car and I slide into the front passenger seat.

“I know. But you know what they say. If you love torturing people, you’ll never work a day in your life.” He hums through the phone. I can picture the unsettling grin on his face, and I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration.

“We should be there in twenty. Be ready.” I say, hanging up before he can answer.

As we pull up to the private parking behind our casino, I roll my sleeves up and glance around the empty lot. Jared opens my door and I step out, frowning at his grin. He shrugs when he notices me staring at him. He and Markus enjoy the dirty work of this job more than what is healthy.

“The both of you need therapy.” I grumble. Jared just laughs as we step through the back door and into the office.

“Flash drives in top drawer with the laptop.” Jared tells me. I nod wordlessly towards the door that leads into the casino and Jared goes off to search for Markus. We’ve worked side by side for so long that we can communicate without speaking and Jared is more like family than a hired hand.

After sitting at the desk, I pull a ring of keys from my pocket to unlock the upper right drawer. I shuffle through the mess until I find the flash drive Jared left for me and plug it into my laptop. The screen lights up with dozens of files with different names. Each one contains all the information of those who have racked up any amount of debt to us. Our database also includes information on their family, medical records, and any little detail that we could dig up. It’s almost scary how easy it is to access all this information.

After sorting through and sending some of our biggest scores to Markus and Jared, I sat back as they walk in. Jared drops into the chair across from me and Markus perches on the edge of the desk with an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

“Man, how did Dad let things get this deep?” Markus grumbles, pushing his shaggy black curls out of his face. Jared snorts as he scrolls through his phone, and I take a deep breath.

“He didn’t give a shit about leaving us any scraps of his empire. He only wanted to fuck and snort whatever he could get his hands on.” I snap.

“May he never rest in peace,” Markus says with a grin that even makes me crack a smile.

“Alright, where do we start?” Jared asks, already rolling a cigarette between his fingers.

“Start with those closest to us. I sent each of you three different files. Take a couple of our guys just in case things don’t go our way.” I remind them both. Markus smiles and shakes his head at me.

“Come on Alec, you should have more faith in us than that.” He taps a few things into his phone and jumps up excitedly.

“Well, look at this. It’s our lucky day. Marlene here was throwing herself all over some idiot trying to play blackjack,” He shows me the woman on his phone from one file I had sent him. “Just remember, we keep blood off the-”

“Blood off the business floor, I know that. Lighten up, I plan to accompany her home.” He grins and slinks out of the office while Jared cringes at his back.

“He doesn’t plan to actually try to get in that old bags bed. Right?” He asks me. I shrug and wave my hand. “What he sticks his dick in isn’t my problem, as long as he comes home in one piece and doesn’t bring anything or anyone home.” Jared laughs and stands up. He turns to leave, but stops and turns to me.

“What are we doing if they can’t pay up?” He asks. I stand up, gather the laptop and drive to put into a bag and take them with me.

“Whatever you want, just don’t kill everyone who can’t pay up. We need some to spread the word.” I say as we walk out.

Chapter 3—Isabelle

Ijolt awake, sweat making my shirt cling to my skin as I rub my eyes and stretch while looking around to see what woke me up. The front door slams shut, and I hear thumping coming from the living room. Somebody was in my apartment, and they weren’t being very discreet about it. Reaching down slowly, I grab the bat that I keep beside my bed for emergencies, like this one. As I creep towards my locked bedroom door, I listen carefully and let out an annoyed sigh when I hear my mother giggling.

A deep masculine laugh joins hers, and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. Leaning against the door, I hold my breath while straining to hear them. This isn’t the first time she has brought a man home. I have lost count of her guests that walk in and out the front door. But something in my gut is screaming that this is something else, someone dangerous.

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