Page 5 of Our Darling Isabelle

“What? Why do you care about Isab-” Pressing my boot onto his throat, his words cut off as he fights desperately to remove the crushing weight from his windpipe.

“You don’t get to say her fucking name. According to some of our friends here, you’ve been harassing her for quite some time. Should I carve the things into your skin you’ve said to her? Maybe I’ll melt the skin from your hands for touching her.” I hiss, pulling my foot up just enough he can suck in a breath. Dan begins coughing and tries to shake his head as he wheezes out.

“I didn’t know! I didn’t know she was one of your whores!” He wheezes as I push down again.

“She isn’t a whore, but Isabelle is mine.” Shaking away the rage, I nod behind me. “Jared has had a rough day. Kurt is just fucking unstable. I’ll let them do what they please.” I say, taking my foot off him. He rolls over, sputtering and clutching his throat. Noticing the smear of blood where his burn had split open brings a smile to my lips, cruel and cold.

Before he can recover, I pull my foot back and slam it into his ribs. The sick crunch of bones breaking comes a split second before he cries out and tries to roll away. I turn to Kurt and ignore Dan as he’s trying to crawl away.

“Isabelle isn’t the only girl he has been giving trouble to. Others have come forward and said he’s forced himself on them, threatening their jobs and lives.” That is all it takes before Jared stomps on Dan’s hand, crushing the bones under his boot as the other man wails while I walk away. After pushing my way through the crowded bar, I stop and nod at the man bartending, who tipped us off to watch the cameras.

The loud music and chatter flood the building to where I can’t even hear Dan screaming any longer. Or he’s already dead. I shrug to myself, slipping my cell out of my pocket and tapping out a message to the manager at the Bar of Burden in Davenport. We may not run that city, but the manager owes me a favor, so hopefully he will call Isabelle and tell her they hired her. I grin as I scroll through the photos I snapped of her today in the store. She looked so flustered; her pouty pink lips were open as she kept checking over her shoulder. She nearly caught me more than once, part of me wanted her to catch me, but watching her panic made this game so much more fun for me. Stopping beside the car, I look back up at the door to the bar and wait.

She doesn’t have a clue whose lap she just fell into and I can’t wait to tell her. As if on cue, my phone rings as Jared and Kurt walk out, nodding to the clean-up team we already had waiting. They are dressed head to toe in black with bags packed full of everything they could need to dispose of whatever is left of our problems that we leave behind. I’d pay any price to avoid the boring mess of cleanup after what’s left of somebody who crosses us. They slip around the side of the building, avoiding the front entrance, and I answer my phone with a smirk.

“Marlene,” I say. She gasps into the phone, then goes silent. I wait patiently until she finally speaks.

“I can’t pay you.” She whimpers. Rolling my eyes to show Jared my frustration, I lean against the car and cross my ankles.

“You can’t, or won’t, Marlene? Because I’m sure you could figure something out. I feel like paying with your life could be an excellent option.” My voice is mockingly sweet. She clears her throat and goes silent again. I check the time as my impatience grows.

“Isabelle, you can have her. You can have my daughter.” She says, almost excitedly. My jaw clenches and I remind myself not to crush the phone with my bare hands.

“You are offering us your daughter to pay for the debt you have incurred?” I say, my voice violently low. Jared deadpans and Kurt shook his head as I leaned against our car. An idea blooms, twisting my disgust with excitement. I had planned to own Isabelle at the end of this, she had just served her to me on a silver platter.

“She is young and pretty. You can do whatever you want to her.” She pleads with me. My patience snaps as selfishness trickles in. Alec won’t be happy with me for this one.

“Deal. Isabelle belongs to the Barone’s now, don’t ever contact her again.” I snarl, hanging up the phone.

“You did not just agree with that woman, did you?” Jared yells.

I dig another cigarette out, rolling my eyes. “I already planned on keeping her, with or without that drunk bitch’s offer. Make sure that a few of the tech boys keep their eye on Isabelle’s calls. Stop Marlene if she tries anything. I want to make this a fun surprise.” I grin, sliding into the front seat.

As we park outside her apartment, I crane my neck to the side, trying to look up into her window. Earlier, I had broken in and left a window open to keep her on edge. She had already closed it, making the corner of my lips curl. Too bad I didn’t get to see the expression on her face when she saw it. Would she write it off as her careless mother or did she check every dark corner? She was a bright girl, Isabelle had to be, considering she raised herself from what I have read in her mother’s file. My thoughts are interrupted when Jared’s phone rings. He answers and turns to glance at me before immediately hanging up with a grunt.

“She called a moving company. A truck is supposed to be coming here in two days to help her move to some apartment in Davenport, sir.” Jared waits for my response. I grin as I nod for him to start the car.

“I hope you boys have strong backs; she lives on the third floor.” I say. Kurt groans as we pull out, just as I catch a flash of black hair peeking around the curtains.

Chapter 6—Isabelle

Pacing the floor, I keep looking out the window, then back to the keys in my hand. Last night I know for a fact I parked my car two spots over from where it now sat. A red stain still marks the now empty space where I dropped my slushy when I got out of my car.

Not only that, but when I got home from picking up takeout for dinner, some of my packed boxes went missing. Or I misplaced them and I’m just being paranoid. There is a black SUV that keeps appearing everywhere I go, which could be a coincidence or something more. I can’t wait to get out of here and finally be safe again.

“Aden, for the last time, I already called somebody. They will load up everything and move it to my new place. I sent you the address.” I say into the phone that is sitting in my palm, on speaker.

“You’re lying to me. Why won’t you let me come help? Something is going on.” He is getting angrier. I just sigh and let the curtain fall.

“I don’t want to put you in danger. My mother fucked everything up for me here, so I am just going to start over. I’m going to change my number and this time will be the last time she screws my life up.” I say with conviction.

“Well, it’s good that you got a transfer. Want to hear something baffling? Apparently, the owners came in and fired Dan the other day.” He says and his voice sounds suspicious.

“What? Of course, he gets canned after I quit, but that’s such good news for the rest of you!” I say excitedly, pulling a baggy hoodie on over my tank top. A knock at the front door makes me jump and let out a small scream.

“Izzy?” Aden shouts into the phone. With a dramatic sigh I smack a hand over my racing heart.

“Everything is fine, it’s the movers. I’m feeling on edge because I haven’t been sleeping well. I gotta go.” The words rush out and I hang up quickly. What I don’t say is I’m so on edge because some guy sniffed me, made a comment about my orange scented shampoo, then promised to see me again. Right after threatening my mother’s life. If I was honest with myself, I might admit I stayed awake thinking about what he could do with those powerful hands that caught my bat mid-swing. Shaking myself off, I peek through the peephole, then open the door.

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