Page 101 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
When his eyes flick to his right, air hitches halfway to my lungs. He appears to be staring right at me. “I thought this was a two-way mirror?”
“It is.” Brandon sounds as shocked as me.
Through trembling thighs, I move to the furthest corner of the room. My pulse triples when Isaac's commanding gray eyes track me. Even the tense circumstances can't stop me from smiling. I love that he can sense my presence as strongly as I detect his. It proves what I’ve always known—we were made for one another.
“That’s freaky.” Brandon’s massively dilated eyes bounce between Isaac and me. “What’s the deal with you two—”
Before his interrogative question can escape his lips, we’re interrupted by Alex. He storms into the room with his hands clenched into tight balls. The twitch of his top lip is more noticeable now he's standing before me. I swallow bleakly, eradicating the lump in my throat when his knee-quaking eyes snap up from the polished concrete floor. “Brandon, I need that envelope—”
“Here.” Brandon shoves the yellow envelope he’s been clutching the past hour into his chest.
As he yanks out the envelope’s contents, the anger on Alex’s face switches to conniving. He smiles a full-toothed grin, appearing to have the world at his feet. After appraising each photo, he locks his eyes with mine. They have a gleam behind them, one I don’t know how to explain. Winking, he jerks his chin to the door he stormed through only seconds ago. “Follow me.”
I touch my chest. “Me?”
He doesn’t reply. He just strides out of the room even quicker than he arrived. I shadow him, my steps reluctant and shaky. When he stops outside the closed interrogation room door, I shake my head, advising him I can’t go in there. His request won’t just cause a conflict of interest, my heart also won’t survive the carnage.
Ignoring my silent pledge, Alex swings open the door. “Remain quiet and follow my lead.”
“You have two minutes remaining, so you better make this quick—”
Isaac stops goading Alex when he notices me entering the room on his heel. The amused twinkle in his eyes morphs to irate as his jaw gains a quiver. I can barely contain my breaths when he suddenly stands. He stares down at me with his pulse beeping in his neck and his hands shoved into his pockets. Although his dominance can’t be denied, the man standing across from me isn’t the man who made love to me this morning. He's the strikingly handsome shell of Isaac Holt, but he isn’t the Isaac I fell in love with.
This is the first time I’ve seen him since his arrest. For the past two hours, I’ve been endeavoring to pry information from the agents surrounding me. It did me no good. They’re just as baffled by his arrest as me. None of them had any useful information. I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been a part of Alex’s team the past six months, and I’ve yet to discover one shred of information that corroborates Isaac is the man his FBI file portrays him to be. Nothing he’s done the past six months warrants his arrest. If anything, he should be commended. He does more good for the residents of Ravenshoe than bad.
My thoughts are interrupted by Alex’s deep timbre. “Sit down.” He glares at Isaac, his stance strengthening as he fights to show Isaac he isn’t intimidated by him.
He isn’t fooling anyone.
After shifting his head to the side, Isaac inhales a giant whiff through his nostrils. “Can you smell that?” His voice is so rugged, it hits every one of my hot buttons. “That’s the smell of fear, baby.”
He strays his eyes back to Alex before doing another undignified sniff. When the most wickedly evil smile hardens his features, my panties become moist. There must be something wrong with me. Isaac is clearly angry, but instead of my body shuddering in fear, it’s quaking with excitement.
“The only person who should be afraid is you, Mr. Holt.” Alex slides the envelope Brandon handed him earlier across the table. “Especially when you discover what I have hiding up my sleeve.”
Isaac’s eyes drop to the envelope. He peers at it for a mere second before devoting his attention back to Alex. “Your ten minutes are up.”
When he commences placing on his suit jacket, Alex stares at him in shock, flabbergasted by his calm demeanor. Once he has the three buttons secured, his eyes lift to mine. His gaze is captivating, yet fear-provoking. I’m not scared. I’m just petrified by what he says next. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Isabelle.” It’s so formal like today was our first andonlymeeting.
The undeniable connection teeming between Isaac and me doesn’t render Alex speechless like me. “Aren’t you the least bit curious as to what evidence I have on you?”
Isaac’s lips crimp before he shakes his head. “You don’t have any evidence on me as I always ensure my hands are thoroughly cleaned.”
Even though Alex only groans for a nanosecond, it's long enough for Isaac to hear. He smiles, the twist of his lips cruel. When he heads for the door I'm standing next to, instinctively, my hand shoots out to seize his wrist. I have no clue what I'm planning to say. I just know I can't let him go without saying something.
Before a syllable can escape my lips, I'm interrupted by Alex. “I strongly suggest you don’t leave town, Mr. Holt.”
Anger beams out of Isaac, however, it has nothing on the hurt in his tone when he replies, “This is my town. If anyone is leaving, it won’t be me.”
With that, he exits the interrogation room, not once glancing back at me.
CHAPTER3
ISABELLE
Goosebumps form on my neck when a frigid breeze blasts through my jacket. After adjusting my satchel, I continue weaving through the dense foot traffic. Although the torrential downpour has thinned the usually jam-packed sidewalks, there are still a lot of people scampering by. Most, unlike me, packed an umbrella when rain was forecast this morning. Since my morning was spent in an Isaac Holt lust phase, the weather was the last thing on my mind when I left my apartment.
Mere hours ago, Hugo advised me to wait under the awning of my building if it was raining. So much has happened since then. It honestly feels as if weeks have passed, not hours. When Isaac left without any formal charges being pressed, Alex was furious. He was the maddest I’d ever seen him. Although his anger was off-putting, nothing could leash my curiosity on discovering what was in the envelope. Alex was convinced he had a credible reason to arrest Isaac, and the evidence he had was sitting mere inches from me. The temptation was too great. I had to sneak a peek.
