“Let me,” I request when our arrival at the jetty is followed by Isabelle tugging on the zipper of her wetsuit.
I glide the stiff metal latch down the generous swell of her breasts, past her flat stomach before stopping at the apex of her pussy that’s scent grows more pungent the longer I loosen the damp material hugging her curves. My nostrils flare to suck in her delicious smell when I tug the ridged material past her thighs before fanning out the openings so she can slip her feet out. I feel the increase in her pulse more than I hear it when I cover up the lower half of her body with the denim shorts she kicked to the side before our enthralling jet-ski ride.
“Thank you,” she murmurs breathlessly when I fasten the zipper and do up the button.
After gifting her a look that announces it won’t be long before I’m undoing them, I curl my hand around hers, then guide her back towardMummo Koti.I begin to wonder if Isabelle’s childhood memories are as movie-like as mine when her heart rate breaks into a cantor when we enter the room Henry agreed to meet me at. Although Henry Gottle, Sr. did everything in his power to stop his son from being harmed by his enemies, Henry is well known by them. Col isn’t the only mafia powerhouse scrutinizing his every move the past thirty years. Isabelle’s father has been as well.
“Henry,” I greet, drawing his focus to me. “Sorry, I forgot about our meeting.”
“That’s fine, Isaac,” Henry replies before shifting on his feet to face Isabelle. “I can understand your forgetfulness.”
Although his tone is playful, I don’t appreciate his prolonged gawk of Isabelle’s body, and the pitch of my tone warns him of this. “Isabelle, this is Henry Gottle, abusinessassociate of mine.”
He bites at the bait I threw out without pause for thought. “I would have said long-time friend… but I guess business associate will have to do.” With a subtle grin that advises he knows he overstepped the mark, Henry holds out his hand in offering to Isabelle. She accepts it, albeit hesitantly, either unsure about my rapport with Henry or uneased about his earlier appreciative gawk.
I work on settling her first dilemma. “I may have said friend if I weren’t left handling the repercussions of your wretched wife.”
“Try living with her,” Henry scoffs out with a groan. “Three years I had to put up with that.”
I shudder at the thought of the hell he went through before snickering about his misfortune. I cautioned him numerous times that Delilah was bad news. It was unfortunate for him he was blinded by her sharp wit and usually unappreciated attractiveness. Delilah is beautiful in her own right. She just had a feisty edge that scares men unwilling to share the control.
After settling my laughter, I get down to business. The more time I spend with Henry, the less time I’ll have to devour Isabelle. “Well, I got her out of your hair, and now I’m calling in those chips.”
When Henry’s eyes shoot to Isabelle, panicked we’re not talking in private, Isabelle reads his unease like they’ve met before. “I’ll go and grab some lunch.”
Her steps slow when I mutter, “If you want to stay, Isabelle, you can stay.”
My offer raises her lips, but it doesn’t keep her at my side. “It’s fine. I’m famished anyway.” After a final grin that exposes her appreciation of my offer, she saunters out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Eager to get things wrapped up, I commence my negotiations with Henry before the lock latches into place. “I need you to find a loophole in the UFC so my fighter, Jacob, can fight a current UFC contender.”
Jacob has been fighting for me for almost two years now. I stumbled onto him when he needed a lawyer, and I needed a hook to keep me familiar with men I’ll never work for but will forever be associated with.
You can’t keep one step ahead of your enemies if you don’t know where they are.
Henry unbuttons his suit jacket before propping his backside onto a desk at the side of the room. “Jacob was banned from the UFC, wasn’t he?”
I jerk up my chin. “Although under the circumstances, the embargo is both unfair and unjust. Jacob was arrested for defending his girlfriend.” When Henry tries to scoff at my claims, seemingly aware of the significant damage Jacob inflicted on Lola’s ex-boyfriend with his bare hands, I talk faster. “Who the claimant had assaulted only hours earlier.”
Henry cocks a brow. “Do you have proof of this?” The interest on his face wanes when I shake my head. “Then I can’t help him.”
“Lola wouldn’t press charges.”
“Then she needs to understand she’s partly responsible for his ban.”
His snappy attitude takes a step back when my fists ball so quickly, the popping of my knuckles sounds over the growl rumbling in my chest. “I thought of all people you’d understand avictim’sapprehension about coming forward.”
“Don’t do that, Isaac. Don’t go there.”
“Why, Henry? Because you only give understanding to the people you know?” I don’t give him the chance to answer. “That’s bullshit. Jacob’s claimant pinned Lola to the wall by her throat, then threatened to kill her. Jacobprotectedhis girl like any man would, including you and me, yet he got both a criminal record and permanent ostracism from an industry he could dominate if given the chance, where all you got was a slap on the wrist.”
“Because he fucking raped her!” he screams in my face, his jaw tight.
It firms even more when I toss open the manilla folder sitting on the desk his ass is propped against. Although most of the damage Lola’s ex did was to her face the night she ended their relationship, there’s no hiding the bruises on her inner thighs when she clambers out of the bedroom window of the home they once shared.
“Do they look like love bites to you, Henry?”
He takes in the images with balled hands for several heart-thrashing seconds before he locks his wet eyes with mine. “I can’t push aside protocol, Isaac. I don’t have that kind of pull.”
