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“Then why are you awake so early?”
“Because I wanted to bury my face in your pussy. And I figured that had to happen before Izzy got up.” Lifting a shoulder, I leave her with her mouth agape. Once I’m in the living room, I pick up the hotel phone and order nearly everything on the menu. Then I pull out my mobile and text Helena to make sure she got the shit at my house situated.
Me:How’d it go? Everything in order?
After she doesn’t immediately answer, I tuck my phone away and walk to Izzy’s door to check on her. I don’t know what it is about this little girl, but something inside me is tethered to her. An instinctual need to protect her, to make sure she has everything in life she’s ever dreamed of. Izzy’s awake, lying on her bed drawing. She’s so innocent, yet seemingly aware of the world around her. “Buongiorno.” She doesn’t look up as she says good morning; instead, she continues the task at hand.
“Morning, did you sleep well?” I ask her. She doesn’t answer my question, hyper-focused on her artwork. “What are you drawing?” I prompt, walking into her room.
She quickly closes her book before I can see. “Nothing important,” she says.
“Are you okay? You want me to go get your mom?” I’m a little out of my depth here. I’m aware I don’t know anything about kids, but something feelsoff. Izzy shakes her head no. And I sit on the end of her bed. “Want to tell me what’s on your mind?”
“Are you going to marry my mom?” she asks quietly.
“I don’t know. Would that be okay with you if I did? I mean, do you think your mom would say yes if I asked her?” I whisper the question, like it’s a secret.
Izzy nods enthusiastically. “She likes you. She’s never had a boyfriend before, you know.”
“Is that what’s bothering you? Me?”
Izzy shakes her head. “Can you marry her today?” she offers suddenly. Well shit, how the fuck do I answer that?
“Ah, marrying someone doesn’t really work like that, Bel. You have to file documents and there’s sh—stuffto sign.” Her face falls like I just told her Santa isn’t real. “Why do you want me to marry your mom today? What’s the rush?”
“If you marry her, then you’ll be my papa, right? And if you’re my papa, then you’ll protect me. Like Nonno protects my mama.”
“Isabella, I will protect you whether I’m your dad or not. I promise you I will always protect you. Now, tell me what is it you need protection from?” I don’t know what kind of nightmares she’s had. I don’t even know how I can slay the demons haunting her sleep. I do know that I’ll stop at nothing to make her feel safe, to protect her from any threat.
“The man,” she says, looking around her room.
“What man?” My eyebrows draw down in confusion.
“I don’t know who he is. He comes in here at nighttime. He just stands there and watches me sleep. Except I’m not asleep. I just pretend to be. I know he’s there. When we were at Zio T’s, he didn’t come to my room, Neo. Just here.”
My skin is crawling, my blood boiling. There was a fucking man in her room? More than once? I’m fucking hoping like hell that it’s her imagination, a nightmare, and not a fucking real threat looming in the shadows. “Bel, can you tell me what this man looks like?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No, but he smells funny.”
Fuck! I look around the room and see a camera attached to the ceiling. I need to review that feed. But first I need to get her out of here. “Come on, we’re leaving,” I tell her, picking her up and carrying her out at the same time Angelica is exiting the adjacent room. I look her up and down. She’s dressed in black jeans and a white shirt. I know she has some kind of weapon on her somewhere. Where the hell she hides them in such tight clothing, I have no idea. “We need to leave, now,” I say, walking passed her into the living room. Without putting Izzy down, I grab my wallet and jacket before reaching into the inside pocket and retrieving my Glock.
“Neo, what’s going on?” Angelica attempts to take Izzy out of my arms. I should let her; she is her daughter. But I can’t let go. I have an irrational fear of something happening to this little girl and it’s making me fucking insane.
“Angel, get strapped up. We need to leave. I’ll tell you in the car. Just please, trust me. I need you to trust me,” I plead with her.
Angelica nods her head. “Okay, let’s go.” I follow her to the foyer, where she lifts a backpack off the floor. Before she opens the door, I stop her with a hand on her arm.
“Wait, let me.” She looks like she wants to argue but doesn’t. I pass Izzy over. It’s best if I go first. Seeing as the hallway’s clear, I pull Angelica behind me. We bypass the elevator and head for the stairs. Fuck, we’re on the fucking top level. “Here, I’ll take her. Izzy, hop on. I’m going to piggyback you down these stairs. Hold on tight, okay, Bel.”
“Okay,” she says as she wraps her tiny arms around my neck and clings to my back.
“Neo, I swear to God, if this is a ploy to get us to your house, I’m going to skin you alive,” Angelica hisses.
“It’s not.”
It takes us ten minutes to make it to the undercover garage where I left my car last night. Angelica helps Izzy climb down and puts her in the back. Once Angelica is in the passenger seat, I jog around to the driver’s side while taking in my surroundings. I almost wish some motherfucker would be stupid enough to jump out of the shadows right now. I’m ready for a fight, ready to watch the life drain out of any fucking asshole’s eyes with even the thought of threatening what’s mine. Peering into the rearview mirror, I connect my gaze with Izzy’s.
“You all buckled up, Bel?”
