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I hate seeing her this way and not being able to kiss her. I’ve had my tongue inside her but never a kiss. Not when a kiss is so much more intimate than anything else, a sharing of breath and souls for the split seconds where you meet each other. I’m not ready for it. I’ll never be ready for it.
“If you want to talk and plan without anyone knowing, then you’re going to need to find a place to do it. Because there are eyes and ears everywhere.” She jerks her chin up, and I track the look to the corner of the house and the security cameras mounted there. They cover every angle of the interior and the grounds.
“Fine. Then we’re going to give them a show.” Without waiting for Isabella to answer, I grab her and throw her over my shoulder, walking off, listening to her protests in my ear.
The weak patter of her fists against my back and the beautifully rounded ass so close I want to bite it.
I keep my focus ahead and track around the side of the house toward my men waiting.
“Tell the Balestras that Isabella is coming back with me, and I’ll keep her safe.” The barked command is immediately followed by one of my men, who strides toward the house to deliver the message in person.
A safe space, but not the same one we went to last night. Not when Drago and his men are more than likely tracking us. Which means we will need a new hideout, one off the beaten path. Isabella quiets until I pull open the door to the car and manhandle her inside.
She lands flat on her fabulous ass and glares up at me. “Where are we going?”
“You'll see when we get there.”
She shrugs. “As long as you feed me, I’m game.”
Jesus Christ. What am I doing?
What the hell am I doing?
I don’t know anymore.
9
ISABELLA
“We’ll get you something to eat and a change of clothes, but we’re not stopping until we get back to my place,” Ricardo tells me, his hand on my elbow. He drags me forward with such force my shoulder almost pops out of its socket.
I wrench my arm out of his grip, too tired to be amenable. “Act like an animal on your own time. If we’re doing this together, then you’re going to treat me with respect, and that starts with asking me to accompany you rather than dragging me by the hair.” I glare at him. “You’re acting like a caveman in an Armani suit.”
Ricardo flashes his teeth at me and drops his hand. He shoves me into the back seat and slams the door without waiting for me to pull up my feet, and I somehow get them out of the way at the last minute.
His behavior is absolute bullshit.
Does he know it, or is he operating from complete delusion?
I’m gonna go with the former because Ricardo grabs a seat in the passenger side up front, safely tucked beyond the safety glass, and leaves me alone in the back like some kind of animal. And how easy it would be to throw a fit and rage and destroy something, become my own little whirlwind, and leave him a mess behind.
But it’s not me.
It’s never been me, even though it seems my family and those who are now considered family have no actual idea who I am.
I drop back in the seat with my hands pressing against my growling stomach, and all of my will focused on suppressing a shudder.
Everyone has pushed me away from this lifestyle for my own good, and this is where it got us: I’m a stranger to them. One they expect to act a certain way even when I know better. They don’t. Everyone sees what they want to see, and when I look in the mirror, the woman staring back at me is nothing but a mixture of their ideas.
But who is Isabella Balestra?
What sorts of things make her feel passionate? Where does she see herself in five years, ten?
And who actually sees her?
I suck in a breath, my nose inexplicably stuffed.
“If Drago is the sort of man to follow protocol, then a written statement of his ownership should be arriving in the mail. Some sort of communication from your new owner.” Ricardo’s voice comes through the intercom system and every word has me flinching.
