Chapter 1 ~ Alexander #3
I clear my throat. “It was a misunderstanding. I got into a quarrel with Anna…”
“The gate girl?” He says.
“Yes, she’s very opinionated, which led to us raising our voices.
Isabella left unbeknownst to us, she is not partial to arguments.
Long story short, I ran a trace, and I found her and I brought her home.
So till I get back from New York, she’s remaining in her room for today and will have an escort, as well as her bodyguard, when she needs to leave the property. ”
My father puts the folder down and looks at Carlos. “And you feel this is unwarranted?”
“It’s not my place to say what is or isn’t. My job is to look after Alex, protect him with my life.” Carlos states firmly.
“Ahh… I see.” He flips a few more pages and continues to read, leaving us hanging.
He closes the folder after a few minutes and grabs his phone pressing a number.
In a few minutes, he addresses someone with a growl.
“The plane will come back for you. I expect you to be in New York tonight. I’ll have James leave a card at the front desk.
You’ll stay in my suite.” He hangs up and then settles back in his chair, looking between us.
“Put your personal issues aside. You boys can bicker about females later. Business is business. And we have a problem.” He taps the folder with his finger. “What’s the update on the Will.”
Carlos shifts in his chair. “There isn’t one. I have a guy on the ground looking into the son. I’m hoping he might have some of his father’s important client papers.”
My father nods, and he looks at me, “And the subsidiary companies? Any clue who owns them? He can’t run this big of an operation all on his own. He’s not that smart.”
“We are still digging. Sebastian’s been at his desk for hours trying to get into the bank, but Roberts has his own genius hacker, so he’s blocked at every turn."
My father leans forward in his chair. “He’ll be here tonight. He can run his programs while we watch the bastard.”
I shift in my chair, “So are you going to bring this forward to The Family at the meeting? Or do we keep this between us till we get all the answers to hang the prick.”
My father steepled his fingers to his lips.
“We keep it here. He is gunning for us. The marriage, the port, the Mine, the kidnapping.” He waves his hand in the air. “It’s all connected somehow, and we need to figure it out soon.”
I jolt my head back, kidnapping? What the hell is he talking about?
“Kidnapping? Who the fuck got or is kidnapped?” I snap at him.
He narrows his eyes at me. “Jesus, son, didn’t you read the folder I gave you?”
I can feel my cheeks heat. I’m not sure what folder he’s actually talking about.
His voice is laden with censure. “I suggest you read it when you get home. Now go and get me answers.”
We both get up and head towards the door, “Alexander.” I stop short and look back at him.
My father’s tone is harsh; “I don’t condone your behavior towards Isabella in any way. But for once, your temper led you to make the right choice. He’s planning something, and she’s too innocent to comprehend the danger she may be in.”
I just nod; I’m too shocked to say anything right now.
"I matched you to Isabella for a reason. Protect her."
Shame floods me and I turn to leave. I never intended to hurt her; I just don’t know how to be any other way with women. She brings out this, this… thing in me that makes me push too far and I don’t know how to control it with her.
James is just heading down the hall with the coffee, grabbing a cup off the tray as I walk away, sipping it as I go. I need caffeine so badly. Carlos laughs as James offers him the other cup, but he waves his hand, pressing the button.
We get on the elevator heading down to our floor and I sip my coffee. The door opens and we head to our room. I just want to go lay down for a bit. Catch my breath. Sebastian will be here and all hell will break out once he knows Isabella ran away and is now on lockdown.
Carlos opens the door and I head over to the couch, plopping down. I suck back the rest of my coffee, set my cup on the table and take out my phone. I need to see her.
I bring up the app and click on her screen. She’s in the window seat again, her legs crossed, her plate on her lap. At least she’s eating. I zoom in, trying to look at her hands. But I can’t get a good look.
Carlos sits across from me. I look up at him quickly, then go back to watching her eat.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re breaking her, Alex. And I don’t mean the sexual kind. The spiritual kind. The one I warned you about.”
He just looks at me. I say nothing.
“Did you know she could speak Italian?”
I jolt upright, remembering what I said about basically dumping her ass after the wedding. She must have heard and understood us. That is why she fled from me when I dropped her off at work. Damn it!
“She told me she’s made up her mind. She said this will be her last defeat.”
He sighs and gets up, walking into his room and shutting the door.
What the fuck does that mean? I look back at the screen and Isabella gets up from her seat with her empty plate and puts it on the tray taking it to the door. She comes back to the couch and resumes the position she’s been in most of the day.
I zoom in on her hands. She has a bandage on her finger now, thank god. She is just sitting there, pulling on the ends of her hair absently with the tips of her fingers. I can’t see her face; she is hiding behind that curtain of black satin hair again.
I get up and go to my room. Taking off my suit, I hang it up. I pull the covers back, propping the phone on the guest side pillow of the bed. I crawl in and lay on my side, watching her.
She doesn’t appear defeated; rather, she appears like they had thrown a sad doll on the couch. I rub my chest once more. I can’t say that I’m content with her punishment. But I know I’m right; she needs to be monitored. This situation with Robert has me questioning everything, including her.
I click my phone off and roll on my back; putting my hands behind my head. I’m not going back on my word now. If I do so, she will think she can do whatever she wants without consequence. Tomorrow my mother will be with her most of the day. She will have company, someone to talk to.
Rolling over on my side, shoving the pillow under my chin; I click on her screen again. I fall asleep watching her fingers pull the ends of her soft hair repeatedly. My eyes get heavy and soon I’m out.
When I wake up it’s dark, the city lights are twinkling and I can hear Carlos’ muffled voice talking in the other room. Rolling over, rubbing my face. I grab my phone, looking for the time, but it’s dead. I fell asleep with the feed going.
Finally getting up, I dig in my duffle for some joggers and a t-shirt. Grabbing my charger I plug in my phone on the nightstand. My stomach growls, I need food and some coffee.
When I walked into the living room, Carlos and Sebastian were talking. They each have serious expressions on their faces. I pause briefly and scan the gap between them. Their talking abruptly comes to an end. Sebastian gets up and circles the couch.
His face is angry and pointing at me with his finger in my face. “You’re a fucken asshole. The only reason I’m not beating the shit out of you right now is that father explained some of it to me. The only reason.”
I let out a sigh. “I know.” I walk past him to the phone on the counter.
I order my food and a large decanter of coffee.
I hang up, sit down in the chair opposite them, and stare out the window.
All my life, I have never given a shit about what anyone thinks.
Nobody… until she stumbled into my world and fucked it all up.
Sebastian sits down, glaring at me. Carlos just sits in his chair watching me, his fingers curled over his lips, tapping his other hand on the arm of the chair. I don’t want to talk about Isabella. I don’t need to explain my actions. She needs to explain hers if questions need to be answered.
I rub my chest again. This pressure is getting worse. If it doesn’t let up, I’m going to the doctor. I’m too young to have a heart attack. Aren’t I?
Sebastian breaks the silence by telling me about his meeting with dad; he is close to breaking the last firewall.
So far, he’s kept track of the money, an estimated $14 million stashed away in the Cayman Islands by Robert.
Carlos’s guy has a meeting set up with the lawyer’s son next week sometime.
He’s thinking we will be back in Chicago by the time any news rolls in.
Anna hasn’t stopped texting Carlos. She wants to see Isabella, but he swears he’s got her off the ledge of calling the cops. Not that that would work; we own them, so no biggie if she did.
He convinced her to let her have tomorrow with my mother. The dress fitting is on Saturday, so they will have all day together.
There is a knock on the door; I get up to grab my food, tip the guy and roll the cart to my chair. I pour a coffee and suck it back. Sebastian gets up and grabs his cup, adding his cream and sugar. Carlos passes, saying it's too late at night to drink coffee.
Whatever!
I stuff my face with my burger, drink another cup of coffee and settle in the chair. We spend the next hour hammering out the minor details and Carlos and I watch as Sebastian sets up his laptop, bringing up what he’s found so far.
The anger rises as I think of everything Robert has been pulling behind our backs. How did we miss this shithead’s actions? He’s always been a team player, always keeping under the radar, and working his way up with respect.
It has only been in the last couple of years that he has been more demanding, self-promoting his contributions and working his way up the ladder to the second chair.
It seems the Mines trustee and his mouth go hand in hand.
The closer he’s getting to losing it all, the louder and more mistakes he’s making.