HER ATTRACTION

FIVE: I AM FINE

Isabella sat in the cop's office, looking at something imaginary. She had been like that since she was brought to the station. The cops had removed her jacket and took it as evidence, they draped her with a thick blanket. She heard the cops talk but she wasn't understanding what they were saying, all she thought about was the man she had seen earlier.

The cops had confirmed that it was a gang clash and she wasn't involved at least not as a criminal or as an accomplice. The chase had resulted in the death of four innocent people at the airport and she could have been one of them if that man had not stepped right in front of her and had taken the bullet for her.

She had sat there unblinking since she came, the cops thought she was just too shocked to talk, but she wasn't, she was rather shocked at the beauty of the man she saw earlier. How can a man be that beautiful and bad? The scene kept replaying in her head. His eyes on her, his bloody grin, and what he had said to her.

'Nice to meet you, Senorita.'

She shuddered a little as his voice echoed in her head. It made her blink as if to blot out the memory from her mind. He had an Italian accent but he called her Senorita in Spanish. She heard voices near her.

"Yes, she is over there," said a cop. "I think she is in deep shock."

She didn't turn to find out the person the cop was talking to, she kept her gaze where they were until someone hunched over her from behind and rubbed her arm. She looked up to see her boyfriend, Adrian, smiling down at her and rubbing her arm.

"You don't have to be scared, I'm here now."

She managed a smile. She was never in shock. She had been thinking about the man that took the bullet for her.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Tell me, and I will make sure that those criminals are brought to book."

Isabella let out a snicker. "I am unharmed, the man saved me. He stepped right in front of me when I was shot, he got hit by that bullet and he was bleeding."

Adrian helped her up and handed her a leather jacket. "I brought a jacket for you. That man didn't save you, he got what he deserved," Adrian said as they started out of the office.

"He could have left me alone there and saved his life. Four people died at that airport and I would have completed them five if he didn't intervene."

They walked through the police desks at the reception, Adrian grabbed her hand. "You are probably shocked that's why you feel appreciation towards that man."

"I am not shocked!" Isabella snapped a bit loudly and looked around. They were almost at the exit of the police reception. "I am not shocked," she repeated with a lower voice. "The police are still investigating the matter, although they are treating it as a gang clash, they are not ruling out any other cases. What if he is an innocent man that just stepped on the wrong toe? He seem pretty innocent to me and when he spoke, his voice was gentle and kind. "

They climbed down the stairs. Adrian didn't say anything else until they got to his car. He opened the passenger's door and she went in, he circled to the driver's seat and went in.

Riccardo had managed to steal new clothes from a laundry line and had used his old clothes to stop his side from bleeding. He had gone to a pharmacy and had purchased some over-the-counter antibacterial ointments. The sales boy had looked at him suspiciously but that was all. He had managed to make his way to the old train station where he planned to stay till nightfall. He had no money, no phone, only his wallet, and revolver.

He went down to a dark, dank cabin house that looked abandoned for years. The windows were all broken. The broken glass and splintered wood made crumpling sounds under his feet as he walked into the house. The house looked eerie and thousands of wires of cobwebs ran across the room, the surface of wood and objects in the room were covered in dust. Someone must have lived there once. He dragged himself to a rickety sofa and lowered himself down on the sofa.

He could stay here for the night and rest, until tomorrow, he would know what to do. A few hours ago, he was a free man but now, he was nothing more than a fugitive. He pulled the hoodie and kept it beside him. His shirt had been soaked with his blood, he had lost a lot of blood and he could almost feel consciousness slipping away from him, but he wasn't the one to give in.

He unwrapped his clothes from the wound where the bullet had hit under his arm. It hurt like hell and he could barely raise his arm well. He managed to locate the bullet and pried it out with the first aid scissors. It hurt him so much and he growled like a wounded animal. He put the bullet he had extracted on the floor beside him and blood pumped out from where the bullet was removed. He quickly poured the hydrogen peroxide on the wound to stop the blood and he screamed when the chemical touched his wounded skin.

After cleaning up the wound and applying penicillin powder, he plastered it up, being very tired, he lay on the sofa and thought of the woman he had seen at the airport earlier. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Thinking of her, he felt he was still gazing into those gracious sea blue eyes. What was she? An enchantress or what? How could she charm him in split seconds?

"Are you sure, you feel okay? I will understand if you can't make it," Adrian said.

Isabella took out a red dress from the closet, placed it on her body, and moved to the mirror. "I have mentally prepared for this, I'm not backing out."

"It's not about backing out. If you feel like resting, I can call Joanne to come and stay with you."

Isabella faced him. "Adrian, you are so sweet, but your mom had prepared for this. I don't want to disappoint her."

"I'm sure she had heard the news and she would understand perfectly why you are absent."

She moved closer to him. "I'm fine. I'm not shocked or traumatized as you all think. I am just grateful to be alive."

Adrian didn't believe her. He knew that Isabella was a strong woman, but seeing all that blood and narrowly escaping from a gunshot could give anyone the jitters. He didn't know what to do, she was also a stubborn woman. He sat down on a couch in the room.

"Are you dressing like this for your parent's get-together?" Isabella asked laying the lacy red dress on the bed.

"I just want to make sure you are fine before I leave here."

Isabella slumped on her bed in exasperation. "You are pissing me off with this whole stuff. Come on, it is all in the past now, I am alive, unharmed, and standing here before you. Someone else took the bullet for me." As she spoke, she recalled those dark eyes staring into hers and it raised a trail of something down there in her abdomen. She pushed his thoughts away from her head and focused on Adrian.

Adrian didn't say anything for a while, he inhaled and exhaled deeply. If she wasn't worried at all, maybe he should get over it as well. It was actually for the best. Reminding her about it would be the reason to cause her the trauma. He cheered up and stood up from the chair.

"Alright, I will go home and change. I'll pick you up by six."

"Alright, dear."

He went over to her, drew her into his arms, and planted a soft kiss on her lips. She kissed him back and smiled.

"Stay safe until six. I will come and get you."

"Deal."

He kissed her forehead and turned to leave, but he stopped and turned to look at her. "The cops would be around here for security purposes, don't be scared."

"Why? I mean why would the cops be here?"

"Bella, it's for security reasons. Those men might come back for you, you never can tell."

Isabella opened her mouth to say something, but her phone rang. She left Adrian and went to pick up her phone from the dresser. It was her eldest brother Leonardo. She answered the phone.

"Hello, Izzy, are you alright? We saw the news," Leonardo's voice sounded from the other end. Muffled music played in the background.

Jesus Christ. She rolled her eyes."You've seen the news already? News travel so fast," Isabella said and went over to her couch and sat down.

Adrian signaled that he was leaving and she waved him goodbye.

"This is the twenty-first century, Izzy, the Internet is always ablaze."

"That's right. If you are calling to know if I am traumatized, no, I'm not."

"That's good. Luca would be coming to America tomorrow and he is coming to bring you back home."

"What?!"

"Pack up everything you need and cooperate with him when he comes. America is no longer safe for you."

"What do you mean America is no longer safe for..." The line went dead. She removed the phone from her ear and glared at the screen. She tried dialing his number again, but it was suddenly not reachable.