The Prince of Chicago

Chapter 16

Angelo

We got home from the warehouse and Isabelle went straight into her office and shut the door behind her. I knew she thought I overreacted back there, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to make sure she felt safe here, and safe with me. I knew I could be a loose cannon at times, but I needed her to understand that I’d never let the blowback fall in her direction.

Standing in my own office now, I paced in front of my desk, running my hand through my hair and clenching my jaw. I should just talk to her, I thought. If I could explain the reason behind the way I’d acted, she’d have to see that everything I’d done since she’d arrived had been for her own protection. Having her join the ranks after she witnessed the execution, giving her a job here, a place to live. It beat the alternative by a long shot. After what she’d seen, the Outfit would have surely moved to silence her for good, and I wouldn't have had much of an option in the matter. She did pose an exponential threat, after all. Though this wasn’t the situation she wanted to be in, I had saved her from certain death. If she could see it that way, she’d have to understand.

Beyond that, she was someone I had grown very fond of. She presented me with the type of challenge I rarely got to have. She was feisty, funny, and extraordinarily intelligent. She loved to read, she was quick with her wit, and she was exquisite to look at. I knew I wanted her from the moment I laid eyes on her all those weeks ago, but now that I had her here at an arm’s reach, it seemed like I didn’t know how to behave. It was the first time a woman had made me feel that way before.

As I was sorting through all this in my mind, I heard motion coming from the filing room. She must’ve gotten back to work. Ok, I thought. This could be a good approach. I walked over to the closed door on my side of the filing room and opened it, nodding in her direction when I saw her inside. She was shuffling through a handful of manila folders. She looked up with a mix of surprise and annoyance.

“Didn’t realize you were in here,” I said, it coming out more cooly than I would’ve liked. “Don’t mind me.” I began absent-mindedly shifting through some drawers on the opposite end of the row. We stayed like that for a few moments, sharing the deafening silence together, before Isabelle began replacing the folders she’d been combing through. I needed to say something now or I’d miss my chance. As she turned to go, I looked up.

“Hey,” I said evenly. She turned back around and met my gaze, raising an eyebrow. I could read how she felt without even needing to hear her voice; it was plastered on her face: agitated. Another beat of silence passed before I spoke again. “I didn’t expect the visitor we had at the warehouse today. I wouldn’t have taken you if I had,”

“And?” she asked, still clearly bothered. I sighed, tossing my head to the side.

“And, you know I wouldn’t intentionally put you in a situation where you could get hurt, right?”

“I don’t know Angelo, you seem to be pretty good at making threats,” she retorted. “I’m sure you wouldn’t bat an eye following through on them.”

“Look, Isabelle,” I said, advancing toward her. “As a member of the Outfit, you are part of this family now. What you saw back there, what you heard, that was me protecting this family, including you. Everything I have done since your arrival here has been to protect you from the ramifications of what you witnessed in the alley.” I stopped about a foot away from her, looking down to meet her emerald gaze. The steely annoyance had been replaced with something tender, more vulnerable. I could tell she was grappling with something behind her wide, glowing eyes. Finally, she let out a light sigh and looked to the floor.

Without really thinking, I placed both my hands on each of her arms, trying to offer her some sort of softness to round out the roughness she’d seen from me today. Yes, that roughness was me, but it wasn’t all of me. I hoped that she could see that too. Her skin was like silk underneath my gritty palms. We stood like that for a few seconds before she raised her eyes from the floor to my right arm and its contact with her. Moving like molasses, she placed one of her dainty hands on my forearm, and gave it a little squeeze.

This was the first time I’d touched her where she hadn’t recoiled, or sunk back in fear, and it excited me. This was something I had been waiting for, and I was not a patient man by nature. In response, I moved the arm she hadn’t gripped off of her and brought my finger under her chin, tipping it up to have her eyes meet mine. I needed to see them again, to read what was going on in her head.

When she met my gaze, her eyes had changed again. There was longing in them, like she was on the precipice of something but holding herself back. She parted her lips slightly, letting out the softest of exhales. We stood there like that for what felt like hours, two individuals standing on their own separate cliffs, both flirting with the idea of taking the leap. Finally, my lust got the better of me, and I leaned down to her, crashing my lips against her own.

I pulled her in close by the waist with one hand and pressed her doll-like frame into mine. I caressed her hair with the other, relishing in the silky tendrils that flowed through my fingers. At first, I didn’t feel her reciprocating the kiss, she just kind of stood there, but as the seconds passed, she did something surprising.

Isabelle grabbed my arms and pulled me in closer to her, returning the kiss with a fever, like it would save her damn life. She tugged at my arms, moving up to my hair and grabbing a fistfull. I walked her back against the filing cabinets, continuing to kiss her deeper, and moved my hand from her waist down to her butt, where I lightly squeezed. She let out a breathy moan, which made me go absolutely wild. God, she was so sexy, and she didn’t even know it.

I grabbed a fistful of her hair from the nape of her neck and tugged it just a bit so her neck was craned back and I had a full view of her throat. I continued to kiss, moving down from her mouth to her cheek, then onto the side of her neck, letting my hot breath send shivers through her. But as I continued to caress her neck with my lips, she pulled herself to the side, away from my mouth. I let up, straightening up and looking down to her, my hands still wrapped around her.

She stared to the side opposite me for a moment, pensive, then turned to meet my gaze. Her brows were furrowed, and her eyes read something new yet again: confusion.

“Isabelle,” I said softly, warmly, trying to gauge what had just happened, why she had stopped me in my tracks. But before I could say anything else, she slipped out of my grasp and fled the room, slamming the door behind her.