Protecting The Princiepessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 14 ~

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carlo yell at her like that.” Izzy nodded as she walked down the short hallway to one of the two rooms. “She also has no right being like that, you know. All jealous, that’s not cool.” At that, Izzy turned and looked at him.

“She doesn’t? Aren’t you two engaged?” She watched as he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed before answering.

“Yes, but our relationship is not based on love. After tonight, I’m not even sure it’s based upon respect.”

“A business deal then?” Izzy questioned, leaning against the doorway to her makeshift room and staring at him.

“Yeah, but you won’t get anything more than that, so go to sleep. Please keep the door open. The property is safe though.” She saw the cameras, the fences, and the men, she knew the house and the grounds were safe. But she wasn’t surprised that he asked that, he did at his house too and it was just as safe as here.

“Sure.” With that, Izzy went to her room and plopped down on the bed. She was passed tired and all she wanted to do was sleep. Work was hard, dealing with Adriano and his man speech, dealing with Sara…ugh, dealing with Sara, that went past tiring. Izzy wanted nothing more than to knock her down a peg or two. And while she would probably enjoy beating her up a lot, she didn’t think that would work. It wouldn’t teach her the lesson that she so desperately needed. Maybe if Izzy actually stepped into the role of a Principessa and one-up Sara, she might get somewhere. And that was a thought worth thinking over. But not at 4:30 in the morning. With that, Izzy groaned, rolled over on her side, and quickly passed out.

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“What are you doing today?” Izzy watched her dad over the coffee cup in her hands as he sat down. He glanced at Adriano who was getting his own coffee before digging into his breakfast.

“I need to make a couple of deliveries and stop in at a few other joints, see what their inventory is.” Adriano took the seat next to the man and Carol glanced at his daughter. “Yes, she’s going to have to go with me.”

“I don’t like that, Adriano.” Adriano sat his cup down and lifted a brow at the boss.

“Well, I could leave her here where she will probably kill your oldest daughter. I could leave her at my house, which would only piss you off even more because she’s unprotected. I could send another man you don’t trust nearly as much to check inventory and delivery. Or I could take her with me, where I can watch over her, keep her safe, and keep everything on the up and up. Forgive me if I figured the latter of all of that was the best option.” Izzy hid her smirk behind her coffee cup; however, it didn’t go unnoticed by her dad, who merely lifted a brow.

“Would you prefer to go out?” Carlo asked and Izzy sat her cup down and crossed her arms as she looked at her dad.

“What are my other choices?” she asked him.

“You could stay here and we can chat,” he offered.

“Forgive me, dad, but I don’t think that’s wise. I wouldn’t mind talking, but Adriano is right, after last’s night deal, I make no promises not to inflict harm on your other daughter.” Carlo chuckled and then waved.

“Take her but do be careful. All seems to be going well this week?” Izzy frowned at that. This week? They do this on a weekly deal? How many f*****g drugs were sold at these places? She knew her dad wouldn’t answer but maybe she could get Adriano to explain a little more. And if it was that much, she could see why her dad wouldn’t just trust anyone to handle that; that’s a s**t ton of money, both going and coming!

“I have two more places to check into, but it seems like it’s been good. All on the up and up and s**t is moving.” Adriano glanced at his phone before looking back at the boss.

“A message?”

“Of course. Sara is up and wants to talk.” Adriano stood up and finished his coffee before setting it in the sink. “However, I don’t want to, so since I have work to do, I’m leaving.” Carlo stood up and walked over to Izzy, who sat her cup in the sink as well.

“I do want to talk with you. Perhaps we could have a nice dinner?” She wasn’t sure why, but she nodded. She did like that. She did love her dad, even given all the issues she was currently dealing with.

“Sure, it would be nice. I’ll check with my boss on my work schedule.” Carlo kissed her cheek and then gave Adriano a pointed look.

“I’ll make sure he can clear some time.” Carlo turned to Adriano and shook his hand. “Let me know what you find out.”

“Of course.” With that, Adriano waited for Ignazia to pass by him and then followed her out. She slipped the shades on and walked to his car, letting him open the door. And as she climbed in, she glanced up, smirking at the glare coming from the window. Let Sara be pissed, she wasn’t doing anything, this was all on her and really, Izzy just didn’t care.

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Ignazia glanced around as Adriano pulled up to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. She wasn’t sure what was going on, and to be honest, she was thinking she didn’t want to know. In fact, for her, in her mind, not knowing was probably going to be safer. What if there was some kind of run or something and the cops came and started to question her? She could say nothing, she knew nothing, and that was the truth.

“Are you done?” Ignazia quickly turned and looked at Adriano.

“Done with what?” she asked.

“Thinking. You don’t say anything but f**k your face gives away a lot.” He chuckled and her eyes narrowed.

“Whatever. What is this?”

“A building.” She reached over and smacked him, but she smiled. “It’s one of a couple of locations your dad must have to house certain things. Not everything is at his house, his wife does draw the line somewhere. However, for me, I keep this place pretty protected and it’s the one location where I can go in and out fairly easy for my deliveries.”

“There are drugs in there?” Adriano winked at her as he climbed out of the car. She debated for a moment on getting out, but him opening the door for her told her she was coming along.

“I don’t trust you in the car alone.”

“Very funny.” She actually hadn’t tried to leave, which was a surprise, so the comment was just wrong. “I’ve been good.”

“I also don’t let my guard down; I already told you that.” Yeah, she was questioning if that was at any given point in time. Come on, you were in the middle of f*****g someone and your guard was still up? She doubted that, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to ask that! “Go see what no one else gets to see.” She glanced at him as she followed him into the building, but she gave one last look around. At least there were multiple other warehouses so if the cops were seeking this out, it would be hard press to figure which one was which.

She stepped in and quickly noticed how dim it was. How the hell did anyone see anything? She also picked up on the lack of people around. How could this place be protected if there wasn’t anyone to protect it? But, with another glance around, she could pick up on certain things; like the beeping of an alarm, the few containers around, and the sense of being watched.

“Where is everyone?” Adriano walked over to a container, lifted the lid, and glanced at Ignazia.

“This is everyone. Those that I trust the most, get to watch this place.” She licked her lips and walked over to the container, frowning at what she saw. She wasn’t quite expecting the bags in there and it was evident when she glanced up at him. “The bricks are broken down; I can’t drop off a brick to a location. So, we pre-package and this is what gets sold. I keep a log of all the comings and goings,” he told her as he lifted a paper and wrote down what he was grabbing. She so badly wanted to ask what was in those little baggies but thought better of it.

“Why did you bring me in here?” Adriano smirked as he grabbed a couple of bigger bags and stuck them inside his jacket pocket. “I mean, you didn’t have to, I was safe outside.”

“You’re right, I didn’t have to. However, you’re very inquisitive, not a bad thing, but it can be in this world. Your dad is old school and believes that women shouldn’t know the workings of what goes on. I believe that a woman should if she possesses the smarts to handle the situation and knowledge. Sara does not which is why I would never bring her, but you do.” With that, he nodded to a man at the back that she totally did not see and walked out of the warehouse and back to the car. He helped her in and then climbed in himself. “You’re going to see a lot more of that, and even at my own club. I would never ask you to sell it, but I would ask you to keep quiet.”

“Who would I even tell?” He started the car and pulled out of the spot.

“Personally, I think no one. I think you’re smart enough to keep your head down and your mouth shut.” She gulped as he picked up speed once they got on the main road. “But make no mistake, Ignazia, cops are going to start sniffing around you soon enough. The mindset of ‘not knowing so can’t speak’ won’t work with them. But you can see what is all likely to be lost if you were to ever utter a word to anyone, not just those assholes.”