Protecting The Princiepessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 22 ~

She groaned as she turned over in the bed and heard the pounding in the kitchen. Izzy reached for her phone, wondering why the f**k Adriano was up at 7:30 in the morning. They had just gone to bed a couple of hours ago; there really was no way that he was up and going this early in the morning. She threw the covers over her head, groaning yet again at the racket coming from the kitchen. “f**k,” she mumbled.

She yanked open her door and stomped her way to the kitchen, not caring at all how she looked, she just wanted to kill him. She crossed her arms as she stormed into the room, glaring at him, but he paid her no mind. It was then that she took notice of the layout of the kitchen. Usually, the stove would be on the side of the wall so that you could look at who is entering, but the stove was facing the opposite direction, so Adriano had his back to her.

“Are you going to keep glaring at me?” She jumped as she heard his voice and glared some more.

“How do you even know that I am?”

“Well, I heard you stomping down the hallway and I can feel the intense burn.” He glanced at her as he pulled the omelet off the stove and handed her one of the two plates. “Coffee is on the table for you already. Come on, we got a busy day.” Ignazia took the plate and walked to the table, once more glancing around.

“Did you design this house?” She hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, really, it just came out. He raised a brow as he sat down and then chuckled.

“I did, actually. I had been living in a condo for a long time while I had this being built.” He took a sip of his juice and then shook his head. “What made you ask that? Did you just now notice this?” She blushed slightly as she ducked her head.

“Sort of. More like it dawned on me how different your kitchen is and then looking around here, it’s not normal.” She took a bite and watched him. He didn’t seem phased by her question or her thought. “You did a rather good job; I like the layout. I thought when I first came in that everything flowed nicely and now, I can see why.”

“Thank you. I had shown your dad the plans and he thought I was crazy, and so did the construction team. But when it was all said and done, they changed their tune.” Izzy smiled at that, thinking there was maybe a little more to this man than she first thought. Maybe he wasn’t all about being an ass, although that was still a rather huge trait for him.

“You certainly have an eye for detail.” She glanced around the room before digging back into her breakfast. “What’s on the agenda today?”

“I got to make more runs.” She crinkled her brows in confusion before shaking her head.

“Didn’t we just do that?” He hid his smirk behind his coffee cup, but it didn’t stop his chuckle.

“There’s three, sometimes four, clubs that I have to hit weekly, depending on their needs. On top of that, I need to check the warehouse once a week as men go there to load up to sell on the street as well. I don’t get a lot of free time, as you can see. And since where I have to go today, as I have to hit three places is all over the f*****g town, we need to get an early start.” Well, she hated to admit it, but it made sense, however, she really didn’t want to be up that early. “I figured you didn’t work so when we were done, you could come back and sleep.”

“No can do, remember, dad, is having some dinner or something at his house, just family.” Izzy rolled her eyes at the thought of having to go over there and see her stepsister.

“Oh s**t, I forgot about that. Yeah, your dad would have my head if I didn’t take you. Okay, well, you can sleep on the trips if you want.” Izzy just shook her head as she gathered up the dishes.

“I’ll be fine. As a bartender, I’m used to mix-up shifts of sleep, trust me.” With that, she headed into the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess.

“I can do that, Ignazia.”

“No, rule of thumb, the cook shouldn’t have to clean as well.” She glanced over her shoulder at him and threw him a smile. “What?”

“You are so different from your stepsister.” That had Izzy laughing way too hard as she started to clean. She and Sara were like night and day, no doubt about that.

----

She watched out the window at the passing scenery, smiling at the different colors that were happening for Fall. Out in the southwest, there weren’t many colors, not like out here, and it was something beautiful to see. She wasn’t sure Adriano would approve, but hell, having a day at the park under leaves like this and just enjoying the view would be something beautiful for her. She smiled as she let out a soft sigh, not meaning to grab his attention.

“What?” h

e asked, and she could feel the glance he tossed her way.

“It’s gorgeous. Back home, you really only see colors like this in the mountains or in Northern New Mexico. So, seeing it here, all the time, it’s beautiful. I was just thinking of having a picnic one afternoon but figured you would say no.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t seem like your scene,” she said, looking around again.

“It’s not, but doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. It sounds nice, actually. Maybe we’ll have to plan it.” She wasn’t sure why that brought a smile to her face, but it did. Maybe it was the thought of him being nice enough to her, or maybe it was because it was something outside of their normal. Either way, she knew she was looking forward to it now.

“Thanks.” She threw him a smile before looking around again, frowning as if she didn’t know where they were. “This isn’t the way to the warehouse.”

“You recall the scenery there?”

“It’s my thing, it’s how I pick up locations. I’m a huge landmark person and none of this looks familiar.” She watched as he tilted his head for a moment, deep in thought, and then shrugged.

“Huh, a good tidbit to know.” She didn’t ask anything although she wanted to, like why the hell would that be a good thing to know? Instead, she just shook her head and gave him a pointed look. “What? What’s that look for?”

“What’s going on? I thought you go load up first?” He smirked as he shook his head.

“You’d make a great addition to the team, your attention to detail is good.” She crossed her arms and groaned.

“Stop ignoring the question, Adriano.”

“I am loading up; however, I’m checking another warehouse. We have two that house certain drugs. We got a tip that one of them was running low and that didn’t make sense. This warehouse, in particular, is where men on the west side of the city come to load up.”

“And you got information that something was off?” It wasn’t that she doubted him, not at all, but God damn, how close of an eye did they keep on this? And who would be stupid enough to try and rip her dad off? She remembered the story that Adriano told her about the dude getting shot, didn’t others know that?

“Yup.” A minute later, he pulled into a spot a little further down than the warehouse. She watched as he glanced over at the building but didn’t get out. Her gaze followed his and upon seeing nothing, it swung back to stare at him. After another heartbeat or two, he cleared his throat. “You need to stay in the car.” She furrowed her brows, wondering why now he was saying that.

“Why, Adriano?” Finally, he turned to look at her, his eyes cold, and she swallowed hard. That was a look she had never seen before, and it might have scared her a tad. This was the mafia man, and she hadn’t met him before, no matter what she thought.

“What is about to go down is probably going to be nasty and will be ugly, I don’t need you seeing it, Ignazia.” She slowly shook her head and was about to say something when he narrowed his eyes at her. “Cazzo ascoltami, per favore (f*****g listen to me, please).” She relented and watched as he got out and strolled into the building. She tapped her nails on the door handle as she waited, trying to do what she was told. Normally, she wouldn’t have a problem with something like that, she didn’t want to get in the mix of things, but something else was pushing her to get out, to directly disobey.

She glanced around as she opened the door, unable to shake the feeling of having eyes on her. That was something new and she didn’t like it, nor did she like the shiver that ran down her spine at the thought. With another glance and a hard swallow, Izzy started walking to the warehouse, praying that Adriano was in a slightly more forgiving mood than when he walked in because if the anger that was simmering underneath was unleashed, she was going to be fearful. She slowly pulled the door open and quietly walked in, her eyes opening wide at the sight. Adriano had his gun pulled and his jaw clenched; he f*****g meant business and she really had better get out of there.

“Where the f**k is he, Santino?” Izzy’s eyes flew to the man who was on the ground, blood coming from his broken nose, his eyes trailed to the gun, and she could tell hell was about to break loose.