Protecting The Princiepessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 16 ~

“Are you going to be okay to work?” Izzy glanced behind her as they walked into the house. She glanced at the clock in the kitchen, seeing how it was reading 12:46 pm. If she could catch a cat nap, she’d be good to roll out by 6 with a quick shower.

“Yeah, I’ll make it work. Given that it was a busy night, I did have a good sleep.”

“Good, because I have a couple of things to do at the club tonight, seems some men want to talk.” He paused in the doorway to his room and looked back at her. “Would you like to work in the VIP area?” Izzy laughed as she shook her head.

“No offense, that many mafia men in one area sort of freaks me out. I’m good downstairs. Besides, there are way more men to ogle down there, than upstairs.” He rolled his eyes but smirked. She watched him head into his room and really couldn’t stop the sigh that passed her lips. Sure, Adriano was a jerk most days, but he was a damn good-looking jerk. And she knew if she was upstairs, she’d do nothing but stare and that wouldn’t be good. With a shake of her head, she went back to her room and fell on her bed, just like she had earlier that morning.

-----

“Ignazia, it’s already 5:15, if you want a bite and a shower, you better get it now.” She swatted at the hand that was currently shaking her shoulder. She was having a hell of a dream that left her in a rather s****l state and she wanted to finish it, hoping that it would at least help her slightly. “Ignazia, get your ass up.” She groaned again and then jerked awake as a hand connected with her ass.

“What the f**k?!” she cried out.

“Well, I’ve been trying to get awake for the last ten minutes and nothing else seemed to be working.” She groaned again as one hand rubbed her eyes while the other rubbed her sore ass.

“So, s******g me worked?” She peeked one eye open and caught his smirk.

“It worked, didn’t it? Come on, you got to shower.” She yawned and finally climbed out of bed, making it to her shower. She wasn’t sure if she liked that wake-up call or not, especially given the dream she was having that had her beneath him and at his mercy. He was causing her to squirm and scream and do other things that she hadn’t done before. She twisted her lip, wondering if she had time to get herself off before heading to work. She was about to reach down when she heard the door open, and he poked his head in.

“And hurry up, I know how long you can take in the shower!” She laid her head back against the wall, frustration building up all the more. This was going to be a long ass night and she prayed someone would help her get off before the night’s end.

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“You got massive eye candy staring at you.” Izzy lifted her head from the drink she was making and glanced in the direction that Mindy was pointing, seeing one of the men from upstairs staring at her. She wasn’t sure why it unnerved her, but it did. The look wasn’t bad, nor was the glint behind the eyes, but maybe because it was the man himself and she knew what he was. But why that would bother her was even more annoying and even more curious. She didn’t have issues with mafia men, at least she didn’t think she did. Granted, her interactions with them were limited, as far as she knew.

She thought back to the conversation with her dad on the plane and shook her head. Okay, yeah, given that her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, slipped in undetected, maybe she didn’t know those types of men as she thought she did. And maybe that was a sign that shouldn’t be mixing with them. Her eyes glanced back down to the drinks in her hand and handed them off to the customers. As she was handing them back their change did the mystery man walk up to the bar.

“Hi,” was his one-word response.

“Hi, what can I get you?”

“Why are you down here and not working upstairs?” She wiped her hands on the towel at her waist and lifted a brow.

“What makes you think I should be upstairs?” He leaned on the bar a little closer and smirked.

“I was here the first night you went up, I was sad not to see you up there again. I was told if I wanted to talk to you, I needed to come downstairs. So, here I am.” Izzy glanced around to make sure no one was wanting a drink for the moment and then crossed her arms.

“I doubt all of that. No one looks for me, trust me.” He made it a point to slowly look her over, his gaze lasting a little longer on her breasts than she’d like but she let it go.

“No, bella (beautiful), I’ve been looking for you. Santino,” he told her, holding out his hand. She licked her lips and then put hers in it.

“Izzy.”

“Interesting name. What time is your break, I’d love to talk to you more.” She gave him another smile and lifted a shoulder.

“Depends on how busy we are, but I can’t say. It’s not set.” He was about to say something when Mike came up behind him and clapped him on the back.

“Come on, we got to talk with the boss, save the flirting for later.” With that, they left the bar, but both threw her smiles and she tried hard to stop the shiver from racing down her spine.

Two hours later, Izzy was walking through the back hallway from the bathrooms when someone grabbed her and dragged her into a back room, the same room Adriano had spoken to her in. She was about to scream but the hand covered her mouth and turned her around, making her open her eyes wide. She reached out to smack his arm, ignoring his chuckle.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Mike, that’s not even funny.” His hand stayed cupped to her cheek as his thumb ran along her lips.

“It was too, just a little bit. Can I confess something?” Izzy lifted a brow at him. What the hell could he confess to her; it wasn’t like she knew him or anything.

“I guess, Mike. What could you say?”

“Seeing Santino talk to you bugged the hell out of me.” Okay, that was the last thing she expected to hear. She shook her head and gave him an odd look.

“Yeah, why would that bother you, exactly? It’s not like you know me, Mike.”

“No, but I want to.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes flew open at his boldness, and she honestly couldn’t decide if she liked what he was offering or not. Sure, the words of Adriano were playing in her head, but he really couldn’t dictate whom she kissed. And it wasn’t like she was going out with him or that she even wanted to. “Don’t be that way,” he whispered against her lips, “don’t be cold.” His arms wrapped around her and hauled her up against his body as he deepened the kiss.

She closed her eyes and gave in to it, finding that it wasn’t so bad. Okay, lie; Mike was a hell of a kisser, but for the life of her, she couldn’t shake the warning in her mind that was echoing like crazy. This was funny because she wasn’t the type to run everything that she did by her parents, so why the thought of not being able to introduce someone like Mike to her dad would bring her up short was downright funny. But it did, although she knew she couldn’t explain that to him, at least not now, if ever.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she allowed him to take the lead. She still had a need, and though it was probably one of the stupider moments for her, she still wanted the need taken care of. But by the sound of the door opening and a voice clearing their throat, she knew that wouldn’t happen. She ducked her head below Mike’s shoulder, but she knew she didn’t need to. No one came down this hallway but the men and only one man would know she was gone.

“Mike, let her go. She needs to get back to work.” Mike winked at her as he pulled back and turned to look at Adriano. “Stay away, man. She’s not one I want you going after.”

“Got the hots for her, Adriano? What would your fiancé say?”

“Not even close. I don’t need you f*****g my staff and then breaking their hearts like you like to do.” Izzy watched as Mike narrowed his eyes before stalking past him. She cleared her throat and moved away from the wall and was about to walk past when he grabbed her arm. “I told you, not him.”

“I know. It was a kiss.”

“Men like him just don’t kiss, Ignazia. Not him, I hate repeating myself, so listen now.” His eyes flashed and she saw the tick in his jaw, clearly stating how pissed off he was, and she sensed it was better not to push him.

“Okay, got it.” He let her go and she went back to the bar, her head all the more confused.

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“Did anything else happen?” Adriano asked as she walked her to his car.

“Is Santino bad?” Adriano snorted and rolled his eyes.

“f**k, he’s worse. Oh God damn, did he hit on you too?” She was about to say something when she almost ran into him as he had stopped walking. She glanced at him as she heard his growl and then at his car, not seeing any damage. Or nothing to the body, however, the slashed tires made for a major problem.