Page 21 of Unraveling an Enigma
I turn my gaze back to Hugo. “Do you want to come inside?”
Hugo has been at his frankest today. He is sharing information left, right and center about Isaac, so I want to take full advantage of his open honesty while I can. Even after dating Isaac for a month, I only began scratching the surface of his enigmatic personality.
Hugo’s gaze turns from staring straight ahead to face me. His brows are furled, and his face is white. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. Cranking my neck, I peer in the direction he was facing. I don’t see anything that would warrant the concerned expression tainting his face.
“Are you ready for the repercussion it may bring?” Hugo questions a short time later, drawing my attention back to him.
I glance at him, confused by his statement.
“First, Isaac saw us together at Destiny Records. Now, he’ll see me walking into your apartment,” he explains to my shocked expression.
“You're assuming Isaac is going to react.”
“I’m not assuming anything, Izzy. Isaac will react; it just may not be a reaction either of us are prepared for,” he interrupts. “Isaac is naturally dominant, but when it comes to you, he is….” he stops midsentence, seemingly unable to form a word to describe the obsessive behavior Isaac has when it comes to me.
My gaze darts down to the black glove compartment to contemplate. Although I want Isaac to interact with me, I don’t want him to be coerced. I want him to talk to me because he wants to, not because he is banging his chest in an alpha male turf war.
I return my gaze to Hugo, who is watching me intently. “Thanks for the lift.”
He gives a single nod of his head. “If you need anything, Izzy, you have my number.”
“Thanks, Hugo.” I lean over to place a kiss on his cheek.
As I crawl out of the car, the question I should have asked at the very beginning formulates in my head. Abruptly, my gaze drifts back to Hugo. “Do you know why Isaac got arrested Friday?”
When he shakes his head, his eyes relay the truth in his gesture. “I figured if anyone was going to know why he was arrested, it would have been you?”
I shake my head back. “I am just as clueless as the rest of us.”
Hugo waits until I am in the lobby of my apartment before he pulls his car away from the curb. His engine is so loud, I can hear it even when he is halfway down the block. Upon entering the hallway of my apartment, I ruffle through my satchel in search for my keys. When I lift my gaze, a squeal erupts from my lips. I clutch my chest with my spare hand, fighting to calm the mad beat of my heart. Agent Theresa Veneto startled me when she unexpectedly stepped out of the entranceway of my apartment.
“I'm not talking to you without a lawyer present.” I skirt past her and walk to my door.
Fiddling with my keys, I fight them into the lock. My hands are jittering with nerves so badly, I can’t get the darn key into the small hole.
“I’m not here on official business,” Theresa informs me, her voice pretentious and mocking. “I’m here to talk to you, woman to woman.”
Ignoring her no doubt lie, I jam my keys into the lock. I sigh when the lock mechanism clicks in the uncomfortable silence of my hallway.
“Isaac Holt isn’t the man you think he is,” Theresa snarls, her voice vicious.
My thinly slitted eyes snap to hers. “No, Isaac Holt isn’t the manyouthink he is.”
I swivel my body, so I’m standing in front of her. Theresa is a similar height and build as me, so when I stand in front of her, we meet eye to eye.
“Isaac’s file leads you to believe he is a terrible man, but if you look past the highly fabricated documents, you will see he isn’t even close to the man they're portraying,” I inform her.
Theresa grins an evil smile and rolls her eyes. “I heard you were stupid; I just didn’t realize you were also blatantly naïve. You are swimming out of your depth, little girl.”
Plastering the best fake smile I can on my face, I shrug, striving to portray that her harsh words didn’t bruise my ego. Pivoting on my heels, I walk through my front door.
“Isaac brutally attacked his last girlfriend's brother so horrifically, he sustained multiple broken bones and spent weeks in hospital recovering,” Theresa yells through my rapidly closing door.
My hasty movements stop. The shrill of my pulse running through my body is nearly deafening when it clusters in my ears. Sensing my reluctance slipping, Theresa pushes open my front door. My disbelieving eyes lift from the polished floor in the entranceway to glare at Theresa.
“Cj was in a traffic accident with his sister Ophelia,” I mutter, my voice soft.
Theresa’s lips crimp before she fleetingly shakes her head. “Cj’s injuries were not sustained from that traffic accident. They were inflicted by Isaac Holt.”
