Page 140 of Enigma: An Isaac Retelling
“Eyes on me, Isabelle,” I bark out when signs of an approaching orgasm hue her skin. Her stomach is misted with sweat, and little droplets have careened down her delicate neck, over her collarbone, and between her breasts.
Too tired to jump to my command, Isabelle takes the next best route. She kisses me. It’s not a hungry, greedy kiss. It’s slow and purposeful, and endlessly perfect when four sharp words quickly follow a grunted moan. “I love you, Isaac.”
My body chooses its own response to Isabelle’s declaration of love before my head can work out why my heart cautioned it to keep its feelings to itself. Cum rockets out of my engorged knob as the last time I spoke those words roll through my head like a movie.
Did Ophelia die because her father is a vile, abhorrent man or because I told her I loved her?
I want to say it is the former, but until I know that is the truth, I can’t return Isabelle’s declaration of love. I swore that I’d never put her at risk. Telling her I love her could very well do that.
56
“Did you sleep at all… ‘cause you look like shit?” Hugo hands me a crate of takeaway coffee and a brown bag that’s laden down with so much grease the bottom half is almost see-through. “Harlow’s donuts are the best... if you’re not counting calories.” While waggling his brows, he grins. “You’re not counting calories, are you?” When I answer him with a glare, he mutters, “Good, because Harlow tossed a couple extra in there for me since I’m her favorite customer.”
When he attempts to skirt by me, I block the doorway with my still-brooding frame. I didn’t sleep when Isabelle caught up on the hour she missed while I ravished her body. I was too busy plotting ways to make sure she won’t fall victim to the same fate as Ophelia.
If my team thought my security measures were obsessive before last night, they have no clue how fanatical they’re about to become. Isabelle loves me, which means I’m not only entrusted with her heart, but I also must do everything in my power to keep her safe.
Nothing is off-limits, including Hugo’s disdain for gun violence.
“When you drop Isabelle off at work this morning, Roger will take up surveillance so you can attend an appointment I arranged for you today.”
When I step into the foyer to fetch my wallet off the entryway table, Hugo mumbles, “It isn’t with another therapist, is it?” He rubs at his neck, a telltale sign he’s nervous. “I did everything Avery asked. I haven’t had an…” he swallows, his throat suddenly parched, “… incidentin months.”
“It isn’t a therapist,” I assure him before handing him a business card for the commercial premises I want him to visit today.
His brows shoot up high when his eyes scan the weapons dealer address in Hopeton. “You want me to carry a firearm?”
“Yes.” I house my wallet into my pocket before adding, “Yesterday exposed we’re treading too light when it comes to personal safety. We don’t need to create a ruckus but having the means to defend ourselves if required is a smart move.”
Hugo twists his lips, unsure whether to agree or disagree with me. “Are you getting a gun?” he asks a short time later.
“No,” I push out with a determined head shake.
He arches his brow even higher. “Why not? You’re with Izzy more than anyone.”
Although grateful he knows the real cause of my fret, it doesn’t harness my natural arrogance for long. “Because I don’t need a weapon. My body is a weapon.”
While rolling his eyes, Hugo gags. The belch of his disgust only leaves his mouth for half a second before his lips snap shut. “Hold up. Why are you quoting the saying of a man a good sixty years older than you?” When a smirk I can’t contain etches onto my mouth, Hugo’s eyes bug. “You knew Patty?”
His shock surprises me. Patty was my grandfather. I thought Hugo knew that.
It’s clear my assumption is wrong when Hugo’s mouth falls open partway through my confirming head bob. “That’s why he was a security officer at his age,” he draws out in a long breathless chuckle.
I nod again. “And the reason HR wouldn’t let him carry a gun.” I hold back the chuckle dying to break free from my lips with a head wobble before confessing, “With his eye exam going against him, I designed a job specifically for him. He wasn’t happy it was a position without a gun, but since he needed something to occupy his time after my grandmother passed away, he accepted my terms as stipulated in his contract.”
After a brief chuckle, Hugo says, “He loved Calista.” His tone is nowhere near as stirring as it usually is. “I could tell by the way he spoke about her.”
“He did. He was truly lost without her.”As I will be if anything happens to Isabelle.
I begin to wonder if I said my thoughts out loud when Hugo ends our conversation by promising to attend his appointment on time. “Who knows… I may even rock up five minutes early.” After a playful waggle of his brows, he heads for his apartment with only one final jab, “Call me when Izzy is ready to go. I’ll be watching TV with Cheetos stuffed in my ears.” After spinning around to face me, he walks backward. “Unless you can have a word with the building sup. The pipes were making a weird creaking noise for hours this morning. It kinda sounds like—”
The shrill of my cell phone shuts him up before my fists can.
“It’s Regan,” I announce when his worried expression scours a new wrinkle between his brows. He knows as well as I do that it’s rare for good news to be delivered when my untraceable cell rings. Mindful her call is most likely about the contract I forwarded her this morning, I say, “I have to take this.”
Hugo dips his chin before he spins back around and recommences his travels.
I wait until I’m in the safety of Isabelle’s apartment before connecting Regan’s call.
