million and disappeared?" I poured one more glass and walked toward Joe and Izzy as the pretty vixen studied the picture before her.
I stopped behind her and leaned in, looking over her shoulder as I pressed my erection to her ass. I shouldn't be the only one to suffer.
Reaching around her, I took the paper and moved to her side as I took my turn to study the guy. He was good looking by most standards, which irked me more than it should have.
"Yeah. Anyway, that's him. He will be at the bar tonight at eleven." Joe picked up a small glass of bourbon from his desk and took a sip.
"Is Izzy going to get the money from him?" I looked over at Joe.
"I'm right here. Talk to me like I'm in the room." Izzy barked out, forcing me to acknowledge her. I turned to face her as a smirk lifted my lips. I handed the picture back to her as she snatched it from me angrily.
Busted that fake-ass calm, didn't I?
"Are you going to take money from him to repay your father?" I hated the layer of sarcasm coating my voice and I knew that my tone belittled her, but it was a game we'd played for a long, long time.
I needed to back off for a few days though. In all honesty, I was worried about her. She was crushed by her mother's death.
What the fuck was I doing?
I reached out to touch her shoulder, but she moved back, walking toward the door to the office. "Izzy... "
She gripped the door handle and turned to look at Joe.
His eyebrows pulled together as confusion brushed across his features.
I would be questioned over our reaction to one another as I had been many times. Joe had warned both of us over the years to not let anything interfere with business, including each other.
"Eleven o'clock at the Moonlight Bar?" My beautiful girl was gone, and the enforcer that protected the family had taken her place.
"Yes, be safe, baby and don't play with your kill. He's a dangerous man." Joe stood, pressing his hands to the desk in front of him. "I'm serious. I know he's handsome, but hear me clearly. His looks are deceiving. He's a viper, Izabella. Get in. Get out. Nothing more."
I butted in, unable to help myself. "Let me do this one. You need a night to yourself, Izzy. It was a long day. Please." I moved toward her, stopping only as she lifted her hand and Joe coughed, warning both of us.
"I will do whatever the fuck I please. Until you replace me as enforcer for this family I will do my job, and your concerns and questions can remain in the confines of your own mouths. I'm not interested in being treated like a fragile little girl with pigtails. If that's the way you feel, then get someone else to do this." She lifted the picture of Parker in front of her as if to hand it back to us. Her hard gaze locked onto me, and my heart broke. She felt alone, and she was striking out. The only person in the world that let her be that little girl when she needed to was lying lifeless in a metal box under the earth.
"Izabella." I took another step toward her, disregarding Joe. "Please let me go for you."
"I'm heartbroken and wish I had someone to hold me tonight, but I don't, so Mr. Parker here is going to fulfill a longing I have, and once he's done... I'll open his chest with my knife." She shrugged and let the picture drop from her fingers as the life in her eyes faded. "Good night, boys. Don't wait up."
She shut the door, and Joe laughed, dropping down in his chair as I swallowed the lump of regret in my throat. I walked back to the liquor cabinet and grabbed the bottle. I was going to be sick.
"That girl is the crown jewel to all I have. I have no clue how I got so lucky." He chuckled again, pissing me off with his lackadaisical attitude. He somehow could compartmentalize the father that spun her around a dance floor in tap shoes from the Don who expected her to use any and all means to bring the world to heel before her.
I couldn't.
"I'm worried. I don't like it. She doesn't need to be out there tonight, Joe."
"Yes, she does."
"No, she doesn't. I'm going with her." I downed another