with him about it, though I wanted to because it was my problem, not his—which is why I didn’t tell him originally. Come to think of it, I don’t know how he ever found out to begin with. Damien is a highly skilled and trained bodyguard. He has every resource at his fingertips and is the most well equipped to deal with a situation like this in the first place. So, I had no choice but to let him do what he felt he had to do. I have a feeling there are going to be many more things that I’m going to rely on him for in the future. Because lucky for me, I know I have one with him.
Damien
I don’t know what Izzy’s making, but whatever it is, it smells delicious. It kind of reminds me of my grandma’s old house; the one she lived in before my dad had the new mother-in-law suite built for her when she started slowing down.
She wasn’t slow today, that’s for sure. My visit was pretty quick. I managed to tell her that Iz was Gio’s sister, and she kind of blew over that topic like it wasn’t a big deal, but then she talked pretty much the rest of the time. And laughed as she recalled what Izzy said at dinner.
She had me laughing a lot, too, and since she knew I’d been gone, she insisted that I go home to Izzy instead of staying there longer.
So here I am.
I walk into the kitchen and give Iz a quick kiss because anything more would result in me eating her for dinner, and I’m actually starved. She’ll just have to be my dessert tonight.
Unsure of the best way to approach the elephant in the room, I sit at the table that she’s already set and take the beer that she hands me. She hops up on the counter and swings her legs while taking a sip of her own glass of wine. “Can I ask you something without you getting mad?”
“Iz, you can ask me anything, and I’ll never be mad at you.”
“I’m not so sure about that, honey. I’m sure there will be times I piss you off.”
I angle my head back and forth. “True. But I don’t ever want you to be afraid to tell me anything or ask me something because that’s not how we work. Not anymore. I didn’t tell you about my past. You didn’t tell me about Danny and the debt or about Gio. You haven’t given me your reasons yet, but I know that whatever they are, I’ll understand. Is there anything else you want to get out there?”
“No. That’s it, I swear. And in my defense, I didn’t know where you worked until I asked you. I had no clue who you were in the beginning. And then when I realized it, I don’t know why I freaked out. Part of me thought you’d be mad and break up with me. I also didn’t want to ask you to lie to Gio about us, because I wasn’t ready for him to know. I knew with how protective he has been of me my entire life that he would go apeshit. I didn’t want you two fighting, and I didn’t want either of you to be hurt by my… withholding of information.”
Totally get that, because I know the kind of guy Gio is, too. I don’t want to even talk about it anymore because all I want to focus on is my future with her. “I understand that. I do. As far as I’m concerned, it’s done. We can move on from that. But you’re still not asking me a question.”
“Right. Okay, so… I was wondering… I know that you’re good at what you do, but what I want to know is how you didn’t figure out who I was when you were digging into all this stuff with Danny and Mario.”
A part of me wants to hang my head in shame right now because I cannot for the life of me believe I didn’t figure it out. “If you want the God’s honest truth, it’s that you make me forget about anything and everything else, and all I had on my mind was you. And honestly, Izzy, I’m fuckin’ embarrassed for not figuring it out. Your name tag at the vet said Isabel, and Gio’s only ever talked about his sister as Bella, so right off the bat, I didn’t pick up on the