Making his way upstairs, he paused on the corridor where he saw Isabella’s bedroom door slightly ajar.
She’d been avoiding him lately. The fitting had been a ruse. His men followed her to an apartment block. Slowly, little by little, he was able to paint a picture of his future wife, and she was a truly amazing woman. There was a fire inside her to do good, and he was never going to allow it to see burned out.
With every piece of new information, he found himself falling for her. It was insane to think of actually loving a woman, but he truly believed Isabella was the woman for him.
He stood at the entrance to her bedroom, lifted up his knuckles, and knocked.
She lifted her head. Paperwork was all over the bed. She wore a crop top and a pair of small shorts. Her hair was wild, as if she hadn’t brushed it after her shower.
“You weren’t down at dinner,” he said.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“What is all this?” he asked, stepping into the room.
“You shouldn’t be in here.”
“Isabella, we’re going to be married very soon.”
“But that’s not today.” She didn’t look up.
“What is it you’ve got?”
She looked up, pushing some hair off her face. “If you must know, I’m looking at all the information my father had on the Boss.” She shook her head. “I want to get to the bottom of who is putting me in danger.”
He saw the tears in her eyes and within seconds, they were gone.
“What is all this?” he asked.
“It’s nothing. I’m tired of not knowing who is coming after me and I’d like to know. I want them to face me in person.” She put her hands on her lips and looked ready to hurt someone.
“Why is it important to you?”
“It’s my life. Of course it’s important.”
Damon stepped around her. He moved some of the paperwork out of his way and sat down. “When we get married, I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.” He rubbed his hands together. This was the most he’d ever spent with one of the women betrothed to him. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her. Every waking thought was about her. His cock was in a constant state of hardness just to be close to her.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
“The truth, but I can see you’re still too scared to trust me, so I’m going to be open and honest with you. I know.”
“What is it exactly that you know?”
“I know about the girls. The ones you save. The kids.”
Her mouth dropped open and she covered it with her hand.
“I know that after your fitting you went to a separate apartment building and there is someone you clearly care about. Now, I know there is more to you, Isabella, than meets the eye, but if I’m going to be able to protect you, I need to know all the details.”
“You don’t need to know anything.”
“I do. For your sake and for whoever you’re protecting.”
She paced the room and came to stop in front of him. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and protect her. Of course, he also wanted to fuck her brains out, that was a given.
“I don’t … this is hard. I, my dad, he knew. He was worried about it but so long as I wasn’t in any real danger, I’d be fine.” She ran fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say right now.”
“Just the truth. You’re open and honest with me. I’ll do the same with you.”
“Is that how you want to play this marriage?”
“I don’t want to play anything. This marriage will be real. There will be no fighting or stupidity. It will be us against them.”
“The Family?”
“If it needs to be.”
She tucked her wild hair behind her ears. “I help women who have been tossed aside. They come to the Family by the black market, container ships, or some random girls they pick off the streets.”
“How do you find them?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hear about shipments, and sometimes, I take them before they can be sold. If I can, I send them back home.” She pressed her lips together.
Damon was aware of lost women, some suspected of being dead. “All this time that was you?”
“I don’t always work alone,” she said.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“Isabella.”
“I have a cop friend, okay?”
Damon looked at her in shock. All this time he’d been trying to protect her and there was a fucking silent target on her head. “Does Randy know?”
“Yes. My father knew as well.”
“And they didn’t try to fucking stop you?” This explained why her father said there were some things he needed to find out for himself. This was fucking one of them. Now it was his time to pace.