Isabella's Submission [Fate Harbor 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  It was done so swiftly and quietly, most people weren’t even aware it had happened. Leif was ready to take the man outside, when Isabella looked him in the eye. “I’ve got this,” she said confidently. Then she crouched down before the man.

  “Harley, these are my men.”

  “Both of them?” The man’s eyes got wide. “Why didn’t you—”

  “Don’t say anything more or they will hurt you, and I will let them.” Leif took great pleasure in squeezing the man’s shoulder and jerking up on his arm to emphasize Isabella’s point. He knew that Caleb was simultaneously reinforcing her message on the other arm, as well.

  “Your days of verbally abusing the women who work here are over. They are under my care now. I am under Leif’s and Caleb’s care. Every female employee here will call me if they have any trouble from you, or any of your truck-driving buddies. And then I will call these gentlemen. They will not be afraid to hurt you, will you?” Leif looked to Caleb to voice their answer. Leif was too angry to respond.

  “Bella, I really want you to let me hurt him today. He’s been bothering you for a long time, hasn’t he?”

  “Caleb, he’s not worth the time. He’s not even close to being one of the worst. He’s just a minor annoyance. You will spread the word to your buddies, won’t you, Harley?” Leif watched as Isabella reached out and cupped Caleb’s cheek, her favorite gesture of affection. “Please, let’s just get my check and leave, now.” Leif swept the truck stop with his eyes, registering that there were now about five people who had noticed the altercation, but nobody seemed inclined to do anything about it. Leif watched as Caleb bent down and whispered into Harley’s ear. Caleb released his hold on him and Leif followed his lead. They tracked Harley’s steps as he quickly left the truck stop.

  Isabella walked to the front of the line and the young man on point for seating the customers stopped what he was doing to give her a big hug. He looked to be a high school student and appeared to be totally smitten with Isabella. Leif could see that she was aware of it and was very gentle in her dealings with him.

  “Caleb and Leif, I’d like to introduce you to a very good friend of mine. This is Carl Richardson. Usually, Carl was the one who walked me to my car after work.” Leif watched as the boy turned bright red, but then his expression grew stubborn.

  “Are you guys taking care of her now? I mean…well.”

  “Yes, Carl, Isabella is now ours to take care of,” Leif answered.

  “Good.” The boy gave him a relieved smile, which Leif had truly not expected. His next words helped to clear that up. “She never takes care of herself, she takes too many risks. Isabella gives me heart attacks on a regular basis. It’s going to take two men to take care of her.”

  “Carl, are you any relation to Lila Richardson in Fate Harbor?” Lila was probably ten years younger than Leif’s mom, but she was married to Harold and some other man he couldn’t remember.

  “Yeah, that’s my mom. How do you know her?”

  “Is somebody going to get us a seat before the next ice age?” One of the drunks asked loudly. A harried waitress appeared and gave Isabella a quick hug. She snatched the menus out of Carl’s hands, hit him over the head with them, and shooed them away from the hostess station.

  “I’m Leif Johansen, Ilsa’s son.”

  “No way! You’re Eric and Dane’s big brother?” The boy’s eyes got really wide. “Have you met them, Isabella? Eric is the town fire chief and his brother Dane works for him. They are crazy, with a capital C. They take on the dispatches to the big forest fires in the region and then parachute into them. When they’re not dousing blazes they like to join in the occasional bar fight for sport. I only have sisters, who have my dads wrapped around their little fingers. So, Eric and Dane are a breath of fresh air, to me.” Leif watched as Isabella smiled encouragingly at Carl. He’d bet that Isabella was Carl’s first real crush on a woman rather than a classmate, and Isabella made him feel special. That was one of her greatest gifts, making people feel special.

  “Isabella, Paul is in back. But I’ve got to warn you, Lois is here tonight, too,” Carl cautioned. Leif witnessed Carl’s look of sympathy trigger a grimace from Isabella that she couldn’t hide. “Why don’t I go ask for your check? You know nobody ever thinks twice about me,” Carl offered.

  “No, I’ll do it, but once again, I appreciate your willingness to go out on a limb for me, Carl. I always appreciate it.”

  “We’ll be going with her, Carl,” Leif assured him.

  “That’s for the best.”

  “For God’s sake, it’s just Paul’s wife.” Leif was surprised at Isabella’s outburst. Except with the children, he had never really seen her demonstrate that level of emotion. Carl caught his eye and nodded. Apparently, Paul’s wife was a problem.

  “Just show us the way, Bella. We’ll follow you.” Isabella threw back her shoulders and they made their way alongside the counter to the door at the back of the restaurant. Another waitress stopped Isabella to warn her that Lois was in back. When they got to the back door, they entered a hallway so narrow Leif thought he might be forced to walk sideways. Near the end of the hall, a redheaded man straddled the threshold between the hall and what Leif figured was his office. He looked to be around fifty with a lot of hard years on him, leading Leif to conclude that he had to be Paul Murphy.

  “Hey, Isabella. Why don’t I meet you up front with your check?”

  “No, I want to talk to her,” a woman’s voice shouted from inside the office. As they approached, they smelled stale ashtrays and cigarette smoke.

  Paul walked away from his office, letting the door close, and handed an envelope to Isabella. “You were always a good employee, but rules are rules. If I made an exception for you, others would expect me to give them the same break.” The door flew open and a striking African American woman in a yellow dress and red heels came out into the hall.

  “God damn it, Paul, I said I wanted to talk to our little Madonna!”

  “Lois, I don’t work here anymore. We have nothing to discuss.”

  “Sure we do. Rules are made to be broken! With you around, all the little wetbacks who came in were happier. I’m willing to hire you back and give you an extra twenty-five cents an hour. But, you’ll have to smile more. We get complaints from the truckers that you’re not very friendly.”

  “My name is Isabella. I’ve never liked being called Señorita or Madonna. You’re a bigot, Lois. It’s not because I can speak Spanish that the Mexicans are more comfortable. It’s because I treat them with dignity and respect. You don’t. Your racist attitude has filtered down to some of your employees, and that’s why there are complaints.”

  “So come back to work and fix it.” Lois was nothing if not persistent. “The beaners are good paying customers.”

  “Lois, come back into the office.” Paul pulled his wife back into the office and shut the door behind them.

  “Yeah Bella, this looks like an absolutely fan-fucking-tastic place to work,” Caleb retorted. Leif read his signal to take point down the hall when Caleb tipped his chin toward him as Caleb protectively put Isabella between them. She cleaned out her locker and said her good-byes, and they made their way back to the house in Fate Harbor.

  * * * *

  Caleb felt the stress radiating from Isabella for the entire thirty-minute ride home, as she held herself in a tense, upright position. She was probably going to be stiff and sore later. He wanted to carry her inside and give her a massage to soothe away all her hurts and worries. But more than that, he wanted to find out what in the hell she had been thinking, subjecting herself to that kind of racist crap and redneck flirting.

  As soon as the truck stopped, he opened her door and carried her up the driveway.

  “I can walk. My leg is fine.”

  “Yeah, well, my temper isn’t, so you’re just going to have to deal.” Good, that shut her up. He shoved the front door open. “Leif, I’m hungry, do we have any of that barbecue left?” He t
ook her to the dining room and put her into one of the chairs. He took the chair at the right angle, so he was close and could watch her. He really didn’t want her in his lap for this particular argument, and he knew it was going to be an argument.

  She stared at him, and he heard the sound of food being heated in the microwave. He just let her stew. He intended to wait for Leif to join them. He only wanted to go over this once.

  “What would you like to drink?”

  “I’m not thirsty.” Isabella crossed her arms.

  “She’ll have juice. I need a beer,” Caleb called. Leif delivered beverages for all along with napkins and utensils. Leif returned to the kitchen and brought the warmed leftovers. Caleb started to eat, watching Isabella.

  “You might as well eat, Bella. Sitting there without eating won’t make this conversation go away. We’re going to have it whether you’re hungry or full.” She wasn’t in a full-fledged, woman-like snit. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and she wore a serene expression on her face. His mama had been known to throw her plate of food at his dad for less than this. Not Bella. She just kept too much in. That was probably the reason she put up with so much shit in her life.

  Scratch that, the woman didn’t have to tolerate this much shit. He knew that for a fact. She wasn’t a Madonna. She was a martyr! He threw down his fork and sat back, finishing his beer. He looked to Leif, but Caleb saw that he didn’t know what he was mad about, but was fine with following his lead. That’s how you knew you had a great partner, when they readily followed your lead, even if they weren’t sure where you were headed.

  “Do you believe that confession is good for one’s soul, Bella?” Caleb began.

  “Sometimes,” came her careful answer.

  “Then why don’t you explain why you have enough money to pay cash for an SUV to transport a bunch of children across state, yet you chose to work for almost minimum wage in that hellhole where you’re treated like shit?” He watched as Isabella reached for the glass of juice that she hadn’t touched until this moment. She looked at him as she sipped, and then she glanced over at Leif as she set down the glass.

  “I have a little insurance money set aside from my parents’ death.” She reached for her fork but Caleb covered her hand.

  “Define ‘a little.’ I’d like you to be more specific about the amount of this insurance money.” She tried to lift her fork, but he wouldn’t allow it. “Bella, look at me.” He wasn’t commanding her, but he wasn’t coaxing her either.

  “Enough that it paid all of my college expenses. The rest is for my retirement.”

  “How much money was sitting in retirement accounts while you were working at Murphy’s?” Caleb didn’t care that the volume of his voice had increased to a medium roar. This woman had planned to confront armed guards with nothing but some bolt cutters. Knowing that he was the man who loved her, it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to cope with his righteous anger. Isabella slipped her hand out from beneath his and settled it into her lap before turning to address him. She gave him her placid look, the one that didn’t give away what she was thinking.

  “I have about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The policy was for two hundred thousand dollars.”

  “And you’re living in that shithole why?” Caleb felt his eye begin to twitch.

  “It’s all I can afford on the two salaries I am earning. I had a better teaching assignment, but working at Shirley’s school was a better fit for me, even though it didn’t pay enough. So I moved and got a second job.”

  “I need a better explanation than that, Bella. I understand that you wanted to work at the Cesar Chavez School. I applaud your decision, but why you didn’t touch any of that money? Why did you insist on living in an unsafe neighborhood and why work such a demeaning second job?”

  Isabella pushed herself away from the table and stood up. “No job is demeaning. People might treat you poorly, but that is on them. Work is honest. Labor is honest. My parents taught me that. They taught me that while I had a strong body and a strong mind, I should make sure I was using both of them. I don’t take hand-outs. I pay my own way. I’m teaching others to do the same thing. I certainly wouldn’t tell them that where they live is a shithole or that their job is demeaning, because I’d be proud of them for finding work and making ends meet.”

  Fuck, his dick was hard again. Caleb looked over and saw Leif staring at Bella with rapt attention. Yep, his dick was hard, too.

  “Sweetheart, of course we’re not saying that people shouldn’t be proud of their work. But I don’t understand why you are choosing to do these things, when you so obviously had a choice.” She looked at him, and he spied a small chink in her armor. “Can you explain your reasoning?” He helped to ease her back down into the dining room chair. No matter what Isabella had to say, Caleb was positive that part of the reason she martyred herself like this was as some sort of self-imposed penance for the “sins” of her past. “I know you’re thinking I’ve lived this way as a means of punishing myself. I suppose that’s possible, but if so, chastising myself is only a small part of the motivation for my decisions. The way Mama and Papa raised me. They were immigrants. Mama came here legally and Papa came here illegally. They both worked two jobs while raising me. They wanted more children, but couldn’t have any more after me. They sent money home to Mexico. They scrimped and saved and helped others. It was just the way of it. I’ve used the money they left me for some good causes. Mostly, I’ve just been saving it.”

  “You’ve been providing financial assistance to some of the homeless families.” Leif didn’t even bother asking it as a question.

  “They are my family now. I never met my parents’ families and they didn’t try to contact me after Mama and Papa died. This school and the people who attend it have become my family.”

  “I still don’t understand why you didn’t use some of the money on yourself. You must have known that you were living in a dangerous area.”

  “It’s safer and better than where a lot of people live. It’s better than where I was raised.” She said it with such dignity, Caleb could do nothing other than admire her. That still didn’t mean he was letting her go back there. She covered her mouth and yawned, and he realized it was past midnight. Today must have been one of the longest days of her life. He caught Leif’s eye, and got up to take the dishes into the kitchen.

  “Let’s get you into bed, Bella.” He watched as her eyes turned from weary to bright. Caleb couldn’t help the goofy grin that creased his face. “To sleep, Bella, you wore me out.” She yawned even bigger.

  “I think I’m rather tired as well, Caleb. Are we all sleeping together?” she asked as Leif walked back into the dining room.

  “As long as you’re staying in this house, we share one bed.” Leif declared. When Isabella rose from the table, Caleb moved to lift her, and she gave him a dark look.

  “I prefer to walk.”

  “I thought you liked being carried.” Caleb was almost positive she enjoyed being in his arms. The lines between Isabella’s eyes creased as she formulated her answer. He always thought those little lines were adorable.

  “I like it as a prelude to intimacy.” Intimacy. It was one of those golden words. Caleb had never really thought it or used it, but now that she had, he loved it. Yes, intimacy was a golden word, and it so fit their time together. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her. Fine, if she wouldn’t let him carry her, she could at least lean on him.

  Chapter 13

  Another call at an ungodly hour woke them.

  “Go back to sleep, honey,” Leif said groggily.

  “I’m awake.” Isabella rolled over into the warm spot Leif had just vacated. She tried to push herself up, but her arms wouldn’t cooperate. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this tired.

  “Isabella, it’s three in the morning. We’ll be right back.” Leif was lying to her. She didn’t know how she knew, but she could tell. She pushed away from the bed again a
nd this time her arms worked. She was naked. Why was she always naked in this bed? She didn’t even remember getting into bed, let alone taking off her clothes.

  She got out of bed, went to the suitcase she had packed, and pulled on some clothes. The men had already left the room. By the time she got to the living room, she found them pulling on weapons harnesses.

  “What’s going on?” She wished she was more awake.

  “I told you to stay in bed.” The man was bossy.

  “Leif, just tell me what’s going on.” She made her way to the couch and curled up on the end, laying her head on the armrest so she could still look at them. She got it after seeing the two of them “counsel” Harley on his behavior toward her yesterday. These men were soldiers and she would never ask to go with them again when they were in tactical military operations mode. However, she would not permit them to leave her in the dark about their plans.

  “Charlie called. He’s pretty sure he knows where Tres Craneos is holding everyone. We’re going to help with the rescue.” That’s what she was hoping to hear. But if she was tired, what did that make them?

  “Is it really safe for you to be going? You didn’t get much sleep, either.”

  “Bella, this is what we trained to do. I’m more worried about the safety of some of the local and state law enforcement. They don’t have the benefit of our kind of training.” Caleb came over and pressed a hard kiss on her lips. As tired as she was, Isabella was stunned that her body immediately caught fire. She went wet with need in the blink of an eye. He pulled away, his eyes bursting with fresh desire. “Get some sleep, Bella. There is always a side effect from a mission.”