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

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  Miss Camarena still believed she’d be in her old apartment for at least one more week, as the lease went through and movers were found. Leif had taken care of the lease for her, however. After he smooth-talked the woman who managed the apartment building, she was happy to have Isabella move in early for a gift certificate at a local spa. That had been his mother’s suggestion.

  Then there was Isabella’s other obstacle. How could she possibly get moved in one day? She was unaware of the world famous Johansen Moving Company, an impromptu business that only accepted payment in pizza and beer—a lot of pizza and a lot more beer. Leif watched as Dane passed her, carrying two boxes.

  “So, beautiful, you do realize you’ve hooked up with the wrong brother, don’t you?” Dane actually stopped and set down the boxes to look at Isabella. Leif cringed. Oh God, Dane was really going to give her his full pitch. This should be fascinating. Isabella’s expression went from a smiling to impassive within a second, no frown, no anger, nothing to give Dane any hint of what she was thinking.

  “No Dane, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Oh shit, she really didn’t.

  “Well, to begin with, Leif’s kind of old for you. Then he’s got the whole dominator vibe going on. What you really need is a younger, more laid back type of guy.” Dane reached out, taking her in for a friendly hug, not picking up on the fact that Isabella was stiff as a board and had clearly taken him seriously.

  “Dane!” Leif’s commanding tone did not have the desired effect. Dane just hugged Isabella tighter, thinking he was having a little bit of fun at his brother’s expense. “Dane, look at Isabella. She’s not catching on that you’re teasing.” Leif reached them and was easily able to pull her into his arms as Dane released her.

  “Of course, I was teasing.” Dane gave him a wide grin. Then he looked down at the woman in Leif’s arms, and realized that she truly had not been in on the game. Isabella’s expression was still impassive, but her fingers clutched tightly at the Go Army t-shirt that Leif was wearing. “Isabella, you knew I was teasing, right?” Leif felt her relax infinitesimally. Isabella turned to regard his baby brother. She gave him a wan smile.

  “Of course I did, Dane.”

  “Shit.” Dane now saw that he had scared Isabella. “Mom’s going to have my ass for supper. Isabella, I’m so sorry. That’s just what guys do. They talk shit about other guys to their women, and pretend to make plays for them. But only when they know they’re around. I saw Leif watching us, so I was just trying to get him riled up. I think it’s great you lassoed Leif and Caleb. Those two have needed to settle down for quite some time. They just needed to find the right woman.” Leif watched as Isabella became even more uncomfortable. Dane had a fucking gift.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother Eric come up behind Dane and give him a smack on the back of his head. “Damn it, Dane, did you fuck up and make Isabella uncomfortable?” Isabella snorted with laughter against Leif’s chest. He’d never heard anything close to that come out of her before. He looked down at her, and saw that her eyes were now sparkling as she looked at his brothers.

  “So this is what it’s like having brothers?”

  “This is what it’s like having one brother who’s a dumbass,” Leif said.

  “This is what it’s like having Dane as a brother,” Eric clarified over Leif.

  Isabella let out the most joyous laugh he had ever heard from her outside of a classroom.

  “Hey, you’re going to hurt my feelings,” Dane said with a big smile. “I’m sorry, Isabella. I forget you’re not used to a big family like ours. I’m beginning to think of you like I do Kara. If she gets mad at me, she just hits me and I just figured you’d assume the same liberties.”

  Isabella watched Leif’s clowning brothers, while snuggling her backside into his front. Even in the midst of all this foolishness, his body was getting aroused. Eric peered over Isabella’s head and gave him a knowing grin. Leif rubbed his nose with his middle finger.

  “So are you guys just going to stand around all day? Or are you going to get that damn truck loaded, so we can get Isabella moved into her new apartment?” Leif was still unhappy about having her move into an apartment. He wanted her moving into his house. She belonged to Caleb and him. End of story.

  “Caleb and Kyle already took the first load over. Jace and Dale are there helping them unload. They should be back in about a half hour.” Great, he was stuck with the Johansen comedy team for another 30 minutes. Why couldn’t it have been Caleb and Kyle who had remained to help pack? But when he thought about it, Leif realized that Caleb had probably done it purposely, knowing that Isabella needed to get acquainted with the Johansen clan. Still, couldn’t Caleb have warned him?

  “We’re pretty much done. We thought Bella could do a walk through to make sure we got everything,” Eric said. Leif felt Isabella stiffen. He wondered if she would correct Eric. He was getting ready to do it himself, when she finally spoke up.

  “Eric, I’d prefer it if you would call me Isabella. Only Caleb calls me Bella.” Leif could hear the smile in her voice, and judging from Eric’s reaction, he knew that Isabella had once again been her sweet self, although he couldn’t see her expression.

  “Yeah, Caleb’s a smooth one. Let’s do the walk through, and I’ll tell you all about Caleb and Leif and how they were when we were growing up.” Eric offered.

  “I have stories, too. But they mostly just picked on me.” Dane was trying a new approach—sympathy.

  “I’m sure you deserved it,” Isabella laughed, as Eric ushered her into the kitchen. Leif surveyed the stripped down apartment. It was now obvious just how shoddy and dilapidated the place really was and he sighed in relief that they had found a living situation more appropriate for Isabella.

  * * * *

  Isabella was mad at herself that she liked her new apartment. She had meant to hate it. But it was quiet and she could actually think while she did her lesson plans. The walls weren’t as thin and she had to admit she felt safer. She hadn’t realized how often the noises she heard out in the hall at her old place had worried her until she found herself relaxed and at peace for long stretches of time here. The few times she noticed the sounds of someone walking by she wasn’t concerned. After checking her finances, she realized that she could afford the apartment with the interest her money made. She wasn’t even touching the principal.

  She finished up her lesson plans and got ready for bed. Isabella was a little nervous about going to work tomorrow. This was the first time since the meeting at Josie’s house that she would see the Velarde children again. Also, she worried that Shirley might chew her out because of all the risks she had taken. She tried to put it all out of her mind, and just get a good night’s sleep.

  She went to her bedroom and looked forlornly at her double bed as all the breath left her body and for just a second, she actually felt dizzy. Then she stood up straight and went to her dresser to put her sleep shirt on and got into bed. It was fine. She could get to sleep just fine.

  After two hours of rolling around and staring up at her ceiling fan, her cell phone buzzed. She had it connected to her charger in the kitchen, but she heard it. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was almost midnight. She rushed out of the bedroom, mad that she had left the phone on vibrate. If she’d just thought to turn it off, she could have slept through the call and missed this new emergency.

  “Yes. Si.”

  “I love it when you speak Spanish, Bella.” Isabella’s legs gave out and she slid down the kitchen cabinets to the floor. Thank God that Caleb called. It was like a weight was lifted. “Are you there, sweetheart?”

  “Si. Yes.” She wasn’t really there. She was exactly where she needed to be. She was in Caleb’s arms.

  “Bella, I’m sorry I’m calling so late. I know you have to be up early for school, but I just had to call you. I hate sleeping in my bed. I want to sleep in our bed. I can’t sleep without you. I miss your warmth. I miss your smell. Pleas
e come home.”

  Just hearing his voice made everything all right. She yawned. She wasn’t bored, not at all, she just felt safe and loved enough that her body could finally succumb to the sleep it so desperately needed. She yawned again, only louder.

  “Am I boring you?” she heard the slightest trace of hurt in Caleb’s voice.

  “Oh no,” she rushed to assure him “I haven’t been able to sleep. I’ve needed you, both of you so much, and I couldn’t sleep. But hearing your voice finally makes sleep a possibility.”

  “Why don’t you snuggle in under the covers, and I’ll talk to you until you fall asleep?”

  “I’m in the kitchen.”

  “Well, get back in bed, and I’ll talk to you.”

  Isabella did exactly that. She put the phone on speaker and propped it on her pillow. Caleb spoke to her. He whispered naughty things. He crooned to her until his voice grew tired and hoarse, so she started making sounds that she hoped sounded like she’d fallen asleep. It must have worked.

  “Bella,” he whispered. She didn’t answer. She heard him hang up. How could she sleep without lying in that bed? Without having both men surrounding her? She stared at the fan.

  Isabella finally surrendered her fight with her covers and got up at four to tighten up her lesson plans. She knew that one of the girls required a more advanced reading level, while two other students were at more remedial levels, so she developed specific plans for them for the entire week.

  Chapter 16

  “Fuck!” Leif shook out his hand after hitting his thumb with the hammer. He glanced over at Caleb, who hadn’t even bothered to laugh. Neither he nor Caleb looked or felt that great, since they weren’t getting much sleep, and he was sick of repairing the lunchroom. But it was the only way they were getting to spend any time with Isabella this week. She asked that they give her until the weekend before taking her out, which was fucking lunacy as far as he was concerned, considering she’d also asked for time to get to know them.

  Leif was also irritated by the fact that Isabella looked like she was going to fall over. Caleb and he were taking turns calling her each night. But last night he was convinced she was faking sleep, so he would hang up.

  “Leif, she looks like shit!”

  “She looks beautiful.”

  “You know what I mean.” Isabella blew the whistle, indicating recess was over. They watched as she slowly followed the last child into the building, where they’d been repairing the roof.

  “We’re supposed to pick her up at seven for dinner.” Leif looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know you know. I’m suggesting we just take dinner over to her place. She’s in no condition to go out.” Leif breathed out a sigh of relief. He should have thought of that himself, but he was running on too little sleep himself. He felt guilty after hanging up on Isabella last night, but he didn’t want to call her back again, in case she had been asleep. He’d gone down and done a marathon session of PT, and then found an old black and white horror movie to watch on TV.

  “Caleb, that sounds like a plan.”

  * * * *

  Leif and Caleb arrived at Isabella’s new apartment at 7:00 p.m., with enough food to feed an army, or at least two retired Army men and one small woman. When Isabella opened the door, Leif couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d never seen her really dressed up before. She was wearing a blue sheath dress that ended a little above the knee and lovingly clung to her body. She had her hair up and was wearing black high heels. He felt like an asshole for not taking her out after she had gone to so much trouble. When he spied the dark circles under her eyes, however, he knew that they were doing the right thing.

  “My God, you look beautiful, Isabella.” Leif shoved the food he was holding at Caleb, and marched over the threshold, taking Isabella into his arms. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her waist, she tensely clasped his neck, and he found that she was trembling. He pulled back.

  “Isabella, are you okay?” Leif asked cautiously.

  “I’m fine.” But the tiny trembling soon turned into quakes, so he swept her up, strode over to the couch and sat down with her on his lap.

  “Tell me what’s wrong. Are you sick?” He felt her forehead. She didn’t seem to have a fever, but her eyes looked glassy. He saw Caleb from the corner of his eye. He’d put the food down in the small kitchen and was now crouching beside the sofa, holding Isabella’s hand.

  “God Leif, she’s shaking like a leaf.”

  “Isabella, how long has this been going on?” Leif’s voice cracked through the air, capturing her attention.

  “It’s been going on a little bit all day. I had to pull over a couple of times, driving home after work. This is the worst it’s been.”

  “When was the last time you ate, Bella?”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve been too tired to eat.” Her words came out slurred. Leif looked over at Caleb. God damn it. He’d been right. She hadn’t been going to sleep or even eating. “But I’m okay now. We can go.” She pushed away from his lap, trying to sit upright. He pulled her against his chest and stood up. Caleb was already in her bedroom. By the time Leif joined him there, Caleb had stripped off all the blankets, leaving only the expanse of sheet. Leif now realized she was too tired to even stand up, so he just laid her in the middle of the bed.

  He and Caleb made quick work of getting her undressed. Even when they saw that she had on thigh high stockings and blue silk undergarments, neither of them could work up any real admiration. Both were too concerned about her wellbeing, at the moment.

  “M’all right,” Isabella said without opening her eyes. Leif watched as Caleb took her pulse and felt her forehead. He didn’t blame him, he would have double checked, as well.

  “I think she’s just done in.” Looking down at the woman on the bed, Leif felt his gut clench. To think she was driving just hours ago made him ill. They had seen her every day this week. They had seen her getting progressively slower, and looking more run down. They should have intervened. They should never have let it get to this point. When Leif looked over at Caleb, it was clear that he was thinking the same thing. Caleb picked up the comforter and laid it over her. In an instant, she sat straight up in bed, her eyes wide.

  “You’re going to leave me?” It was a gasping whisper, just one more thing that liked to break his heart. Leif could see she was having trouble focusing, trouble taking in what she was seeing. Caleb’s sweater was halfway over his head, and he had just started unbuttoning his dress shirt. He sat down on the bed beside her, and took her into his arms.

  “No, baby, we’re not going anywhere. A squad of Navy Seals couldn’t get us to leave you alone in this bed tonight.” She was gripping his shirt. Leif expected tears, but her eyes were dry, the glassiness apparently just a side effect of the lack of sleep. Caleb crawled naked into the other side of the bed, drawing Isabella away from Leif, so that he could undress.

  “It’s okay, Bella. We’ve got you. We haven’t been able to sleep without you, either.” Leif automatically undressed as he watched Caleb take off Isabella’s bra. God, he’d missed the sight of her breasts. How could she have ever thought they were anything but beautiful? Caleb next began carefully taking all of the pins from her hair and by the time he was done, Leif was naked and climbing into the bed on Bella’s other side. He pressed up close to her warm, soft body. There was still a fine trembling running through her frame, even though she was asleep. Leif reached over and turned out the light.

  “We can’t let this continue, Leif.”

  “We won’t.” Leif wasn’t sure how he would keep that promise, but he knew that he would keep it. Both of them waited until they were sure she was asleep, and then they succumbed, as well.

  * * * *

  Caleb recognized the sounds that woke him instantly. It was the same pleading Bella had done two weeks ago when she had first stayed in their house. “No, no, no,”

  “Isabella, baby, what’s wrong?” Leif’s voice was gentle.

 
; “Please, not Mama and Papa, please officer, not my mama and papa. They’re all I have.” Caleb was pretty sure that was exactly what she had said the last time. While Leif held her to him, Caleb stroked her back. She was sobbing, and he would bet his last dollar that she wasn’t awake.

  “Isabella, what is it?”

  “She’s not awake, Leif, it’s that dream. This is the only time she cries for her parents.” Caleb reached over and turned on the light. They needed to wake her up. Even with the light on, Isabella’s sobs continued. Leif gently shook her, they both talked to her, but it was clear that she was in a deep dream.

  “Isabella! Wake up, baby!” Finally, she lifted her matted eyelashes. She blinked rapidly, the light obviously hurting her eyes. Caleb switched off the light.

  “What’s going on? How did you get here?” Her voice was hoarse with sleep, and she seemed bewildered.

  “Bella, you were crying. You were having that dream about your parents, about when the police notified you.” She slumped against Leif. What little strength she had was gone. Leif looked to him in confusion. Although Caleb had told him about the dream, Leif hadn’t seen how devastated she was by them. Meanwhile, Bella lay with her cheek against Leif’s chest, staring at nothing.

  “Bella, when was the last time you had something to eat?” Caleb pushed back some of the dark curls from her face, just to have an opportunity to touch her. It took her a long moment to focus on him.

  “Yesterday.”

  “Friday or Thursday?” Her forehead scrunched and she gave him another confused look.

  “Thursday.”

  “Sweets, if I bring you something, could you eat it?” She was killing him. She looked tiny resting against Leif, and knowing that she was hurting this badly…