Claiming Isabella

by M. E. Clayton

  Phillip stopped her. “Isabella, please calm down. That wasn’t what I was going to suggest.”

  Her face relaxed. “It wasn’t?”

  His voice was, sickingly, understanding, “No, it wasn’t. I was going to suggest that maybe you can work from home or-”

  I finally jumped in, “That’s damn near the same thing as making her take a leave of absence, Phillip.”

  “Yeah, but-”

  I ignored him and focused my attention on Isabella. “I need you to hear me out before you dismiss the idea, okay?” She nodded. “You need to call in Janie and Stella and inform them of the situation.”

  “But-”

  I held my hand up. “Isabella…” Her lips clamped shut and she let me continue. “The deliveries need to start being rejected. For all we know, he might feel encouraged by believing you’re accepting them.”

  “Mr. Moretti has a point, Isabella,” Phillip added. “This man may believe you just have a house full of his flowers and you’re enjoying this.”

  “But what about the card?” she asked. “Surely, that implies that he knows I’m not welcoming this.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” I answered. “But if you start rejecting the deliveries, there’ll be no confusion as to whether you’re appreciating the gestures or not.”

  She looked back and forth between me and her boss for a few seconds before finally voicing her concern. “What if that upsets him into…doing something?”

  I wasn’t ignorant. I knew it was because I was a man, but I took it personally that she could be scared over this asshole possibly doing something to her. It meant she didn’t trust me to protect her and that didn’t sit well with me.

  At all.

  I should have cared that her boss was in the room, but I didn’t. “So what if he does try something,” I bit out. “Are you suggesting that I would let him get anywhere near you to succeed?”

  Her eyes darted towards Phillip really quickly before returning her gaze to mine. “No. I know you-”

  “Call in Janie and Stella and tell them to start rejecting the deliveries, Isabella. End of fucking story,” I barked out.

  Phillip cleared his throat, and it was evident he was uncomfortable with where this was going, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to try to step on my toes.

  It wouldn’t end well for him, if he did.

  “Isabella, I’m going to have to agree with Mr. Moretti on this,” he said. “The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that this man may believe you’re welcoming the attention by not putting a stop to the flowers. Isabella, he doesn’t know that you’ve been throwing them in the trash.”

  I could see the fight leave her shoulders. “I was just hoping to avoid the gossip and drama, you know.” I walked over to stand behind her chair and I started rubbing her shoulders.

  Phillip sighed. “I know you did, Isabella. And I promise to insist that Janie and Stella keep this situation confidential.” He gave her a stern look. “I will make it perfectly clear that you and I are the only ones in this entire building who are aware of what’s going on and if I hear any talk from anyone else regarding this, I will know it came from one of them.”

  I saw the top of her brown head bob up and down. “Okay. I…I suppose you guys are right. It’s not going to stop if I don’t do anything to stop it.”

  Phillip let out a deep breath, grabbed the flowers and headed towards the door. “I’ll send out a meeting request for later this afternoon and I’ll get rid of these on my way out.”

  “Thank you, Phillip,” Isabella said as he shut the door behind him.

  Once the door clicked shut, I said, “This is the right direction to take with this, Dove.”

  Isabella let out a sad breath, “I know. I do. It’s just…telling Janie and Stella makes it really real, you know?”

  I was still rubbing her shoulders. “I know it feels like that, but this was always very real, Isabella.”

  “Am I a coward because I just wish it would all go away on its own?” she asked brokenly.

  Jesus. This woman just kept slicing me open. “No, you’re not a coward, Dove. You’re just wishing you didn’t have to deal with something you never invited into your life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  I had to step back when she swiveled around in her chair to face me. “Do you think he’ll stop once he’s informed his deliveries are being rejected?”

  Looking down at Isabella, I knew in my gut that he wasn’t going to stop. Just looking at her made you want to possess her. She was extremely stunning and her body was curves upon feminine curves. She was all grace and beauty. And that was just her looks. If he knew anything about her, he’d know she was sweet and kind. Isabella’s demeanor called to men in a way that made them want to own her and protect her.

  Isabella was the kind of woman who made a man grateful to be a man.

  Isabella was the kind of woman who made a man feel like a man.

  There was no way Flower Guy was going to give up easily.

  “I don’t think so,” I told her honestly. I cupped her chin in my hand and ran my thumb across her lower lip. “You’re too beautiful to just walk away from without a fight, Isabella.”

  Her head tilted as she blushed. “I’m serious, Julian.”

  I let go of her chin and cross my arms over my chest. “I am being serious.”

  She snorted. “If he wants to stalk someone beautiful, he should stalk you.”

  “I’m sure,” I smirked back. “Did you want me to stay, come back for the meeting with Janie and Stella or what, baby?”

  “No. It’ll be fine. I have no doubt Janie and Stella would be too stupefied by your presence to even hear anything Phillip would have to say to them. I’ll just see you at home tonight,” she answered.

  I didn’t want to leave her, but if I didn’t, we’d spend the next several hours with her bent over her desk while we waiting for the meeting to commence.

  Even when I was stressed with concern over her, my dick was still primed and ready to salute her. While I enjoyed loving on Isabella and taking care of her, all the affection in the world still wasn’t enough to curb my need to be balls deep inside her. I’d fuck at the top of the hour, every hour, if I thought she’d let me.

  “Okay, I’ll head back to work and let Chase and Sav in on what’s going on,” I said as I kissed the top of her head.

  “Okay, I’ll see you at home, then.”

  I had the doorknob in my hand when I turned around and made it a point to hold her gaze. “I love you, Isabella.”

  Her lips curved upwards. “I love you, too.” I nodded and left.

  Once I got back to my office and updated Chase and Nick on the recent delivery, and the decision to start rejecting them, I threw myself into work.

  I was three hours in paperwork when my phone rang with a ringtone that I would always answer, no matter what. I picked it up and swiped it open. “Hey, Mom.”

  “My Sweet Julian, how are you doing, son?”

  “Maintaining my madness, as usual,” I quipped.

  She chuckled. “How are you really, Julian?”

  “I’m fine, Mom. Really, I am,” I reassured her.

  Teresa grunted. “Hmmm…well, I know you’re lying to me, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

  I do not lie to Teresa. “I am not lying to you. I am doing fine. You aren’t visiting me in prison, are you?”

  “This is true,” she murmured. “How are things with Isabella?” I went on to tell her about the newest flowers and about her visit from Logan. Teresa listened patiently as I brought her up to speed. I even told her about the hacker. “Well, it seems like you guys are all doing what you can,” she voiced.

  “We’re trying. I’m actually trying to take Nick’s advice in that I need to concentrate on what I can control and leave the rest in God’s hands.”

  “Sounds like good advice, son.”

  “I refuse to let anything happen to her, Mom.”

  “I know, m
y sweet boy, I know. Just promise me that you all will call me if you need anything. Anything at all, Julian,” she stressed.

  “I promise. And I’m hoping we won’t need to.”

  “Okay, well I have other calls to make. Even though you’re my favorite, I have three other sons too harass and guilt,” she laughed.

  My heart warmed. Even though I knew I wasn’t her favorite…I mean, come on, Chase and Kane were actually hers…her words still warmed me. “I keep trying to tell them I’m your favorite, but they’re all in denial. It’s pitiful, really.”

  She snickered. “Goodbye, My Sweet Julian. I love you, son.”

  “Bye, Mom. I love you, too.”

  I had gone back to work, hoping to get out of here early. Today was the girls’ first lesson with DeShawn and I had wanted to make sure it went smoothly. But that plan went to shit when Nick called and said we needed to have an emergency meeting regarding the possibility of dropping a client. And since we very rarely dropped clients, I knew it was serious.

  I guess I’ll just have to wait to see the girls in all their ninja fighting glory.

  Isabella~

  Quinn, Avery and I stood in a line ready to get the ass kicking show on the road. But in all honesty, it was kind of hard to listen to a word DeShawn Travis was saying.

  Because the man was hot.

  And shirtless.

  And did I mention hot?

  When he arrived earlier, he had been wearing a t-shirt and some gym sweats. But once we made our way downstairs to the basement, he had removed his shirt and sweats to leave him in just a pair of basketball shorts and shoes.

  And, thank God, because the site of him really shouldn’t be covered up. I mean, I knew he was good looking from his photos and the publicity he received, but live and in living color? I was willing to bet that women were taking his classes all over the country just to be able to look at him more than to learn actual self-defense skills.

  The towels we grabbed coming in were going to mop up more drool than they were sweat, was my guess.

  “Jesus,” Quinn breathed.

  “Amen,” Avery let out.

  I just nodded as we took in DeShawn’s six feet of cut muscle and smooth chocolate skin. He was all chiseled angles and strength.

  “So, you ladies got all that?” he asked.

  Got what?

  “Sure,” Avery answered back.

  “Yeah, of course,” Quinn went on.

  Nu uh! I was putting an end to this farce. “They’re lying. We didn’t hear a word you said because we were shamelessly ogling you DeShawn. Can we call you DeShawn? Did you say anything about us being able to call you that? Or do you prefer Mr. Travis?”

  Quinn gasped. “You traitor!”

  “Drive a bus much?” Avery accused.

  He chuckled at my awkwardness. “You ladies may call me DeShawn, Isabella.”

  I nodded. “Good…good.” And then I stink-eyed the girls. “I’m not the only one who’s going to go down for ogling the man. Where’s your loyalty?”

  DeShawn full out laughed then. “Okay, why don’t I start over and may I suggest we leave the ogling between us. I can hold my own against Savage and Alexander, but Moretti would kill me.”

  I crossed my fingers over my heart in a secret pact.

  “Okay, so as I was saying…since this is your first lesson, I’m going to walk you through some exercises first. I need to observe your strengths and weaknesses to better deem how to train you.”

  “Oh. My. God! I knew this was just a way for Chase to get me to exercise!” Quinn exploded.

  Avery immediately agreed, “Seems like a set up to me.”

  DeShawn’s smile lit up his entire face. “It’s not a set up, ladies. I promise. Here, let me explain. Right now, Quinn’s weakness is her ankle. Until it is properly healed, if at all, she cannot rely on it as a strength. Most people would think the best thing to do is kick an attacker if they are down. But in Quinn’s case, if she kicked him and damaged her ankle again, well then now she might as well be fighting back with a broken leg. That avenue of defense is useless to her. So, for right now, I need to focus on helping Quinn with her upper strength and being able to knock a motherfucker out cold so she doesn’t have to kick him.”

  “Okay, that’s easy because you know I’m broken, but how can you determine Izzy’s and Ace’s strengths and weaknesses from exercise? I still say this is a set up,” she grumbled.

  He just chuckled again. “Let’s say I have you girls run in place for five minutes. If Avery hasn’t even broken a sweat after running in place for that long, but Isabella’s hunched over having an asthma attack, well then I could advise Avery to run from her attacker if she can, while I’d advice Isabella to scream for help because, if she doesn’t have the stamina to run far and fast, well then, her attacker could easily catch her from behind and immobilize her.”

  “Stop it,” Avery whined. “You’re starting to make sense and I’m still vehemently against the exercising portion of this program.”

  DeShawn arched a perfectly groomed brow. “Well, you three sweet buttercups are going to just have to get over it. Your men are paying me a shitload of money to make you American Ninja Warrior contestant worthy and I don’t plan to let them down. Besides, I value my balls. There’s no way I’m going to tell them that I failed with you three.”

  “Ugh, fine,” Quinn conceded.

  “Sure,” Avery mumbled.

  “Oh, alright,” I caved.

  “Well, now that that’s settled, get on your asses, ladies, and stretch to touch your toes. We’ll do a repetition of ten for three sets. Hold each stretch for five seconds.”

  We followed his direction and it sucked just as much as I thought it would. I was a runner. I liked to do cardio, so stretching and lifting weights did not appeal to me at all.

  “So, what are you going to do about your visit from the stork?” Quinn huffed as she strained to keep stretching. Before DeShawn arrived earlier, I had time to tell the girls about Logan’s visit yesterday and the flowers today.

  “Holy shit, you’re pregnant!” DeShawn bellowed. “That’s something I need to know, baby girl.”

  “No, I’m not pregnant!” I screeched. Geesh!

  “Then what the hell did Quinn mean when she said the stork visited you?” he asked.

  Avery fell out sideways laughing and I shoved her to be quiet. “I got a visit from my half-brother yesterday and it was unexpected.”

  DeShawn’s face took on a look of confusion. “I thought storks brought babies, not siblings.”

  Quinn shrugged, still stretching. “They add to the family, so same thing.”

  He shook his head, but I heard a mumbled ‘Jesus’ under his breath. “Back to stretching, ladies.”

  We got back into position after Avery got control over herself and started stretching again. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think he was being sincere?” Avery asked.

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see past my feelings to pay attention to what he was feeling,” I admitted.

  “Have you thought about calling him and talking to him again without the stress of being blindsided?” Quinn suggested.

  “I’ve thought about it, but I’m just not sure I want to open that door of my life just yet,” I answered truthfully.

  “Well, there’s no need to rush with anything, Iz,” Avery encouraged.

  “I know,” I wheezed. This stretching crap was getting hard.

  “What does Julian have to say about all this?” Quinn asked in between strained pauses.

  “He’s trying to give me space to decide what I want to do, but I can tell he’d rather me have nothing to do with any of them,” I answered as my body rolled over and plopped on its side.

  “Okay, ladies. Let’s stand up and stretch our shoulders and upper torso,” DeShawn-The-Torturer instructed next. We all stood up and followed DeShawn’s lead in twisting our midsections and holding the same counts as before.

  “
I think I’m just so tired. It’s feels like life has just turned into one huge dysfunctional circus since we met the guys,” I confessed.

  “Men do that to women,” Quinn offered in all her worldly wisdom.

  “I take offense to that,” DeShawn injected.

  Quinn stink-eyed him. “You should, because it’s true.”

  DeShawn scoffed. “Puhlease…we may own a couple of acts in the circus, but it’s you women who put up the tent.”

  Avery huffed. “Take that back!”

  “It’s the truth,” he challenged back.

  Quinn stopped stretching altogether. “Please, Oh Wise One, enlighten us, then.”

  DeShawn kept stretching, but he was more than happy to bestow his some of his man/woman wisdom on us. “You three strike me as the type to watch Snapped and the Investigational Discovery channel.” Ace gasped, but kept her mouth shut, because…well, we were. “If you note, most of the killings perpetuated by women are motivated by money. Life insurances are almost always the culprit. But the murders committed by the men are mostly committed because some woman has made him completely stupid.”

  “Oh, really? Then how do you explain women who stay with men who treat them badly?” Avery demanded.

  “Women who stay when men who are pieces of shit, stay out of insecurity, not love,” he countered like that was a given.

  “Hey! We can love just as deeply as men,” I finally chimed in.

  DeShawn stopped stretching and put his hands on his hips. “Of course you can. However, women have the God given ability to be able to be madly in love or submerged deeply in heartache and still function. Women can be completely broken inside and still go to work, pick up the groceries and take the kids to soccer practice. Men can’t. Women are way stronger than men, emotionally.”

  “That’s not true,” Avery contested. “Millions of men go about their daily lives whether they’re madly in love or in the middle of a divorce.”

  He arched a brow. “Those men aren’t in love anymore, then.”

  Quinn matched DeShawn’s stance. “So, are you saying Chase, Nick and Julian don’t love us because the can get through the work day without us?”

  DeShawn cocked his head at her. “Do they get through the work day without you?”