10
ISABELLA'S POV
I sipped the last of the spirit from the small sized glass, throwing it down my throat in the customary fashion.
I waited until I felt the heat and the bitter taste of the spirit reach its target before I scrunched my face up reactionarily.
"Well, you're better now. The last time you did this, I vaguely remember you throwing up. I can't lie, I was scared when I saw you grab that glass."
I laughed at my best friend Claudia, then waved to a group of girls who called out to me as they walked past. I glanced at the clock on the wall above the heads of the partying students, and my eyes went wide when I saw the time.
Twelve o'clock.
For a daughter of a mafia lord, twelve o'clock was not an ideal time to be outdoors.
But I wasn't the type that would listen to my father, no matter how logical and how reasonable he sounded.
After my mother's death back as a teenager, I had come to resent him. They had quarreled the night before she died, and the effects of the quarrel had made my mother consume nuts, which she was allergic to.
She was taken to the hospital, but never made it out alive.
The result of my mother's death was the beginning of my stubbornness. I wanted my father to hate me in the same way and manner I hated him, and I tried to show it at every opportunity.
But Enzo Romano was not just a Mafia lord, he was a wise man. And that was why he was a leader of men.
He ignored my antics, punished me when I erred, and made sure I was home every night.
I hated being holed up in a house, like a princess under siege in a castle. That was why I sneaked out at the slightest opportunity I got, paying the guards and promising to come back early enough in order for them not to get into trouble with my stern-faced father.
But today, I broke that agreement.
I would be extremely lucky if my father hadn't found out that I wasn't in my room already.
"Claudia, I need to go back home."
Claudia looked at me as though I had gone nuts. Even though she was aware of my situation and who I was, she was already halfway to being drunk.
"Pipe down, Bella. The party has only just begun. The real fun begins after midnight. Don't you want to see the beautiful men that reside in the school hostels?"
I shook my head, abandoning the glass and the spirit next to me. I grabbed my purse, dragging my ankle length gown along with me as I began to leave the party.
My movements seemed to snap Claudia back to her senses.
"My goodness, Isabella, surely you aren't thinking of leaving already?"
I eyed her coldly.
"What do you think? I'll be extremely lucky if my father hasn't found out that I'm not in my room."
Claudia grabbed her car keys, then shook her head as she struggled to find her footing.
"You've been rude and stubborn all these weeks to him. What changed? If you're going to be stubborn and wayward, I suggest you do it to the end."
She had a point.
But what about the guards who had let me leave the Romano household?
They could lose their jobs and worse if my father found out that they had conspired and gotten bribes from me to be let out of the house.
I might have already burnt my skin by being stubborn, but the last thing I wanted to do was drag the guards down with me. I had to save their skin, at least.
"Well, it's too late for that now, don't you think? I bribed some guards on my way out. I know my father and what he's capable of. I don't want harm of any kind to come to them please."
We left the party to my chagrin, as I had wanted to mingle with the men who were supposed to attend from the hostels. I waved to a few friends, then slipped into the car next to Claudia.
As soon as I saw my best friend struggle to find the ignition despite the fact that the interior light of her car was on, I knew she wasn't fit to drive.
"Claudia, you should go back to the party. I'll drive myself home and bring your car to school tomorrow, alright? You're in no state to drive.
To my surprise, she didn't argue.
"Good riddance!" She sneered as she slammed the car door in my face.
She left the car, cheering with a group of girls as they made their way back into the party.
I had never driven so fast in my life before.
In a few minutes, I had covered a large distance, looking over my shoulder as sweat poured from my armpits, hoping I hadn't done enough damage to attract the police.
By the time I got to the gate of the house I had grown up in, my head was slightly pounding, an effect of the drinks I had taken at the party and the noise.
"Who's there?"
Two guards came from the quarter guard, armed to the teeth with rifles.
"Miss Isabella? Your father has been looking everywhere for you."
The first blow. I bit my lip as I examined the face of the guard. These weren't the two men I had bribed. Which only meant one thing, my father had probably dealt with them.
He had made strict warnings to prevent me from leaving the house at odd hours, and they had defied those orders.
My conscience ate at me as I made my way through the elevator to my room. Claudia's keys clinking in my hand, I wondered what punishment had been meted out to the guards I had bribed.
How was I going to undo what had already been done to them?
Heaving a sigh of relief because I had managed to reach my room as stealthily as possible without encountering my father, I opened the door, thankful for the darkness of my room.
I switched on the light, then jumped in horror as I saw my father on the chair which was stationed in a corner of my room.
Next to him was one of the finest men I had ever set my eyes upon.
The fear of my father in my room melted briefly as his defiant chin, the ruffled dark hair that fell in waves and mysterious green eyes seemed to make the presence of my father in the room less horrific than it already was.
If he saw me, he didn't acknowledge me. He looked straight ahead, unflinching, his hands by his side.
Was he a guard? If he was, I had never seen him before because I would've certainly noticed him.
"Welcome home Isabella."
My father's voice mocked me but the hardness of his eyes never faded.
"Good evening dad…" I muttered, grasping Claudia's car keys for dear life.
"About time you returned home. After bribing men at the gate who were assigned to protect you and putting them in trouble. Excellent work from you, if you ask me."
"Dad…"
He stood up, a hand in the air, shoving my words back into my throat.
"In light of your recent activities and your insistence on being stubborn, this man is going to be your bodyguard. You might decide to have your way, but let it not be heard that Enzo Romano stood by and watched while his enemies feasted on the carcass of his daughter."
He paused, a pause that seemed to make time stop moving.
"This man will follow you everywhere you go. And he will protect you to the best of my knowledge. Goodnight, Isabella. It's getting late, and I believe it will be better if we have this conversation tomorrow morning."
My father stormed out of the room, eyeing me coldly as he walked past.
Fuming with myself for being so unaware of the time at the party, I swore out loud, then raised an eyebrow when I discovered the bodyguard still stood there, waiting for me to order him.
"Get out." I ordered, wagging an index finger in his face.
Without a word, he started to leave the room, robot-like. I spoke, making him pause midway. This was my guard. The least I could do was know his name.
"What do they call you?"
"My name is Jace Wilder."
And for the first time, his eyes met mine, making my heart clatter unconsciously in my chest.