Hi everyone! I'm sorry for the wait on chapter 3. I hope everyone has had a happy holidays so far! I'm going to keep this brief because I'm excited for you to see what happen this chapter. See you at the bottom!
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Fuck" I grumble and slap my hand out to my nightstand, trying to make the noise stop. It feels like I just went to sleep and it's already time to get up.
With a sigh, I sit up and rub my eyes. I yawn, stretch, and get out of bed. I walk to my closet and change into a pair of athletic shorts, sports bra, and hoodie. I walk into my bathroom and brush my teeth. Afterwards, I put my hair in a high ponytail, needing it out of my face. I then walk out of my room and head downstairs.
"Good morning Bella" Sam, my father's bodyguard nods at me as we pass each other.
"Morning" I nod back, not wake enough for conversation. I walk through the foyer and down a back hallway, slightly hidden from the main part of the house.
My mother and father built this mansion after the married and my mother wanted to hide anything that wasn't perfect. She never liked the "dirty" aspects of my father's life and wanted to pretend it didn't exist. So, she laid out the house to highlight the "happy" parts, like the dining room and mini ballroom, but hide the training areas and my father's office.
"Right on time. I thought I was going to drag you out of bed." Jacob laughed as he saw me walk into our home gym. In here was every machine you could think of, plus a sparing area. This was added when I was younger and expressing interest in this life.
"I'm never late." I roll my eyes and walk over to him. "What's on the agenda today?" I ask as I begin my stretches.
"We are going to keep it easy today. Run a couple miles then spar. You have been getting sloppy, Swan." I look over at him and scowl.
"I have not! You have been getting easy." He rolls his eyes back at me.
"Come on. Time to start." I slip off my hoodie and follow him to the treadmills. He starts both of ours and we start running together.
This is a typical morning. Jake has made it his personal life goal to make me the strongest and fittest person in the mafia. We train almost every day, whether that is just a quick run on the treadmill or a full three-plus hour session. While those days are brutal, and I can barely walk the next day, they have made me who I am. I can take down men twice my size and can fight with the best of them.
After our 4-mile run, we move over to the sparring mat. Jake walks over to the storage unit and grabs gloves and hand targets I look at him strangely as he hands my set to me.
"What the fuck are the gloves for?" I normally just hit the pads he holds. We never use gloves unless we are full on fighting or there is some kind of event that requires me to not have any scrapes or cuts on my hands.
"Humor me." He says and takes my hands, putting on the gloves and fastening them. I raise an eyebrow at his actions and shake my head.
Once our equipment is secured, we stand a couple feet from each other, ready to begin.
"Okay, Swan. Show me what you got." He holds up the pads and we start. I swing my arms, making a hard impact in the center of the pad. Left. Right. Right. Dodge. Left. Right. We continue this for a while. Jake fakes me out and smacks the side of my head with the pad, causing me to stumble slightly. I quickly regain balance and come back harder, swinging as hard as I can. I dodge more punches and continue the beating of the pads in his hands.
At one point, I feel someone behind me. Before I can react, I am wrapped in their arms from behind. I throw elbows into their midsection and they loosen up their hold slightly as they groan. I take advantage of this and bend down, realigning my body with theirs. I then grab the arm that was originally around me and pull them over my shoulder. Their body lands hard on the ground and I look down to see Seth below me.
"Seth! What the fuck! Are you okay?" I yell as I realize he is groaning in pain. I see he has on a padded vest, but they only soften the blows. I kneel down next to him and unstrap the vest. "What the fuck Jacob? Did you plan this?" I look up, angry at my partner.
"Bells it's okay. I'm fine. Just a little sore." Seth says. He sits up and groans softly. "Jake just asked for my help. Said you needed to mix it up. Really I'm fine."
"Jacob Black I'm going to kill you." I glare at him and help Seth up. "Let's get you some ice." I walk with Seth to the kitchen and grab an ice pack.
"Bella I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't have agreed if I asked you. I just wanted to challenge you. I don't want you to stay complacent." Jacob says apologetically, following us into the kitchen. I ignore him as I pull up Seth's shirt and wrap the icepack around his torso with an ace bandage.
"Bells," Seth says softly. He nudges my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. "I'm okay. Jacob and I just want to help you okay. We care too much about you to let anything happen to you." I nod and sigh.
"Fine. But no more surprise attacks without my knowledge. I want to know who will be entering the ring before they come. Got it." I state, looking seriously at both of them. They both nod. "Good. Now I'm going to get ready for work. I'll see you at dinner." I kiss Seth's cheek and head up to my room. It was a tradition that every Friday our family would eat dinner together. It allowed us to be a normal family, even if for an hour or two.
I change into a business professional dress, a nice blazer, and heels. The dress was black with two white stripes running along the sides of the dress to accentuate my curves. The blazer was black, and the heels were nude. I fluffed up my hair and applied a small amount of fragrance. I grabbed one of my Gucci handbags and was ready to leave.
I walked to the garage and grabbed the keys to my black Aston Martin. It was a present for my 25th birthday this year and I tried to drive it as much as possible. I slid into it and started it up. I pulled out of the garage and headed to the office.
While my family has many illegal business operations, we did have many legal ones. We owned clubs, bars, restaurants, and Swan Incorporated. Swan Inc. was one of the country's information technology companies in the world. Anything digital, we were involved. We were also one of the leaders in technology-based research. My great-grandfather started Swan Inc. when he came over to America from Italy in the early 1900s. It has obviously evolved since its creation, but we still had the same core values.
I drove through the streets of New York City as quickly as possible, traffic was always a bitch. Once I finally made it to the building, I parked in the underground deck. I hurriedly made it to the elevator and up to my office on the top floor. As CEO, I was able to take over my father's old office and have the largest space with the best view. I nodded to my assistant as I pasted her and sat behind my desk, starting a long and tedious day.
By the time the day was done, I wasn't sure if I wanted to sleep for a year or take 12 shots. Everyone pissed me off and it seemed as if everyone forgot how to do their damn jobs. Hopefully, the weekend will allow people to reset. Otherwise, I will be looking for new employees.
As I was driving home, I received a call from my father.
"Swan." I stated. He chuckled, and I smirked as I visualized him shaking his head.
"You know it's me. You can drop the act."
"Should I call you father dearest next time?" I teased.
"That is not necessary." He chuckled again. He paused for a moment and sighed. "Are you on the way home?"
"Yes. Why? Is something wrong?" My mind instantly started running through possible situations that could have led to this call.
"Nothing is wrong…. I just need to talk to you. When you get home head straight to my office." Before I could reply or question this, he hung up.
"What the fuck?" I mumbled in confusion. The entire rest of the drive I sit and stew over the call.
What could my dad want to talk to me about? What is he hiding? Does it have to do with Jacob's weirdness last night?
By the time I get home, I'm even more confused and slightly worried. I park quickly and take the same staircase as the night before up to his office. I knock on the door and hear a muffled "come in". I open the door and see my father sitting on the couch in his sitting area, a scotch in his hand.
"Drinking before dinner?" I ask as I close the door and sit in the chair next to him, not wanting to be too close depending on what he has to tell me.
"Isabella you know I love you, yes? You also know how proud I am of you and that I have never doubted your ability to lead this family." He ignores my comment and looks deep into my eyes.
I narrow mine at him, watching him intently. "Yes. We have had this discussion many times."
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I was thinking...about when you transition to Dom. You will become an instant target. Every family will try to take you out because they will see you ask a weakness. But..it would be easier if you were…married."
I instantly saw red. 'How dare you! Do you honestly think I'm going to marry some asswipe just to appease the other families? Let some punk try to control our family? Take over what we both have worked our asses off to maintain? Fuck no. Absolutely fucking not!" I scream, jumping up and pacing the room.
"Isabella, please. I would never force your hand. I'm just saying it would be a good idea. It would keep you, the family, safer. I spoke with a few people on this idea and they agree." He says, trying to calm me down.
"Who? Who have you spoken to this about?" I ask. I feel hurt and betrayed by just the thought of him speaking with others about my future in such an intimate fashion. This was my future. My rightfully earned future. No one was going to make decisions for me.
He took a large sip of his drink, finishing it, before setting the glass down and turning towards me.
"I have spoken to a couple members of our family. I also brought it up to the… Irish."
I freeze my pacing and slowly turn my head to my father glaring at him with as much anger as I could. "You. Spoke. With. The. Irish."
"Carlisle has a son, about your age and unwed. It could benefit both families immensely." He stands and walks toward me. I hold out my hand, preventing him from getting any closer. "Isabella listen to me. I am not forcing your hand. I just want to give you options. I want you to live your life as freely as this life will let you. I can't stand the thought of you living with a target on your back."
"I'm going to have a target on my back no matter what. Every Boss does! I have been preparing for this my whole life and now you are trying to take it away. With the Irish no less. You act like I would still have control of our family if I married another boss. I know what is expected of a mob wife and I will NEVER be that!" I turn to walk out of the room, but he catches my hand.
"Isabella, I know you don't understand now but please be opened minded." He begs softly and drops my hand "They will be here for dinner in 30 minutes."
Don't hate me! I know it is a little bit of a cliff hanger here. I promise you won't have to wait long for the next chapter though. But what did you all think? Do you like learning more about Bella and her background? Next chapter will be a fun one! As always, thank everyone for their love and support. Every favorite, follow, and review means so much to me! See you all on the next one.