Not because we sought to take advantage of the vulnerable, but because we gave them a place to belong when they lacked one in their lives. Some might argue they were better off on their own rather than in the clutches of a Spanish crime syndicate, but I took care of men loyal to me.
Gabriel shook my hand with a cheerful smile, the tech-inclined man far too friendly for my liking. If he'd been only a little younger, he might have been a more appropriate friend for my Isa, more easily blended into the culture of an American high school.
Hugo reached out a hand, a serious frown on his face as he studied me. I knew the boy who sought to rise in my ranks as his brothers had wasn't interested in babysitting a teenage girl that he couldn't touch.
Turning my attention back to Gabriel, I finally spoke. "I want video surveillance in the common areas of the home, nothing in the bedrooms or bathrooms," I clarified. Not only did I not want to cross the line into perversion with her, but I wanted nothing to do with the sister, who Santiago had confirmed was a troublemaker. "Audio surveillance in her bedroom, nothing in the bathrooms."
"You've got it, Boss," Gabriel agreed.
"Trackers in her parents' cars and her friend's vehicle. Audio surveillance there as well, to be safe. Hack the security system at the Center where she spends her time and in the school. Anywhere you find she spends a fair amount of time, I want access." He nodded his head in agreement. I turned to Joaquin, staring him down. "When I say no one touches a hair on her head, I mean no one. If you value yours remaining on your shoulders, she will not be harmed in the slightest."
"You've got it. She'll be perfectly safe with all of us watching her," Joaquin agreed.
"What am I doing going to High School?" Hugo asked, earning a sharp reprimand from Joaquin when he smacked him in the back of the head.
"Respect, boy. You know better,"
"Sorry, El Diablo," Hugo murmured, nodding his head.
I smirked, shaking my head as the nickname poured from his mouth without thought. While it was undoubtedly what they called me on the streets, it wasn't often someone dared to say it to my face. Joaquin pinched his brow between his thumb and pointer finger, heaving out a sigh like his brother was an insufferable twat that just wouldn't learn. "You are here to befriend Isa," I said simply.
"Befriend her? Why?" he asked. Even Gabriel shook his head as his brother dared to let his curiosity get the better of him. But I found I couldn't fault him exactly. The only times I ever put surveillance on a person was when I suspected they’d betrayed me. What could a teenage American girl do to betray a man like me?
"Have you ever seen something and known it was yours the moment you laid eyes on it?" I asked him, leaning toward him to stare intently at his dark eyes. His nostrils flared, betraying his nervousness. He shook his head, and I suspected it was true. With his brothers being very trusted members of my family, Hugo would have wanted for nothing. "Isa is mine," I said. "When she's old enough, that will become official. Your job is to befriend her and monitor her in a way that your brothers can't do. I want you to be her confidante. I want to know every thought that runs through her pretty little head. I want to know what boys she has a crush on, so I can crush them."
"What do I do if she wants to go on a date?" Hugo asked, staring at me with wide eyes. My reputation as a man who didn't care about the pussy that walked in and out of my life preceded me.
"Tú lo manejas," I warned. "She will not go on a date, because you will make sure of it. Fail me in this, and I'll cut off your cock and make you eat it, Hugo." He swallowed down the lump in his throat, nodding his head in understanding finally. "She is to remain just as untouched as the day I laid eyes on her. You have the support of the Bellandis after I return to Ibiza. That combined with your brothers should be sufficient to dissuade some high school boys from touching what is mine, should it not?"
"Yes, Rafael," Hugo agreed.
"Good," I said, turning to get back in the SUV and escape the blasted cold weather. One of Matteo's men waited in a second SUV, prepared to give them a ride to the house they would call their own for the sixteen months they called Chicago home.
Life would be better once we were all back where we belonged on my island.
With Isa at my side.
6 Isa
As someone who prided myself on never getting into trouble and always doing what people expected of me, getting called to the Principal's office wasn't something that I ever imagined would happen. It was entirely possible that it somehow had to do with Odina, but they usually called my parents for that. As much as it might feel like it sometimes, I wasn't her mother.
I thanked fate for that every day.
"Hi, Isa," The principal's assistant said when I walked into the front office. "Go ahead. He's waiting for you."
I swallowed, murmuring a soft, "Thank you," as I wrung my hands in front of me anxiously and chewed the corner of my mouth. Moving through the office, I knocked on the wall next to the open door, stepping in when the Principal's eyes met mine and he smiled kindly.
"Isa," he said, standing from his seat behind the desk. A boy I'd never seen before stood from the chair facing the desk, spinning to face me. With olive skin and dark hair, he
