Chapter Two

Samuel

“Is it done correctly?”

I ask. She carries herself like royalty. As I watch her, I can tell she’s really fucking good. She speaks to Ivan with every move she makes. I can tell she’s worried about his pain. She takes off her gloves and turns to stare at me, clearly upset. At this point, I’m pretty sure I annoy her just by breathing. I hate to break it to her, but the feeling is mutual.

“I have a name, you know,”

she mutters, tossing her gloves in a trashcan.

“Bell, I heard it.”

“Isabel. Only family calls me Bell. That is not you.”

Before I can respond, Ivan chuckles. It’s amazing to me he’s even trying to laugh right now.

Isabel moves at once to check on Ivan. “You crazy fool, are you trying to tear yourself open after I’ve just sewn you shut?”

she mutters, her skilled hand gliding over my uncle with a gentleness I wouldn’t expect.

“I like the fire in you,”

Ivan answers.

She puffs out an annoyed breath and shakes her head. “You like Natalie’s boobs. I don’t know if I should be flattered or relieved you like my attitude but barely look at my boobs.”

If I hadn’t seen the twitch of her lips, I would have missed the humor behind her words.

“I can’t apologize for being a man who loves tits. Yours are good, too. You just hide them with bigger clothing,”

he drawls.

“Stop flirting, Ivan. Daniel won’t appreciate you hitting on one of his cousins.”

“Cousins?”

she questions, looking at me in surprise.

“Daniel said you were family. I assumed you were a cousin. Am I wrong?”

“I’m not his cousin.”

I nod. “So, you’re family because you are a friend to Natalie. It doesn’t matter. You fall under the Navarro family.”

“Hmm …”

She doesn’t seem impressed with my response. The woman may have talent, but she is much too headstrong and opinionated. I like my women far more docile. “Where is the beautiful Natalie?”

“One of the cute bikers, I think he said his name was Claw, took her to the room E-Z provided for us,”

she murmurs.

“Didn’t she need to assist you?”

“Natalie? No. She’s a CNA, but she doesn’t need to work. We met for lunch the day we were kidnapped, or we wouldn’t have been together,”

Isabel explains.

“Bad luck for you,” I murmur.

“Bad luck?”

“If you hadn’t been with a member of the Navarro family, you wouldn’t have been involved,”

I point out.

“Oh,”

she says, surprised. “I guess you’re right. Although, it was a good thing for Ivan that I was.”

“A very good thing,”

Ivan agrees, winking at her—making her giggle.

“You’re not what I expected,”

she says, studying him.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Ivan Levkin? Hasn’t everyone? I might not be related to Natalie, but I’m aware of your reputation.”

“I don’t see fear in your eyes,”

my uncle responds.

“That’s because I don’t feel afraid. I’ve known bad men. I mean, I am friends with Natalie. You don’t give me the same vibe.”

“I can be very bad,”

he says with a smirk.

This time the woman laughs out loud. “I bet you can.”

“If you’ve heard of my uncle, you must have heard of our whole family,”

I point out.

“What’s your name?”

she asks, giving me her attention.

“Samuel,”

I respond.

I expect some sort of acknowledgement. Yet, she stares at me blankly. “Never heard of you,”

she says with a shrug.

Ivan cackles, before hissing out a muffled, “Fuck.”

“I told you not to pull at your stitches. I don’t suppose I could convince you to take some pain meds so you can sleep?”

“That depends,”

Ivan answers. “Would you crawl up here and rest with me?”

“If I agree, can I give you a pain shot?”

she asks, shocking the hell out of me.

Ivan is not the type of man a girl like Isabel would flirt with. Or at least, I don’t think he is. She’s apparently studying to be a doctor. It’s not like she’s part of the Bratva or an allying family looking for power and position. Maybe she’s just looking to get laid. I push away that thought. She’s not my concern.

“Yes.”

I watch as Isabel stands and goes to a cabinet, grabbing a small bottle and a syringe. Ivan pats the bed for her, but she shakes her head no. “Shot first,”

she chuckles. Ivan dutifully holds out his arm. She sinks the needle and grins down at him. “Now, when you wake up, you might be a tad upset with me.”

“Why’s that?” he asks.

“Because you’re going to be asleep before I count to ten,”

she quips with a wink.

“You’re sn-sneaky.”

My uncle’s words are already slurring.

“You have no idea, I.T.”

“I-I … I.T.?”

“Ivan the Terrible,”

she supplies, her whole face lit up in humor. “Sweet dreams, big guy.”

“What did you give him?”

I ask, stepping close to peer down at my uncle.

“Nothing bad, I promise. He’ll be fine. I.T. will probably sleep for the rest of the night, which he needs. The stitches will dissolve on their own. He should be good to go. You just need to make sure he takes it easy.”

“Thank you,”

I respond, giving her my attention.

“No need. Just make sure none of this leaks out. I will not lose my future medical career because you were too asinine to take I.T. to the hospital.”

“It won’t. Ivan’s not going to like that nickname.”

“Odd, I think he’ll love it,”

she argues.

I shrug. This woman is just weird. “I think I’ll go check on Natalie. I have some questions for her.”

“No need. I’m going to go in there and say goodbye. She’s probably sleeping. I’ll wake her up and send her your way. I’m going to get Claw or one of the others to take me to the hospital to see how screwed I am for missing rounds the last few days.”

“You can’t leave. Daniel wants us to bring the both of you to his home.”

“No need. I’ll call him. As you said, it’s not like I’m really family. You can deliver Natalie to him.”

“I’ll need to confirm that with him.”

She huffs. “Fine. Hand me your phone.”

I reach into my pocket and get it, unlocking the screen. She punches in the number and it’s clear that she knows the number by heart. Hmm … I think I was wrong. She is probably fucking Daniel. I wonder how he’ll react to the knowledge that she’s been flirting with Ivan. I think I’ll make sure he knows. It’ll make me happy to bring her down a peg or two. Isabel is way too full of herself.

“Daniel? It’s Izzy. Yeah, they got Natalie and me. I want one of the bikers to take me to check in with the hospital, but—What was your name again?” she asks.

“Samuel,” I growl.

“Samuel seems to think you wouldn’t like it if I left. Can you tell him to let me leave?”

She’s silent for a bit. “Yeah, that’s right. I’ll meet you for breakfast. You, too. I’m going to switch you to speaker now.”

“Samuel?”

“Yes, Daniel,”

I respond, taking my phone back, annoyed as fuck listening to her. It’s clear that she has a personal relationship with him. Does she think it’s okay to flirt with Ivan like she was? “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to let Isabel leave.”

“She’s fine. You killed the men that were holding her and Natalie, yes?”

“Of course, but—”

“Isabel will be fine. I’ll send men to meet her at the hospital. I appreciate your help.”

“What about your sister?”

The phone goes quiet.

“My sister?”

“Your sister,”

I confirm. “I’d like to spend some time with her. I’m sure you can understand why.”

“Isabel?”

“Yes, Daniel?”

“If my sister wants to stay, that’s up to her.”

“I understand. See you soon.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Izzy,” he sighs.

“Of course I do,”

she answers. Before I can question Daniel further, the bastard hangs up.

“I’ll send Nat out to you, Mr. Levkin.”

Without another word, she walks off. I barely resist the urge to follow her … and I don’t even know why.