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Izzy took a quick, cold shower and dressed in her ru
Putting her ear buds in, Izzy cranked up her archaic iPod and stepped out onto the front porch, where she began her stretches. Taking her time, she didn’t rush through them. She couldn’t afford a pulled muscle in her line of work.
The slow beat of “Earned It,” came on, the song she had lap-danced to the night she met Fly
He had made her feel things she never thought she would ever feel. Didn’t know existed. It wasn’t fair that he took all of that away from her! Was he a sadist? Her muscles tightened as she opened her eyes and caught his hot stare riveted on her. Smugly, she turned away from him, bending over and touching her toes, giving him a nice view of the ass he’d never touch again. When she stood, she reached high over her head, clasping her hands and stretching.
From the disruption of the shade behind her, she knew Fly
He reached up and took one of her ear buds from her ear. “Flash that sweet ass of yours my way again, Pink, I’m going to slap it.”
Her jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me.” It was a challenge she so wanted to take.
“And hand over the goodies?” She snatched her ear bud from him. Putting it back in her ear, she said, “Not on your life.”
Not waiting for Fly
As the tension began to leave her, she let the music take her away. If she could have closed her eyes and just run, she would have. Ru
Her pace picked up. She wanted to run away from everything and everyone. From Fly
Her mother was beautiful. Sweet, loving, and she never turned Izzy’s father away. It didn’t matter to Izzy that her father wasn’t worthy of her mother’s love, it only mattered that her mother loved him. Unconditionally until the day she died. Understanding her mother’s feelings a little better, now that she had experienced them herself, Izzy didn’t feel so harshly about her choice.
Unlike her mother, Izzy didn’t have to rely on the benevolence of others to make her way. Izzy had options. She was a citizen, she was educated, and she’d learned several harsh life lessons early. From the day her mother died, Izzy had not depended on anyone for anything. She was an island. Or she had been until Fly
As she turned left on Bellevue, she stumbled. Tension tightened her muscles. Just down the street on the left was the house where she had spent the first eleven years of her life. The house where her father still resided. The house Alex still called home.
Her pace slowed as the imposing iron gates leading to the Chastain estate slowly opened. She felt Fly
A blacked-out black town car rolled out from behind the gates. As it decelerated near the street, Izzy slowed so as not to collide with it. Her eyes were riveted on the open back passenger window.
Anxious tension constricted her heart, causing her to gulp for breath.
From the inside of the car, her father’s handsome face stared at her. As the car turned right, coming her way, he continued to stare.
“Daddy,” she whispered.
“Don’t,” Fly
When recognition sparked behind the sea colored eyes she had inherited from him, hope swelled in Izzy’s heart. She reached out, moving toward the car.
Her father looked forward, dismissing her as he had all those years ago. The window slowly closed as the car accelerated and was gone.
Gulping for air, Izzy bent over, feeling nauseous. God, it hurt. Why had she stopped? She’d made peace years ago with the fact that she would never be more than a dirty secret to her father. That there was no place in his life for her. There never had been. There never would be. She hadn’t meant to reach out to him. She despised him! Why had she done that only to be rejected? Again.
Fly
Still gasping for a deep breath, Izzy shook her head as anger seeped deep into her. Not at Fly
“Are you okay?” Fly
“I’m fine,” she said, gasping for breath. Nausea rolled through her again, the acid of the coffee rising in her throat. “I just need to catch my breath.”
The firm soothing pressure of Fly
Rejection stung.
Why she had opened herself, exposing her gooey vulnerable self, stymied her. Had she become her mother? The thought instantly gut-checked her. She could almost hear the clank of the metal walls as they dropped down around her heart. It would be a long time before she allowed anyone to get as close as Fly
She needed to suck it up. Get back on track by focusing on herself and finding Alex. Once she was found, Izzy could sleep at night knowing she had done the right thing, even if she never saw her sister again.
Fortified with new determination, she straightened and swiped away the mingled sweat and tears from her cheeks. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she managed a big smile. “Let’s wrap this up. I’m hungry.” She took off, leaving Fly