Page 12 of Timeless Pages

Chapter twelve

Dominic

I balled up the message our assistant had given me and threw it away. Morris called to find out how the deal was going on our end and expected to have the store put in his name in the next day or so. I didn’t plan on calling him back anytime soon, but I did feel compelled to call Daniel.

“Hello?”

“Daniel, it’s Dom.”

“What else could you possibly need from me right now, Dom?” Daniel asked.

“I was just wondering if you met with Isa yet.”

“I did,” Daniel replied.

“And?” I asked when he didn’t continue.

“And that’s all I can tell you, and really, I shouldn’t have said that,” he replied. “You know how this goes. I’m Isa’s lawyer now, and what happens with her case falls under attorney-client privilege.”

“Come on, Daniel. The only reason you took the case was to do us a favor. We care about her,” I coaxed.

“Well, that’s not why I’m taking her case anymore,” he replied darkly.

As annoyed as I was that he was leaving us in the dark, I appreciated that he sounded invested in Isa’s plight.

“Ok, well, I don’t know how attorney-client privilege works with receiving information, but I thought you should know that Morris Wilcox left a message with our assistant that he expected to have the store in his name in a day or two. ”

Daniel cursed. “This fucker. He’s going to be very unhappy soon. That’s all I can say.”

“Can I ask you one favor?”

“I’m in the middle of the first one, but what is it?” Daniel asked.

“If she’s in trouble, can you let us know?”

“You guys genuinely care about Isa, don’t you?” he asked.

“We do,” I replied. “There’s something about Isa that draws all three of us in. We’ve never been on the same page regarding women before. Not like this. Isa is special.”

Daniel didn’t respond, and the line was silent for so long that I thought maybe I had lost him. “I’ll try my best,” he finally said. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“No,” I replied.

“You should go get lunch at Primo’s,” he suggested. “My receptionist is there right now with her new friend.”

I grinned into the phone. “You know, I am in the mood for a chicken parm sub,” I replied. “Wait,” I said, a thought suddenly occurring to me. “Does your receptionist know we asked you to take Isa’s case?”

“Nope. I haven’t even told my partners,” Daniel assured me. “They know I’m taking the case, but don’t know why I initially agreed to take it pro bono. Once they reviewed the file and saw the pictures, they agreed that we needed to help her.”

“Pictures?”

“I had Brandy take pictures of Isa’s scars and new injuries. And now I’ve said too much,” Daniel sighed.

I didn’t like the idea of them having pictures of Isa, and while I wanted to know exactly how much of her they showed, I didn’t press the issue with him.

I assumed the pictures were necessary for her case, which would have to be good enough.

I trusted him, or we wouldn’t have sent Isa to him in the first place.

“Ok. Well, I’ll let you get back to work on helping my girl. I’m going to see if Nate and Evan want to get lunch,” I replied.

“You do that,” he chuckled.

I went down the hall and stopped at Nate’s office, where he and Evan were talking. “You guys want to go get lunch?”

“Sure, where?” Evan asked.

“Primo’s.”

“Ugh. I hate Primo’s,” Nate complained.

“I think you might like it today,” I replied cryptically.

“I don’t think I’ll like it any day,” Nate replied. “Pick somewhere else.”

“Just get your shit and trust me,” I ordered.

Nate complained all the way to the restaurant until we stepped inside and he saw Isa sitting with Brandy at a table near the windows. Nate looked at me, and I grinned.

“I told you that you would like it today,” I said quietly as we waited to be seated.

“Three?” the hostess asked, blinking her big, brown doe eyes at us.

“Yes,” I replied. “Could we get a table by the windows?”

“Of course. Follow me,” the hostess replied.

As we passed Isa’s table, I stopped. “Isa?”

She looked up at the sound of her name, and surprise flashed across her face, quickly replaced by dismay. One day, she wouldn’t be unhappy to see us. I honestly couldn’t wait for that day to come. It was like a needle prick to the heart whenever she scowled at our presence.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” I continued. “Brandy, good to see you again. How are you?”

“I’m doing great,” she replied, her eyes bouncing between us and Isa.

“And how are you doing today, Isa?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“That you are,” I teased playfully.

“Sirs?” the hostess said to get our attention. I could tell by her face that she wasn’t too happy she had lost it. The poor girl didn’t realize she never had a shot. “Your table is just this way.” She gestured to one of the tables at the other end of the wall.

“Why don’t you guys sit by us?” Brandy suggested. Nate was already pulling out the chair closest to Isa at the next table.

“As long as Isa doesn’t mind.” I put my hand beside my mouth and stage-whispered, “She’s not our biggest fan, but we’re trying to change her mind.”

Brandy giggled as she looked at Isa expectantly.

“Why would I care where you sit?” Isa asked, blushing furiously.

“Wonderful, then we would love to join you. Thank you, Brandy,” I replied.

“We’ll take this table,” Evan told the hostess as he sat across from Nate.

“But—” the hostess started to say.

“We’re sitting here,” Nate interrupted.

“Of course,” she quickly replied, handing us our menus as I took the empty seat beside Evan. “Your server will be right with you.”

“So, do you ladies come here often?” Evan asked.

“We discovered it’s both of our favorite places to eat,” Brandy replied.

“It’s my favorite place, too,” Nate blurted.

I held back my snort. Fucking liar. I’d let him have this one, though. The goal right now was to get Isa to soften toward us.

“They have the best eggplant parm,” Isa said reluctantly. You could tell she didn’t want to converse with us but felt compelled to be polite.

“That’s my favorite, too,” Evan replied.

Again, I had to hold back my snort. Evan fucking hated eggplant. My friends laid it on thick to get into Isa’s good graces.

“My favorite here is the chicken parm sub,” I said, joining the conversation.

“The chicken parm is good, too,” Isa replied.

“I think my favorite dish here is the lasagna,” Brandy said.

“But for lunch, I got a grilled chicken salad. If I had lasagna, I’d be in a food coma and useless at work.

” Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse and scowled when she saw who it was.

“Speaking of, it’s work. I need to take this. Excuse me.”

Brandy left the table and walked a few feet away before answering the phone.

“Hello? I’m at lunch. God, you’re insufferable today!” she growled.

The server stopped at our table to collect our orders. Much to my amusement, Evan ordered the eggplant parm while Nate reluctantly ordered a salad.

“I’ll get it to go and come back.” Brandy ended the call and flagged down the server as he finished taking our orders. “Can you make my salad to go? I have to get back to work.”

I would have to send Daniel a thank-you gift for calling her back to work and leaving us alone with Isa.

When she returned to the table, Brandy began apologizing to Isa. “Isa, I am so sorry, but I have to go back to work. Apparently, everything falls apart if I’m gone for more than thirty minutes. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“It’s ok, Brandy,” Isa assured her. “Work comes first. We can grab lunch another day, or maybe even dinner.”

“That would be wonderful!” Brandy replied excitedly. “Oh, maybe dinner and drinks! We could have a night out on the town.”

“I don’t know about that,” Isa chuckled. “Baby steps.”

The server returned with Brandy’s to-go bag, and Brandy laid a twenty-dollar bill down on the table.

“I really am so sorry about this. It was wonderful to meet you, Isa.” She leaned down to hug her, and her eyes moved to us when she straightened.

“But at least I’m leaving you in good hands.

Be nice to my new friend, gentlemen,” Brandy ordered before rushing off.

Isa looked like she was ready to run, but didn’t know how to make her escape without making it obvious or being rude.

“Why don’t you join us?” I suggested, gesturing to the open chair beside Nate. Her table was meant for two people, not four; otherwise, we would have moved.

“I don’t know,” Isa said.

“Please?” Nate asked. “We’d love it if you joined us for lunch. I promise we won’t bite.”

“Unless you want us to,” I tossed in, giving her a saucy wink.

Isa looked around the restaurant nervously and then gave a slight shrug. “I guess it couldn’t hurt.” Nate grabbed her drink for her and moved it to our table as she switched seats.

“There!” I said triumphantly. “That’s better. Tell me, Isa, what do you do for fun besides reading?”

“Fun?” she asked as if the concept was foreign.

“You know, like a hobby? Something you’re passionate about?” Evan prompted. Isa shrugged as the server set her food in front of her.

“Your food will be out shortly,” the server advised us.

“I don’t leave the store much,” Isa admitted. She hadn’t moved to touch her plate yet.

“Eat,” I prompted her.

“I don’t want to be rude,” Isa replied.

“It isn’t rude. We crashed your lunch. Please eat,” I replied.

Isa sighed and finally took her first bite, and the moan that left her lips as she savored it instantly made my dick hard as steel. Fuck I wanted to be the reason she made that sound. Evan and Nate shifted in their seats, and I grinned at them. Clearly, we were on the same page.

“Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do but never got the chance?” Evan asked.

Isa thought about it, and I saw when she had come up with something, but instead of telling us, she shook her head no.

“I can see you thought of something,” Nate said, “we’d love to hear what it is.”

“It’s stupid,” Isa replied.

“I doubt that,” he replied, “and even if it is, so what?”

“Growing up, my bedroom window overlooked the park across the street. I would watch families come on the weekends and have picnics. I’d pretend that I was there with them.”

“So you want to have a picnic in the park?” I clarified.

Isa nodded as she took another bite of her food. “I told you it was stupid,” she said after she swallowed.

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” I said.

Isa gave me a small, genuine smile. It didn’t quite warm her eyes, but I was counting it anyway. It was a start.

After lunch, we went our separate ways. I didn’t get much work done because I spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for picnic supplies, which led me to outdoor and camping gear.

Maybe we should take Isa camping and make a whole weekend of it.

That could be fun. I wasn’t sure if she was interested in camping, but by the end of the day, I had ordered everything we might need for a weekend in the woods, including a portable bathroom tent, so that Isa would have privacy when she needed to use the bathroom.

When I finally went to the penthouse that night, I felt rather good about the possibility of a weekend trip with Isa.

It might take time to get us there, but I was willing to wait as long as it took.

I was digging around in the fridge for something to cook for dinner when the elevator doors opened, and Evan rushed out.

“There you are! Come on. We need to get to Timeless Pages. Dave just called me and said we needed to get over there immediately. Nate is downstairs getting the car.”

I shut the fridge and hurried to the elevator. “Do we know what’s going on?”

“All I know is that Dave said it was bad, and the cops were on their way.”

Fuck.