Page 41 of Vicious Behaviors

“I don’t want to impose,” Izzie says, chewing on her bottom lip.

“She doesn’t want to impose,” I grumble, aiming it at Stella.

“And she’s not,” Stella shoots back at me. “You’re not, Izzie. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know each other better.”

When Stella links arms with Izzie instead of me, I know I’ve lost this battle. Still, I can’t help noticing that Izzie doesn’t seem thrilled about the ride. It’s the first time I’ve seen her looking unsure. Maybe she’s worried we’ll learn her address and show up unannounced.

As if that would ever happen. I want to distance myself from her. Not more fucking proximity. She’s gotten close enough as it is.

I trail behind them as Stella chatters in Izzie’s ear. By the time we reach my car, I’m already annoyed, only to worsen when Stella offers Izzie the front seat.

What the hell is my sister doing?

Izzie buckles in, her perfume lingering in the air between us, intoxicating and irritating all at once.

“What’s your address?” I ask curtly, pulling up my GPS.

She hesitates a bit too long before giving me an address in the South Side. I start the car, eager to get this ride over with. But as I pull out of the parking lot, I realize it’s going to be fucking excruciating if they’re determined to talk the entire drive, which they clearly are.

“You haven’t come back to the gym,” Izzie says, turning slightly to face Stella, her voice light but probing. “Did I make that bad of a first impression?”

“It’s not you. I just got used to training alone. Or with my da… I mean, with a family friend,” Stella catches herself before calling Dominic dad to a total stranger.

“Oh,” Izzie says softly. “That’s a shame. Carmine was hoping you’d come around. He thought maybe you’d be more comfortable with me there, and the gym’s members getting more diverse. Honestly, he only hired me in the first place because he hoped you’d spend more time there. With him.”

Stella frowns, guilt clouding her features. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s not really my place to say, but he cares about you. A lot. Both of you,” she adds, glancing at me, making my chest tight with how her honey-brown eyes are warm and unsettling all at once.

“I guess I could drop in a couple times a week,” Stella muses to herself.

“That would mean the world to him. Really.” Izzie smiles, and this time, there’s something softer in it. Less polished. More… real.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile like that. So genuinely. It should be off-putting. But it’s not. It softens her face, makes her look… even more beautiful.

Fuck.

Stop smiling. Stop fucking smiling.

My nostrils flare as I press harder on the gas, needing to get this woman out of my car as fast as humanly possible.

Her voice. Her scent. Her fucking smile. It’s all doing my head in.

Unaware of the chaos in my mind, they keep talking. Izzie starts going on about changes to the gym and about all the planned updates, when Stella’s attention is momentarily pulled away by a notification on her phone.

“Shit,” she mumbles.

“What is it?” I ask, tension spiking in my gut as I catch a frown on her face in the rearview mirror.

Instead of answering me, she leans forward between the seats and smiles at the woman sitting beside me. “Izzie, do you mind if we make a quick stop before we drop you off?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“But I do,” I mutter, meeting my sister’s gaze through the mirror.

“Well, that’s too bad,” Stella snaps. “Frankie needs a ride, so we’re going to give her one.”

“Get Lucky to pick up his girlfriend,” I say, unable to hide my reluctance.