Unraveling an Enigma Read online

  Unraveling an Enigma

  Shandi Boyes

  Edited by Mountains Wanted Publishing

  Edited by Swish Design and Editing

  Illustrated by SSB Cover and Designs

  Contents

  Want to stay in touch?

  Also by Shandi Boyes

  Dedicated to:

  Chapter 1

  Isaac

  Chapter 2

  Isabelle

  Chapter 3

  Isabelle

  Chapter 4

  Isaac

  Chapter 5

  Isabelle

  Chapter 6

  Isabelle

  Chapter 7

  Isabelle

  Chapter 8

  Isabelle

  Chapter 9

  Isaac

  Chapter 10

  Isaac

  Chapter 11

  Isabelle

  Chapter 12

  Isabelle

  Chapter 13

  Isaac

  Chapter 14

  Isabelle

  Chapter 15

  Isabelle

  Chapter 16

  Isaac

  Chapter 17

  Isabelle

  Chapter 18

  Isaac

  Chapter 19

  Isabelle

  Chapter 20

  Isabelle

  Chapter 21

  Isabelle

  Chapter 22

  Isaac

  Chapter 23

  Isabelle

  Chapter 24

  Isaac

  Chapter 25

  Isaac

  Chapter 26

  Isabelle

  Chapter 27

  Isabelle

  Chapter 28

  Isaac

  Chapter 29

  Isabelle

  Chapter 30

  Isaac

  Also by Shandi Boyes

  Want to stay in touch?

  Facebook: facebook.com/authorshandi

  * * *

  Instagram: instagram.com/authorshandi

  * * *

  Email: [email protected]

  * * *

  Reader’s Group: bit.ly/ShandiBookBabes

  * * *

  Website: authorshandi.com

  * * *

  Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/AuthorShandi

  Also by Shandi Boyes

  Perception Series

  * * *

  Saving Noah (Noah & Emily)

  Fighting Jacob (Jacob & Lola)

  Taming Nick (Nick & Jenni)

  Redeeming Slater (Slater and Kylie)

  Saving Emily (Noah & Emily - Novella)

  Wrapped Up with Rise Up (Perception Novella - should be read after the Bound Series)

  * * *

  Enigma

  * * *

  Enigma (Isaac & Isabelle #1)

  Unraveling an Enigma (Isaac & Isabelle #2)

  Enigma The Mystery Unmasked (Isaac & Isabelle #3)

  Enigma: The Final Chapter (Isaac & Isabelle #4)

  Beneath The Secrets (Hugo & Ava #1)

  Beneath The Sheets(Hugo & Ava #2)

  Spy Thy Neighbor (Hunter & Paige)

  The Opposite Effect (Brax & Clara)

  I Married a Mob Boss(Rico & Blaire)

  Second Shot(Hawke & Gemma)

  The Way We Are(Ryan & Savannah #1)

  The Way We Were(Ryan & Savannah #2)

  Sugar and Spice (Cormack & Harlow)

  Lady In Waiting (Regan & Alex #1)

  Man in Queue (Regan & Alex #2)

  Couple on Hold(Regan & Alex #3)

  Enigma: The Wedding (Isaac and Isabelle)

  Silent Vigilante (Brandon and Melody #1)

  Hushed Guardian (Brandon & Melody #2)

  Quiet Protector (Brandon & Melody #3)

  * * *

  Bound Series

  * * *

  Chains (Marcus & Cleo #1)

  Links(Marcus & Cleo #2)

  Bound(Marcus & Cleo #3)

  Restrain(Marcus & Cleo #4)

  Psycho (Dexter & ??)

  * * *

  Russian Mob Chronicles

  * * *

  Nikolai: A Mafia Prince Romance (Nikolai & Justine #1)

  Nikolai: Taking Back What’s Mine (Nikolai & Justine #2)

  Nikolai: What’s Left of Me(Nikolai & Justine #3)

  Nikolai: Mine to Protect(Nikolai & Justine #4)

  Asher: My Russian Revenge (Asher & Zariah)

  Nikolai: Through the Devil's Eyes(Nikolai & Justine #5)

  Trey (Trey & K)

  K: A Trey Sequel

  The Italian Cartel

  * * *

  Dimitri

  Roxanne

  Reign

  Mafia Ties (Novella)

  Maddox

  Demi

  Rocco

  Clover

  Smith

  * * *

  RomCom Standalones

  Just Playin’ (Elvis & Willow)

  Ain't Happenin' (Lorenzo & Skylar)

  The Drop Zone (Colby & Jamie)

  Very Unlikely (Brand New Couple)

  * * *

  Short Stories

  * * *

  Christmas Trio (Wesley, Andrew & Mallory -- short story)

  Falling For A Stranger (Short Story)

  * * *

  Coming Soon

  Skitzo

  Written By:

  Shandi Boyes

  ©Shandi Boyes 2016

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Dedicated to:

  All the fans of Isaac and Izzy.

  Thank you for your messages of support.

  I hope you enjoy Unraveling an Enigma.

  Chapter 1

  Isaac

  “How much longer do they expect me to wait?”

  I glare into the police officer’s dark eyes that are gawking at me with a hint of infatuation. He's so young, he looks fresh out of the academy. Even his uniform still has the crinkles from where it was folded after manufacturing.

  “They either charge me or let me go.” I turn my gaze to the camera hanging in the corner of the room. “My patience is stretched thin.”

  Although I’ve been remanded at the Ravenshoe Police Department for the past two hours, I’ve yet to be informed of the fabricated charges they're attempting to pin on me. Other than being handed a two-page report on my rights while in custody, I haven’t had any contact with the agents who arrested me—including Isabelle.

  After throwing down the documents the rookie officer handed me onto the desk I’m sitting behind, I run my hand over my head. It freezes halfway when the agent who read me my rights enters the room. When he tilts his head to the side, his smirk arrogant, I ball my hands, fighting not to wipe the pretentious look off his face with my fists. This isn’t a game. It’s never been a game to me.

  His arrogance falters when my gray eyes land on his. He clears his throat with an annoying cough that echoes in the silence teeming between us, no doubt to ensure fear isn’t heard in his voice. He doesn’t need to speak for me to know he's scared. His whole stance gives it away. His slumped shoulders, twitching thighs, and the skittish gleam in his eyes are all I need to see to know he's scared. Rightfully so, he should be.

  “I can remand you for two days without charge if I so wish.” I’m impressed when his word
s only come out with the smallest quiver. “So, I suggest you get comfortable, Mr. Holt.” This time, his voice gains an edge of arrogance.

  When I stand, his eyes follow me. I’m not big. I’m average height for a guy, just over six feet tall, and I’m not bulked with muscles like my fighters, but it isn’t my size that has men quaking in their boots. It’s my reputation. A reputation that took me years to build, and one I plan to keep no matter how ruthless it makes me seem. This isn’t just my business, it is my life—it's what I live for. I fought my way to where I am, and I’ll fight to keep it. Nothing has diverted my attention from my goals and aspirations the past five years. Nothing at all, until I saw her.

  This will sound conceited, but I’ve grown accustomed to the vicious ploys women use to get my attention. The spilled drinks, the damsel in distress. Hell, I’ve even been offered money from wealthy business associates just for the chance to occupy my bed. However, Isabelle was by far the most elaborate ruse I’ve ever come across. I'll give it to her, she performed well. She played me like a fucking fiddle.

  The instant my eyes landed on her sprawled at my feet, I knew she’d be my eternal weakness. For years, I’ve never looked at women without comparing their qualities to Ophelia’s. That didn’t happen when I appraised Isabelle’s striking features. I only saw her—her big, beautiful chocolate eyes, her pouty cupid’s bow lip, and the most seductive body I’d ever seen.

  If she hadn’t been on her period, I would have claimed her in that washroom thirty thousand feet in the air. Alas, it seemed more than womanly issues were between us. I’m usually more vigilant with the people I permit into my life. Exercising control has ensured my empire’s success the past seven years, but one look into Isabelle’s eyes had me forgoing all lucid thoughts. She had me acting as if I were a college boy enjoying the thrill of the chase.

  I had never been that way before—not even with Ophelia. It truly shocked me, so much so, for the six weeks following Isabelle’s sleepover at my apartment, I kept my focus solely on my empire. My ploy was working. Isabelle only slipped into my thoughts three to four times a day instead of the standard eight. I had everything under control—until she kissed me.

  Our kiss was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It catapulted my obsession with her to a never-before-reached level. From then on, every move I made was strategically planned to get her into my bed. The cupcakes order, her apartment, even Cormack’s long weekend away—that was all me, an intricate ruse to make Isabelle mine. My bed. My house. My rules. Mine.

  When my ruse worked, I thought I had won the ultimate prize. I had Isabelle. She was mine—then it all came tumbling down. Only now, after being arrested by her, do I realize my assumptions were terribly inaccurate. I don’t know Isabelle at all. She's practically a stranger.

  Or she’ll soon become one.

  Chapter 2

  Isabelle

  “Jeez, do you think there's enough oxygen in the room to sustain both of those personalities?”

  I stop pacing in the observation chamber attached to the interrogation room to stray my frightened eyes to Brandon. His brows are drawn together so tightly, a ‘V’ is in the middle of his forehead. When he notices my confused gaze, he nudges his head to a once-frosted window. It’s no longer frosted. It’s clear enough to unearth the heart-stuttering image of Isaac and Alex undertaking a sweat-producing stare-down. They’re being kept apart by the stainless-steel table Isaac has been sitting behind the past two hours.

  Isaac’s handsome face is scoured with anger, but his impressive stature still bounces off him in invisible waves. Alex’s stance is just as rigid as Isaac’s. His blue eyes are narrowed, and his twitching top lip is noticeable from a distance.

  When Brandon fiddles with some knobs on the sidewall, Isaac's profound voice rumbles into the observation room, sparking an excited shiver to zap down my spine. “You have ten minutes to issue your findings before I walk out of this room and head straight to my lawyer to commence my own proceedings.”

  “You won’t be walking out that door in years, let alone minutes.”

  Queasiness hits my stomach, my body incapable of ignoring the viciousness in Alex’s tone. I’m the only one bothered by his comment. Isaac smirks, unaffected by the underlying threat in his tone.

  After retaking his seat, Isaac taps the face of the platinum Rolex circling his wrist. “Tick tock.”

  Alex’s nostrils flare as the spasm in his lip moves to his jaw. “I strongly suggest you take my advice and call a lawyer, Mr. Holt.”

  Isaac scrubs his jaw, highlighting its magnificent cut. “I was once told only people with something to hide need a lawyer.”

  When his eyes flick to his right, air hitches halfway to my lungs. He appears to be staring right at me. “I thought this was a two-way mirror?”

  “It is.” Brandon sounds as shocked as me.

  Through trembling thighs, I move to the furthest corner of the room. My pulse triples when Isaac's commanding gray eyes track me. Even the tense circumstances can't stop me from smiling. I love that he can sense my presence as strongly as I detect his. It proves what I’ve always known—we were made for one another.

  “That’s freaky.” Brandon’s massively dilated eyes bounce between Isaac and me. “What’s the deal with you two—”

  Before his interrogative question can escape his lips, we’re interrupted by Alex. He storms into the room with his hands clenched into tight balls. The twitch of his top lip is more noticeable now he's standing before me. I swallow bleakly, eradicating the lump in my throat when his knee-quaking eyes snap up from the polished concrete floor. “Brandon, I need that envelope—”

  “Here.” Brandon shoves the yellow envelope he’s been clutching the past hour into his chest.

  As he yanks out the envelope’s contents, the anger on Alex’s face switches to conniving. He smiles a full-toothed grin, appearing to have the world at his feet. After appraising each photo, he locks his eyes with mine. They have a gleam behind them, one I don’t know how to explain. Winking, he jerks his chin to the door he stormed through only seconds ago. “Follow me.”

  I touch my chest. “Me?”

  He doesn’t reply. He just strides out of the room even quicker than he arrived. I shadow him, my steps reluctant and shaky. When he stops outside the closed interrogation room door, I shake my head, advising him I can’t go in there. His request won’t just cause a conflict of interest, my heart also won’t survive the carnage.

  Ignoring my silent pledge, Alex swings open the door. “Remain quiet and follow my lead.”

  “You have two minutes remaining, so you better make this quick—”

  Isaac stops goading Alex when he notices me entering the room on his heel. The amused twinkle in his eyes morphs to irate as his jaw gains a quiver. I can barely contain my breaths when he suddenly stands. He stares down at me with his pulse beeping in his neck and his hands shoved into his pockets. Although his dominance can’t be denied, the man standing across from me isn’t the man who made love to me this morning. He's the strikingly handsome shell of Isaac Holt, but he isn’t the Isaac I fell in love with.

  This is the first time I’ve seen him since his arrest. For the past two hours, I’ve been endeavoring to pry information from the agents surrounding me. It did me no good. They’re just as baffled by his arrest as me. None of them had any useful information. I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been a part of Alex’s team the past six months, and I’ve yet to discover one shred of information that corroborates Isaac is the man his FBI file portrays him to be. Nothing he’s done the past six months warrants his arrest. If anything, he should be commended. He does more good for the residents of Ravenshoe than bad.

  My thoughts are interrupted by Alex’s deep timbre. “Sit down.” He glares at Isaac, his stance strengthening as he fights to show Isaac he isn’t intimidated by him.

  He isn’t fooling anyone.

  After shifting his head to the side, Isaac inhales a giant whiff through his n
ostrils. “Can you smell that?” His voice is so rugged, it hits every one of my hot buttons. “That’s the smell of fear, baby.”

  He strays his eyes back to Alex before doing another undignified sniff. When the most wickedly evil smile hardens his features, my panties become moist. There must be something wrong with me. Isaac is clearly angry, but instead of my body shuddering in fear, it’s quaking with excitement.

  “The only person who should be afraid is you, Mr. Holt.” Alex slides the envelope Brandon handed him earlier across the table. “Especially when you discover what I have hiding up my sleeve.”

  Isaac’s eyes drop to the envelope. He peers at it for a mere second before devoting his attention back to Alex. “Your ten minutes are up.”

  When he commences placing on his suit jacket, Alex stares at him in shock, flabbergasted by his calm demeanor. Once he has the three buttons secured, his eyes lift to mine. His gaze is captivating, yet fear-provoking. I’m not scared. I’m just petrified by what he says next. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Isabelle.” It’s so formal like today was our first and only meeting.