WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Sept 14, 2019 17:31:42 GMT
He’d ignored the questions tossed in his direction by both of his partner as he’d gathered up the Saville Row jacket from the back of his chair and slipped it on over the shirt, tie and waistcoat that were still as immaculate as they had been at 6am that morning when he’d been summoned from his bed by a call about a body. The Sheriff’s department was stretched thin but even if they hadn’t been practically rendered see-through by the sheer amount of cases they handled, this still would’ve come to his odd little trio. There were what Sheriff Forbes had called ‘unusual circumstances’ to it all. Will was fairly sure there was nothing unusual to it but the imagination of the jogger who’d called it in. Forbes had been certain though and so the three of them had found themselves out in the woods before dawn had really broken over them, crouched in the mud, peering at a body that looked far too decomposed to really be able to tell much other than the fact that it looked like it had lost a fight with a wood chipper. Perhaps it had but that was for the coroner to decide while the three of them attempted to pick apart what scant facts and other evidence had been discovered about the dead man. ”Don’t call me,” he told them sweetly, a smile flashing white teeth in their direction. ”Not even if an equally dead wife turns up and this turns out to be some sort of bizarre Romeo and Juliet type affair, complete with a suicide by John Deere.”
There had been protests, a full out grumble as he’d walked out the door but this was necessary. All work and no play made for the sort of exhausted warlock who ended up with niggly little problems that they others certainly wouldn’t want to deal with. They were probably still continuing on alone, Leah rising to make the sort of jumbo pot of coffee that would nudge the two of them another step closer towards ulcers that would eat what lining of their stomachs they had left. The glass of liquor that was in his own hand now as he sprawled languorously in a seat at the side of the stage in the backroom of the Mordecai was another beast entirely. Will’s gaze dropped from the raven haired goddess on the stage to the glowing amber liquid in its crystal depths. Like the goddess, it was gleaming with some sort of inner light, radiating across the back of his hand, up the forearm now bared by sleeves that had been rolled up halfway through her first set. A taste as smooth as the honey which it resembled by far less sweet. There was a bite to the brandy, one that had been enhanced by its slow trip over the candle on the table. Will swirled it in the full belly of the glass, his lips curving at the dance of golden light before his gaze rose back to the woman in front of him. Both he had become accustomed to since he’d moved here.
The woman had been seen first, the drink ordered but not brought to him when the sound of that siren’s voice had emerged from the back room and lured him in. It had happened a good dozen times since. His lips curving each time, his eyes bright as they’d fixed upon her. Had she truly been a siren there wouldn’t have been much hope for him but Isabella DeLuca was a different creature indeed. All flashing dark eyes and sinuous curves, she was the sort of distraction a man needed in this town, one he would continue to allow himself to get lost in for as long as that overactive mind continued to spin in a skid behind his eyes. As the set ended Will applauded from what had become his customary table right in the path to and from the stage, one that had an unobscured view of the stage. Usually he would’ve sucked in a breath and tried to restart his heart before her next set but this time he set aside what would’ve been a bracing gulp of the brandy and made his way to his feet instead, taking a step out into her path. ”Miss DeLuca,” Will managed, his voice practically a purr in his throat. He extended both hands to her, half invitation, half demonstration of his appreciation. ”I didn’t think it was possible but each time it’s more incredible, you’re more ravishing. I took the liberty of ordering for you. Would you?” Will gestured to his table, a little boy’s sly look up his features at the offer. Few had resisted once he’d learned how to work his charm fewer still had realized that much of the time that charm was forced, their little interlude little more than cover for a man with other things on his mind.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 826
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Oct 13, 2019 13:10:47 GMT
Words had power to them. Even if they weren’t whispered from the words of a witch or wizard. With just a single sibilant utterance one could find themselves shivering with it. With crooned sentences hearts could break across an entire room, nerves could fizz and pop like fireworks, coloured lights flashing deep behind eyes and in the darkest corners of minds, libidos could be lassoed, enslaved to the point where it bordered on pain. If his heart hadn’t still been in the hands of another, albeit half strangled by her, Will might have admitted to all of the above the moment Isabella had slipped out from behind stage, giving the band her cue, drawing all attention to the pale, perfect shell of one ear with the brush of her hair. He didn’t needs the words any longer, although as they began to emerge from her lips, they’d been an absolute boon. From the moment he’d first seen her take the stage Will had found himself captivated by the song bird. There was something distinctly wild about her though. This was no caged bird, although her nod to the owner of the establishment said she was still tame enough to feed from that hand.
Getting to his feet as she’d finished her act, Will could still feel the power that had been in the song, the one that had the man that Isabella had pointed to sprawled slightly in his chair in a rather ungainly and faintly distasteful manner. He’d have urged the man to pull himself together but Will wasn’t so sure it would’ve been all that different under similar circumstances. Instead, he liked to think he was relatively pulled together as he got to his feet and moved lithely to intercept the captivating Miss DeLuca. Will certainly would’ve called the purr of his voice smooth as he held his hands out to her. One of those dark slashes of brow rose, the smoldering fire of the woman on stage giving way to a sharper sultriness as her chuckle rolled out at him. For a moment he half expected her to side step and slip off back stage again to avoid her avid fan boys but as he gestured back towards the table where the drink he’d ordered for her lay, there was moment a brief hesitation. ”My pleasure,” Will rumbled silkily. ”I hope that the staff guided me right with your libation of choice. They seemed quite … amused at my offer.” Blue eyes cut back through the dim light of the back room, back towards the bar where he was almost certain the wait staff were hovering, their combined breaths held as they waited to laugh over the foolish detective.
Well trained by the man he’d grown to hate before he’d even slipped out from under his roof, Will eased Isabella’s chair in as she settled on it with the sort of grace you rarely saw these days. He only slipped back into his own, avoiding what would’ve been a crass and cliched move to stare at those long, limber legs as she crossed them. Will caught two fingers around the slender neck of the glass before he eased it towards her, letting it come to rest a few inches above her. Instead of drawing the hand back he offered it to her, his lips curving in a coy smile above it. ”Carnegie,” he said, letting his upper east side drawl roll out to its full extent. ”Will … if you will.” It was a poor twist on his name, one that would have had him groaning if it had come from anybody else. He rolled his eyes faintly at his own choice of it, a brief rumble of a laugh following them. ”I’ve been back here a few times now, drawn in by what I assume the owner knows is his siren.” Bartok Ali was certainly wise enough to realise that, even if the man seemed a little short sighted in some other regards. Will knew that sort of suggestion would go down like a lead balloon here and so he kept that observation to himself. ”As a man who likes to make his appreciation of such things clear I hoped you would allow me a few brief moments to state categorically that you have the most amazing voice I’ve ever heard. I imagine it’s something you’ve heard quite often, even in these parts?” There was a faint question to his voice, a testing of the waters to see just how many others had fallen at the feet of a goddess who obviously knew just how many she managed to enslave.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 774
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Nov 17, 2019 18:12:22 GMT
Like any performer of any skill Isabella was putting on a good show of indulging him. Dalton had always liked performers, charming more than a few into dating him if not putting an ostentatious ring on their finger. Passionate, talented, not afraid to be in front of the camera, they were a dream for his father. In a way Will had fostered connections with a few of them in New York during his younger days but barring his admiration of their talent it had always been a part of his front. Getting onto the front of a half dozen newspapers by turning up at a Broadway opening night with one was a simple way of covering up what he might’ve been up to later that night and it allowed Dalton to shake his head and laugh about his son’s youthful indiscretions. It was the part Dalton always wanted his son to play and so he’d given it to him.
Mystic Falls was far enough from his father that he no longer felt the need to have to put on that mask every morning. Dalton had no influence here and if anything that playboy façade would cause more problems with his partners than he already faced on a daily basis. This was the stripped back Will, the one who could hide himself away from prying eyes in a venue made just for that. An evening’s company, well, perhaps a few minutes company, with a talented woman who it seemed also stripped herself bare metaphorically on that stage every night was just about as perfect as it could under the present circumstances.
Reaching out, extending his ingrained manners Will had drawn her seat out for her, avoiding letting his gaze linger on one of the Ali brothers for too long. That one, at least, had remained civil to him, perhaps not aware of the contentiousness between him and his brother at the station, albeit the most elegantly spoken contentiousness in the place. Settling himself back in his seat Will nudged the glass of Chardonnay that had been recommended towards her. One dark brow arched as he waited for some sign that he had been played to show but she merely raised the glass to her lips, sipping at it. Feeling buoyed by how well it was going Will offered both his hand and his name. He avoided Dalton’s move of grazing his lips against every woman he met’s knuckles as he shook her hand. A chuckle rumbled lightly free as he shook his head. ”Not in the least,” he promised. ”Although I should make sure I take no liberties and enquire whether you prefer Miss DeLuca or Isabella?” Liberties, Will was betting, would see him tossed out of the joint on his ear by one of the men who owned the place.
They had undoubtedly taken note of his visits already and his blatant appreciation of the talents of their headliner. It wasn’t as though his front row presence on those occasions was all that surreptitious. Will hummed low in his throat as Isabella pointed out that she was only one of many things on offer at the pub. Blue eyes lingered on her face for a moment before he swept them around the establishment. ”I hope that Mr. Ali compensates you handsomely enough for what you do. Out of all the offerings you are, I imagine, the very pinnacle of them all.” It as all perhaps laid on a little thick, he thought as he lifted his own glass to his lips, but anybody who truly knew him knew better than to think that was the way he was with everything. Although, he thought, taking a long draught of his drink, what Zoey would’ve made of this he didn’t know. Will tried not to squirm under the power of the song bird’s dark eyes as she smirked at him and nudged her drink aside. He straightened slowly, one finger tapping lightly against his glass as he kept his gaze locked on hers. Her comment had him laughing lightly, aiming a pointed glance at the floor. ”Escapism, although I suspect many of your fans say the same thing. I am afraid, I won’t be falling to the floor, it is a little dramatic for my tastes. I suppose turnabout is fair play. May I ask what brought you here Miss DeLuca?” One dark brow winged at her question as he relaxed back into his seat. Men weren’t ever coquettish in his opinion but Will fluttered his lashes above the rim of his glass as he raised it to his lips all the same.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 771
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Dec 28, 2019 14:11:17 GMT
This siren would have had Dalton twisted around her little finger. The perfectly painted red fingernail running artfully around the glass, the slide of one long leg over the other, the purring voice. Dalton would have been at his most charming, reaching for his phone to speed dial the master jeweler he kept on hand to prepare another ring. Anybody who’d known the young Will Carnegie at his playboy prime would have said the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. The truth was that he was noting each artful move the young woman made but there was a layer of genuine appreciation of her talent in the proceedings, a conspicuous absence of real heart involvement here. Some part of him saw his ex-wife’s dark fall of hair in Isabella’s, a hidden strength to those dark eyes that was so familiar. Will tried to push Zoey from his mind as he aimed a slow smile at her. ”Isabella it is then,” he drawled back. ”Although that means you must call me Will.” Mr. Carnegie still often felt far too much like his father was being addressed. At least usually the distinction of ‘Detective’ left him feeling far more like he was his own man.
The glass of his whiskey tumbler was cool against his fingertips as he glanced at the floor, indicating the direction her admirers usually ended up taking. It would have been crass to turn what was supposed to have been overture of purely intellectual appreciation of Ms. De Luca’s talents into such a public spectacle and a foolish one at that. Pointedly honestly about his intentions, Will looked back up and winged a brow at her in curiosity. The lips that met the rim of his glass were curved, his summer sky eyes guileless as they studied the trace of her tongue over a painted lip. Those blue eyes rolled, taking in the confines of the room they were in, seeing the town beyond. ”Pry?” Will clucked his tongue in censure, fluttering dark lashes in her direction. ”I would say it was an occupational hazard but that would be as crass as falling in absolute wonder at your feet my dear. I was merely enquiring what led you to a town that seems painfully small for a talent of your size.” His gaze cut to the bar though, flickering over the Ali brother who stood guard behind it’s perfect gleaming surface. Undoubtedly his presence had been taken note of and Bartok would be fully aware that one of his coworkers was taking a great deal of interest in their prize talent. Her smirk was curving those gleaming scarlet lips as he looked back, his body momentarily freezing in his chair as she tilted her head. Will forced himself into motion, shifting far enough in his chair to watch someone make their way into the bar. When he looked back there was a frown on her face that melted away in a heartbeat. Will’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he caught himself and fluttered those lashes again, that almost bashful smile flashing in her direction. ”I’d be more than happy to do both. I play coy rather well, don’t you think?” He twisted in his seat though, gesturing at the bar in the sort of way he knew would get under the skin of the Ali’s, lifting his own glass before he gestured to Isabella’s. He settled his empty glass down gently as he turned back, his expression growing less coy as he settled back into his seat to study her. ”You looked disappointed then,” he said softly, tilting his head in the direction of the door that had now swung shut. ”You were hoping somebody else would be arriving. Am I keeping you away from a prior engagement, Isabella?” A gentleman like Dalton would have bristled at the idea, demanding his slice of time in the way that his father had demanded everything his entire life but that wasn’t him at all. William Carnegie certainly wasn’t his father’s son in any meaningful way.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 677
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Jan 19, 2020 17:54:07 GMT
There’d been a time or two when one of his partners in a fit of poetic license had referred to him as Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade but other than an appreciation for proper forms of dress and a tragic love life there was little to draw parallels between them. He had manners, he appreciated a certain way of behaving that was sadly lacking in most these days but the fact that he was on the other side of the law in one half of his life drew a very clear dividing line. There was something about a woman in need though. Will could almost feel himself being suckered in by the femme fatale he’d coaxed over this table. As she looked past him, he’d followed her gaze. His eyes had settled back on the Ali behind the bar, who returned his glance before winging a brow and turning his attention to Isabella. Obviously nudged into drawing his attention back she was clearing her throat at him, dropping that noirish little statement right in his lap. Will shifted, sympathy working its way onto his face. ”I’m sorry to hear that, nobody should be left searching.” It was part of the reason why he’d started his extra-curricular activities, to stop families longing for what had been taken from them decades before. ”If you ever need anybody to help look, you could always look up at a detective.” There was a brief Cheshire Cat grin then, one that held far more promise than he honestly could’ve given.
Murder was his game, theft his private practice, he doubted either of those were wrapped up in Isabella’s tale. That smirk could hide a thousand things though, couldn’t it? A glossy cover for whatever lay beneath. She truly would’ve been Dalton’s foil and Will suspected she might still prove to his too, although his china crazed little heart was still tucked deep down into that little womb of pain the divorce had wrapped it in. ”The truth, always the truth, and Will, please,” he purred. Blue eyes ticked down to that painted smirk, watching the play of muscle beneath her skin as she leaned back in her seat. So much disappointment on her face then that he believed he could see. It was impertinent to bring it up of course but what man enjoyed feeling like he was merely warming the seat for the next? One without an ego, or at least one without an ego that still bore a few too many bruises on its soft underbelly.
That had never he and Zoey’s problem, he thought as Isabella shot a sad smile back in his direction. Will’s dark brows were still furrowed as she brushed off his question. More fool the man, he thought, to walk away from somebody who had obviously meant something to him. There was a warning voice in his head about that being exactly what he’d done with Zoey but he pushed it away. He had left for her own good, to protect her from the very thing that had shattered their marriage, and she’d found him in the end. As Isabella began to pry about his intentions here again Will let out a low knowing noise. ”So you don’t believe I’m merely a man in search of some top notch entertainment in a town that seriously lacks it?” he asked, fluttering dark lashes at her. Will laughed, the sound a low rumble beneath the starched cotton of his tailored shirt. ”I think coworkers is the best that you would be able to call myself and Detective Ali.” That, Will thought sharply, was due to Bartok’s nosing around cases that didn’t involve him, namely the occasional theft here in town.
The silence drew out between them, his eyes narrow blue slits beneath the veil of those long lashes. Deft fingers turned the glass around on the table, only pausing as a server arrived. Will’s gaze ticked to him then, his mouth pursing in an appreciative smile as the server disappeared. Shifting in his seat, crossing his legs, he studied the woman before him again, her voice whispering out of her almost as seductively as the server rapidly returned. Will waited for him to disappear, then picked up his glass before he found his voice again. ”Obstruction absolutely wasn’t my intention, although now that you’ve brought it up Miss de Luca, you have left me wondering just what would need to be obstructed.” Letting out a long sigh, Will tilted the glass back and forth, watching the amber liquid move silkily in the glass. ”It was just as I said. I might not seem the type but like every other red blooded male in this town I need my distractions and up until you started to interrogate me, you were quite the distraction, Isabella.” He resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. If there’d been any other joint in town as private and discrete, and full of talent as the Mordecai, he might never have stepped foot here in the first place. Beggars had not been able to be choosers though, not in Mystic Falls.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 855
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Mar 22, 2020 14:51:26 GMT
The curiosity in those dark eyes was unexpected. Was it that few expected such sympathy of a man who looked like little more than a primped up party boy? Perhaps. There were those who had definitely scoffed when he’d first put on a uniform, more who’d bitched behind closed doors when a lowly patrol officer had made a detective so quickly. They didn’t care what he’d done to get himself there. Will knew that Zoey was the first and perhaps only one who’d peeked beneath that vapid surface most saw. ”Will, please,” he crooned lightly, his face creasing into a faint grimace at the use of his surname. Carnegie would always be tainted with the image of his father. He inched forward as she did, mirroring the gesture as his gaze followed the tumble of that hair. ”Stature?” he asked with some amusement. ”You make him sound like some sort of royalty. If he’s a prince who isn’t willing to toss the possibility of the throne aside for you then he’s a very royal idiot.” There was a teasing note to Will’s voice but honesty to. As a man who’d lost the most important thing he’d ever had in his life for a mission that few would understand, he was in a position to know that with all certainty.
Celebrated was certainly the operative word there but the look in Isabella’s eyes told Will that she wasn’t entirely happy with the situation. He sighed as she frowned and shook her head. He knew what it was like to pine for somebody, although the distance that had ended up between him and Zoey had been all his fault. There was no way he could ever force her to choose between him and the law she continually fought to upheld and he couldn’t stop. Will tried to push the thought of his wife’s face from his mind as he tangled himself with words with the songbird he had come to enjoy. Pressing his lips together, Will tried to stop the bashful look that attempted to write itself all over his face. He licked his lips and then let a sigh out over their damp surface. ”Many, many things,” Will drawled lightly, his fingers toying with the top rim of his glass. He tried to keep his eyes on the amber sheen of the liquid inside of it but when Isabella was still putting on a show it was hard not to let his eyes get drawn to her. ”Most of them I find eventually but there’ll always be one … that one I can’t have. I know where it is but … it doesn’t mean I can have it.” No, his marriage was gone now. For good.
Will tried for coy as Isabella pried about why he was actually there. The truth it seemed, wasn’t all things to all people all the time. Some were determined to hide from it, others were determined to pick it apart in search of some lie. The truth was that he had been in search of entertainment but that was a means to an end in this town and Isabella obviously knew it. He stopped fluttering his lashes, the dark lace of them lowering for a moment before he peered at her through them. Will pursed his lips for a moment, pretending to ruminate on her question. ”Not what you believe I’m seeking,” he told her honestly. ”Very rarely do I seek for myself but this …” he circled a finger in the air, indicating the space around them before he waggled it back and forth between them. ”…is me merely seeking entertainment for the night.” A place to drag his thoughts both away from Zoey’s reappearance in his life and the partners whose sole aim in life seemed to be sending him to the funny farm.
Isabella, it seemed, had other desires, which possibly included offering him up on a platter to Bartok Ali and his vampire brothers. Zoey could have told her that waving the red flag to this particular bull would only bring on the opposite effect. Will smiled as he settled back in his seat, giving the server room to refill his glass. He didn’t think for a moment that there was nothing behind her words, there was something the Alis thought he could put a stopper on. Blue eyes dropped to the delicate hand that fell over his own, Will twisted his head, his lips slipping into that charming smile he could ease on like a good suit. ”Not you, my dear,” he assured her. He did wonder just what he had done to draw the Alis’ attention though. Will set his glass down and slipped his other over top of hers, patting lightly. ”Trust me, Isabella, your boys have nothing to fear from me. No harm will come to them.” As long as the Alis didn’t start to stick their noses into his own business. ”No, no,” Will assured her, allowing her hand to slip from his. ”I’m a man happy to pay my own way and I was the one to lure you to my table to pontificate on the beauty of your voice, it’s only right that the payment should be mine.” Undoubtedly Bartok would see that as something suspicious to but Will was beginning to get the feeling that the only thing suspicious here was the detective himself.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 901
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Apr 17, 2020 14:29:46 GMT
The slow shake of her head hadn’t escaped Will’s attention. She was involved in matters here in a way that ran deeper than he’d anticipated. Obviously the Alis had seen him taking an interest in her over the last few weeks and had been prepared to tap into that to keep him pushing any further. Of course that was just a red flag to a bull but Will did nothing more than follow her gaze for a heartbeat. His eyes were soon back on her, dropping to the hand that Isabella had placed over his own. More placations, almost a plea for him not to do anything to her boys. The lie about the boys having nothing to fear from him should’ve stuck in his throat but truthfully, they wouldn’t have had anything to fear if they hadn’t started to put the pressure on now.
Easing his own hand over the top of hers Will had sought to reassure her despite the desire to now dig into the Alis floating tantalizingly around in the back of his brain. If he had still been in New York he would not have hesitated for a moment but matters were different here in Mystic Falls, especially with Zoey floating around. He had never been afraid for himself, not even when he had so recently found himself at the mercy of one of those he had tried to rob, only ever for her. Dark brows drew together at Isabella’s correction, Will’s throat working as he swallowed. ”Well, in that case, my dear, you have nothing to fear from me, on their behalf,” he assured her, squeezing lightly with the hand that had been over hers. For the moment he honestly had bigger fish to fry with his own freedom on the line, but the moment it was over and Zoey was safely away it could quite easily become a very different matter.
Especially if the Alis continued to pry into his own matters. At the very least he was not about to allow himself to be indebted to them for anything. You gave an inch, you never knew when one of them would try and take a dozen miles. Pushing the thought of the brothers aside, Will smiled sweetly at Isabella, dropping his head a half inch. ”Then my gratitude will be with you. I’m even happier to pay now that I know the cost will not be coming from your pocket. You are most welcome.” He would have drawn her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles but a move so bold would undoubtedly have had whichever Ali was standing guard like Cerberus attempting to remove him quite neatly from the situation and that wasn’t what he had wanted for tonight.
An evening listening to Isabella croon, his mind slipping into that place in his mind where his inner turmoil didn’t turn the waters dark and turbulent. He’d had no intention of bringing his own issues into the place, although if he were to refuse to explain himself Isabella could quite easily convince the Alis that information needed to be drawn quite simply from the vein to speak. Rueful, Will pinched his lips into a thin line as he glanced down into his glass. ”It would likely seem quite crass to say the usual but in this case it’s quite true. Interpersonal issues.” That was the simplest way of putting it. ”I’d say you might understand coworkers who seem quite determined to drive you mad and like you, Isabella, I have been in search of one for quite some time but that is where our situations differ. I am not hoping for them to be here, quite the opposite in fact.” At least from a distance he could’ve nursed his broken heart in peace, with Zoey here everything was laid out for the world to see again. It wouldn’t be long before rumours about the two of them began to circulate around the station and then not even the Mordecai would be a place where he could hide.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 676
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on May 11, 2020 18:20:10 GMT
A threat from painted lips was no less a threat. The words that dripped from Isabella’s lips on stage were honeyed, a croon meant to draw in those in the crowd. They were equally sweet now, rolling over of that smile even as Isabella drew her smaller hand from his. Will’s fingers curled into his palms as his smile pinched, lines carving deep between his brows with his frown. The femme fatale turning deadly for three vampire children. He hadn’t looked too closely at the woman herself, losing himself in the mask she obviously kept up on stage but now suspicion began to sink into the back of Will’s mind. He forced his lips to curl again, a liquor laced breath whispering out over his lips. ”We wouldn’t want that, my dear,” he assured her. ”In fact it’s the last thing I’d want.” Well, not exactly the last last, that spot was reserved for another. One whose presence in the town had helped to drive himself towards the oblivion that had previously been offered up by the Mordecai and it’s alluring entertainment.
Now that allure was taking on a darker edge, one that glittered with the threat of unspoken violence. Used to putting on a front it was easy enough to smile sweetly at his siren, blue eyes peeking through the fringe of dark lashes with an innocent charm that never would’ve worked had it been Zoey sitting before him. She’d always been able to look straight through his act and deep down to the man beneath. Those lashes dipped and swept back up again as she chuckled at his smooth words. ”And that is not enough to earn my gratitude?” he asked, innocence sweeping dark brows up as he stared at her. Will spread his own hand flat on the top of the table, the chair creaking beneath the shift of his weight as he settled back. ”What do you wish to hear other than I’m quite entranced by your performance up there on the stage?” he asked. The Ali brothers was certainly a subject best dropped, as was anything to do with the job.
Zoey should have been off the table too but as he stared down into his glass Will realized that she never would be with those who were looking to pry into his life as deeply as he was prying into theirs. Will let a long breath out through his nose, his lips pursing further for a moment before the melody of Isabella’s voice had him lifting his gaze. She brushed her hair away from her shoulder, that raven sweep revealing golden skin that reminded him all too much of Zoey’s. He made a low humming noise in his throat, the curve of a smile returning as he glanced back at the stage. ”It has certainly provided me with that over the last few weeks. My desires, my need to block out all that drives me insane.” Now it wasn’t only his partners, although Leah and the other one were certainly trouble enough for him. Zoey.
Even in his head her voice emerged on a sigh. She had been all that he had wanted, even when she wouldn’t give him the time of day at first. Bit by bit he’d bulled his way through her resolve, only to shatter all that trust when he hadn’t been able to set aside one devotion for another. He was a greedy man, wanting to carry on giving back to those the riches had been snatched from and have Zoey at the same time. Will gave a small smile, those dark lashes sweeping upwards at the moment. ”Two women actually,” he admitted, ”but only one would hesitate to storm in if they knew I was here. In fact, my presence would have her quite avoiding the place. The other … I fear she would scale even Bartok to get to me should she get such a bee in her bonnet.” Will lifted his hand from his glass, rubbing the pad of his thumb under the base of his ring finger again. In many ways Zoey and Leah were alike but Zoey was all quiet sense and Leah … Leah was a self-destructive force of nature.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 706
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Jul 28, 2020 13:28:08 GMT
What had become a simple attempt at flattery had rather rapidly become an attempt to take a hold of something that had thorns. Will could practically feel them dragging at his flesh as Isabella hummed in agreement at his words. The warning salvo by someone obviously far more powerful than he had first given her credit for. Isabella was no pawn to the Ali boys, in fact, it appeared, she was their queen in hiding. A sharply bladed tongue behind painted lips that still dripped with honey. Not a rose bush, he thought as she looked past him again, but a venus flytrap perhaps. Tempting in the unwitting and then closing those barbed walls around them, sealing them in before they were devoured. Will made a hurt sound at her comment, tilting his head as he aimed a pained look at her. ”Such words would never pass my lips,” he promised. ”This is more than enough for me, trust me, my dear.” He resisted reaching across the table to her hands again. No, that would’ve been laying it on too thick when this was already becoming a matching of very subtle, very refined wits.
His smile sweetened as he went from pressing his fingertips into the table top to tracing them lightly in small circles. A coy young man who was used to getting his own way with just a few flowered words, the veneer he’d been wearing since the night he’d discovered the depraved depths his father would stoop to. ”My gratitude truly is yours,” he promised. She had been a distraction from Zoey’s presence in town, an easy way to guide his thoughts away from the fact that for the first time since Zoey had asked for a divorce she was close to having to close the cell door on him. Will glanced at the stage, blue eyes narrowing in thought, then returned his gaze to hers. ”Other than the faintly off-putting, brooding presence of its owners, there’s honestly little about it that can be improved. It has the best entertainment in town and when they’re willing to indulge their customers this way, it can only become more alluring.” The brush of her fingers would’ve sent most men into fits of rapture but he had seen the darker side of Isabella now. Will purred low in his throat, heat forced into his gaze as she drew back. He allowed himself to waver faintly, leaning in before with a deep breath he sank back into his seat.
It was easier to keep his eyes on his drink. That had proven quite the numbing agent that it should’ve been. Zoey’s presence had rendered all of his usual methods of self-medication useless. Wil raised his gaze over his glass, continuing to turn it slowly in his grip as he looked to the stage and then back to her. One corner of his mouth quirked up, a hint of pride touching it for a moment. ”She always was,” he agreed. Sighing, he lifted his glass and drained it. Zoey always had been too good for him. Leah, on the other hand, felt like just what he deserved at moments like this. Between her and the Peril he had two banes in his life here, both undoubtedly ladled upon him by fate as a fitting punishment for his crimes during his marriage. Isabella’s comment, when she broke her silence had Will choking. A dark flush rose up his face as he shot her a look of utter horror. ”Oh, you very much have the wrong idea,” he warned her. ”One is my wife, the other is a splinter.” He grimaced, working his nail against his finger for a moment as thought he were trying to work it out. ”She’s one of my partners at the station and trust me, there is nothing approaching love between the two of us. Hate perhaps, scant tolerance…” If they hadn’t worked so well together it would perhaps have been worse but the most galling part of it all was that he, Leah and the Peril had proven quite the successful team.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 684
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Sept 5, 2020 18:08:54 GMT
Candied words would get you everywhere. At least if you were Dalton Carnegie. Will winced inwardly as he used them with Isabella. They were necessary, a counter to the Venus flytrap lure of her and this place but still, they echoed with the tone he’d heard his father use a thousand times to convince whichever wife or possible future wife he was on at the time not to leave, not to listen to the talk that always flew about him. Lies, lies and damned cheating behaviour. Another wince occurred as he pushed the thought down.
He’d sweetened his smile instead, trying not to slip into that all too easy trap. He wasn’t his father and Isabella hadn’t been the one to stop him for a drink, it had been the opposite. If anybody really had been the lure, it had been him, only he’d ended up surprised as his ‘prey’ had bitten back.
Will sat with his hands in front of him, lips still curled into that smile that flashed teeth that Dalton had made certain were perfect. Isabella’s painted nail continued to trail the rim of her glass. Understanding dripped from every pore without her saying a word and yet he felt the urge to squirm as though in the telling of all that he was willing to speak he was revealing something far more. The trail of her tongue along her lower lip drew his eye as she drank for her glass. It prompted him to straighten up slightly, something akin to amusement touching his expression as she’d asked his opinion on the Mordecai.
That could’ve gotten him into trouble, he knew. Bashing the Alis and their establishment. Risking their ire and that quirk snap of hurt that might hit Isabella. He could be diplomatic though, had been taught how until he could do it with infinite skill. Will took his time with it, perfuming those words when they emerged. Not entirely taking the sting from them, he couldn’t do that believably when it came to the Alis but close enough. Will huffed out a laugh, tilting his head. ”Which I’ve never been,” he assured her. And yet that antagonism had always been there between he and Bartok. Something in the other man’s attitude grating, chafing. Will hummed low in his throat as Isabella indicated towards Adonis and Calix, trying to indicate just how harmless they were he supposed.
Those sharp white teeth nipped down into his tongue to stop him scoffing at the idea. No amount of good press from Isabella was going to convince him that the Alis really were sweethearts. The men were ruthless in every respect. Peeling his hands up, Will held them up in a gesture of surrender. ”I can promise no judgment from this quarter either. It was merely an observation. After all, I’ve quite happily indulged here many a night. Basking in your presence.” The one he’d been able to quite convince himself was bloodshed free. Will hummed, inclining his head at Isabella’s reservation in a gesture of agreement. He knew, as undoubtedly the Alis knew of his own true nature. Whether or not they’d passed that on to Isabella still remained to be seen.
The fact that he was a warlock, what had happened to his marriage, his poking of his nose into the Alis business. Those subjects at least seemed to have made their way to Isabella’s ears. It seemed she suspected that he was in love with both his partner and his ex-wife. Immediately he was coughing and spluttering over it, his face turning puce as he looked at her aghast. ”Nothing of romance,” he promised on a laugh. ”It would be like trying to romance a mongoose.” He shuddered. Things with Leah had improved from where they’d started out but she was still like the little sister he’d never wanted. Nosy, intrusive, imperious and bossy. Sucking in a breath he explained their real relationship and was glad when Isabella hummed in response. ”Exactly,” he admitted on a sigh. He swooped a hand through the air. ”She has no boundaries whatsoever. I spend half my time at the station attempting not to throttle her.” And yet when he’d needed her Leah had strangely been there in his apartment. Patching him up, shaving the revolting hair from his face, babying him and tearing a strip off him all at once in a way that would’ve been quite unlike Zoey’s had their roles been reversed that day.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 747
|
|
WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
|
Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Oct 15, 2020 18:19:50 GMT
If Isabella DeLuca had been the face of the Alis business in all regards they’d likely have shed less blood. It wasn’t just the classically stunning face, it was her pleasant tone, the air of civility and nurturing that rolled from her along with that sultry edge that would be all some men saw. Even that would have been an improvement over the Ali brothers and their foreboding expressions and continual air of violence beneath the veneer of gloss they tried to apply. He hadn’t meant to sour his dealings with the best part of their operation here at the Mordecai but the laugh had rolled out all the same and Will was glad to see that he hadn’t offended her. She glanced away, undoubtedly towards whichever of the brothers was hovering like a bad smell but there was a curve to her perfectly painted lips as she did so. He’d been honest and by the looks of things Isabella was being the same.
As long as the Brothers Ali didn’t try to interfere with his business here in town he would return the favour. No nosing further than cases that intersected his own interests, no intentional irritation of them, although with Bartok that sometimes felt like an impossibility. As long as he could achieve that he could keep his word to Isabella that there would be no interference on his part … no judgment either. His lips pressing together Will cast a look over his shoulder at the others still gathered around the stage. Some were envious, one or two doing nothing to hide those green eyed looks. ”It would seem so,” Will crooned lightly. He looked back, his blue eyes narrowing faintly as he took her in again. ”Although, we both know there’s so much more to you than your looks or your stage performance.” No, Will thought, looking at her shrewdly as he reached for his glass, there were hidden depths here. The nightingale more a falcon in disguise.
Those onyx eyes and the razor mind behind them fixed on his mention of two women soon enough. Will shifted in his seat, almost feeling her talons sink deep into the idea, amusement racing through her expression as he’d sputtered over her assumption. If Zoey had been here she wouldn’t have taken well to the assumption, despite the stark signing of both of their names on a document that should’ve made each other’s love life a private matter once more. If Leah had been here … Christ. It would’ve been a thousand times, her amusement would’ve filled the entire room, the shrug Isabella aimed at him drawing laughter. Reaching for the napkin that had placed beneath his delivered drink, Will lifted it and plotted his mouth, then his hot cheeks. ”She’s most certainly a coworker, nothing more.” He wouldn’t have even considered using the words partner or friend … not until she’d almost taken pity and had both made him coffee and removed the beastly thing that had grown on his face during his captivity in the Russian’s safe room.
If Leah had been his sister Dalton certainly wouldn’t have gotten away with half of his worst bad parenting moments, she might also have been drowned at birth too though. Isabella’s comment about why Leah did it had laughter rolling out again, his teeth flashing as he looked up at her. ”Oh, not that she’d admit to. A few weeks ago I returned from a business trip and moments later she was breaking into my apartment in search of coffee. That wasn’t care.” That was a desperation for coffee and the tossing around of ridicule and sighed exasperation. And care afterwards. It wasn’t given tenderly, but there had been enough pity there that he’d tolerated it and even felt a little gratitude. ”She was born nosy, which is why if she ever did get in here she’d be a far bigger pain in the proverbial than I could ever be.” Will almost hummed the last couple of words, looking around the room with a faint sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. If Leah did start to dig into the Alis and this place she would soon end up in over her head.
Tagged: @isabella * Word Count: 707
|
|