“That’s not enough,” I taunted her cruelly, as I increased the force of my thrusts. Pictures were falling off the wall all around us and I didn’t give one fuck.
Isabella rested her forehead to mine and her eyes were filled with sorrow, regret, ecstasy and pain. “I feel everything for you, Julian. You make me feel everything. My heart beats for you. My soul reaches out for you. My mind thinks of only you. And my body begs for only your touch.”
“More,” I gritted out as I felt myself ready to flood her cunt with my release.
“I only crave the taste of your cock on my tongue, Julian. My pussy only drips for you. And my ass opens only for you,” she swore.
I came.
I shot her body full of, blast after blast, of my cum. And, God be praised, she convulsed around me immediately afterwards.
I’d never forgive myself if we ever had sex where I didn’t make Isabella cum.
After a few seconds, I carried her, still wrapped around my neck and waist, to sit on our bed. I held onto her hips as she straddled me with her head nestled under my jaw. I didn’t want to upset her, but she was right. We needed to resolve this. It didn’t matter that, even though my dick was softening, I was still embedded inside her.
“Isabella…”
Her words were muffled, but I heard them all the same. “Stop calling me that,” she pleaded.
It took me a couple of seconds, but then it dawned on me why she had said that, and my chest weakened with shame. I hadn’t meant to hurt her. Sweet Jesus, I would never intentionally try to hurt her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
She started crying and I didn’t try to stop her. I just held on to her tighter.
And just when I thought she may have cried herself to sleep, she spoke and her voice was strong and loud in the quietness of our home. “I love you more than you will ever believe I can, Julian. I cherish ever single little thing you do for me. No matter how big or how small, I recognize the love you have for me in each act of your selflessness.” She brought one hand down from my neck and started rubbing it all over my chest. We looked silly with only her tank top on and my sweats still gathered around my knees, but here she was pouring her heart out to me. “I’ve never viewed you as my puppet. I can’t imagine you ever being anyone’s puppet, Julian. Thinking of you as my puppet would imply that I’m not grateful for everything you do for me and that’s just not the case. I savor and thank God for every thing you’ve ever done for me or have shown me.” Her voice finally cracked. “It kills me to think that I’ve made you feel like I’m using you. I’m…” she started sobbing again and I wanted to punch myself in the dick.
“I’m sorry, Dove. I’m so sorry, baby,” I said as I gathered her as closer to me.
“I wasn’t going to help my father. I’m not going to help my father. I was just curious. I swear, Julian. I…” she rushed out.
“Shhhh, Isabella. Please, baby, don’t cry. Shhhh…shhhh, it’s okay,” I begged. Her tears were carving me wide open.
“I’m so tired, Julian. I’m tired and confused and scare and…I just want to go to work every day and it be normal. I don’t want to worry about the strangers around me. I want to go back in time and have a real mother and father. I just want a normal life. I want to live quietly with you and my friends. But now have flowers being delivered and siblings ambushing me and…I’m just so confused,” she went on to confess.
I hated that all these things were happening to her. And I really hated that I put my feelings before hers. I’ve always tried to make it a point to put her before anything I’m feeling, but I knew I was going to continue to react badly every time she pointed out that I wasn’t her husband.
I needed this woman to marry me and marry me soon.
I ran my hand down her back in a soothing motion. “If you would just trust me and let me take care of you, Isabella, you wouldn’t be so tired and confused.” Yeah, it was extremely arrogant of me to announce that I could make all her troubles go away, but it was true.
“I do trust you, Julian. I just don’t want you to ever think that my love is conditional to what you have and can do for me. I don’t want your money and all that it can provide for me. I just want you to love me. That’s it. That’s all.”
Her words touched me and my dick started hardening inside her. Isabella let out a low moan and started getting comfortable on my cock. She pulled her head out from under my jaw and started nipping her way across my lower lip. “Fuck me until I forget everything, Julian. Please,” she begged.
And I did.
Chapter 17
Wrath: Because it’s not like that, you dickwad!!
Isabella~
I sat here, feeling all kinds of emotions and I didn’t know what to do about them exactly.
When Logan called me at my office yesterday and invited me to lunch, I wasn’t sure what his motive was. When I last spoke with him, he had given me the impression that the ball was in my court, but I guess not.
I suppose I didn’t have to accept his invitation, but after days and days with this crap on my mind, I came to the grudgingly conclusion that, if he was telling the truth about just finding out about me a few months ago, then he was just as betrayed by his father as I was.
So, I accepted the invite to lunch, hoping to find some kind of balance with this thing. The only uneasy thing about it was that I hadn’t told anyone. Not Julian, Ace or Q. I hadn’t wanted any influence on where I went from here. If I decided to end all contact with Logan or start something with him, then I wanted to be sure it was all me and what I felt in my heart.
This was too important a decision to be made confused by varying opinions and advice.
He chose a small bristo-style café a few streets down from Whillshire. It was quaint and clean. The food was good, too.
Small talk was made while the waitress took our orders and the awkwardness didn’t settle in until she brought us back our drinks and we were now waiting for our meals. This entire situation felt like one big fail.
Logan cleared his throat and finally tackled the awkwardness. “I’m glad you agreed to have lunch with me, Isabella. I know I told you that I’d give you time, and respect your decision, but I’m finding that the more time we waste, the more pissed off I get at my dad. And while he deserves it, I’m trying to be the bigger person and recognize that his health is more important than my feelings.”
I cocked my head at his choice of words. “So, you’re pushing this so you won’t be mad at Elliot anymore?”
He shook his head. “No. I didn’t mean it like that.” He raised his hand to his forehead and started rubbing at the signs of a headache. “I called you because I will not go about my life acting like I don’t have a sister. And you are my sister, Isabella. I know we don’t have a bond and we’re blood by half only, but we are blood, nonetheless.”
“Have you discussed your…interest in getting to know me with your family?” I asked because the curiosity was killing me.
I was expecting him to shift around uncomfortably and announce his family hated me, but that’s not what happened. His face took on the warmest smile at the mention of his family. “Steven and Jeffrey want to meet you, but I suppose being the oldest, they felt more comfortable with me leading the charge.”
“They want to meet me?” I asked, shocked. Did that mean they just wanted to get a look at me like a zoo exhibit or they wanted a sister like Logan claimed to want?
“Yes, they do. They’re hoping if I can convince you to give me a chance, that maybe they’ll get one too,” he explained.
“And your mother?” I mean, she was the real obstacle here, right?
“It’s different for her,” he started. “While Steven, Jeffrey and I are pissed and hurt because we missed out on having a sister all these years, she doesn’t know how to deal with an affair that happened almost 30 years ago. But she supports our decision to want to get to know you.”
“Cut the crap, Logan. There’s no way she would be okay with hearing m
y name on her sons’ lips all happy and sibling-like,” I countered. With as much as I loved Julian, there was no way my heart wouldn’t crack open every time I was met with a reminder that he had a child with someone else. While we were together, no less.
He sat up straighter. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t get me wrong. Her pain is very real. Learning about you shattered every thing she thought was good and real. But at the end of the day, we’re all adults and we’re all very aware of who is to blame here. There’s only one person responsible for all this heartache and that’s our dad.”
“Don’t forget my mother,” I reminded him.
He smirked indelicately at that. “Now, while I agree your mother should not have been sleeping with a married man, she’s not the one who betrayed her family. She didn’t have a pregnant wife and son at home, Isabella.”
I wished I could be as lenient as Logan was where my mother was concerned, but I spent my entire life watching that woman focus on a way to lure Elliot Stanhope away from his family. Yeah, ultimately, it was his choice to betray his family, but my mother was no innocent.
You don’t sleep with married people, period.
“I wish I could be as magnanimous as you are towards my mother, but the way I see it, she had her choice of any single man in the country and she went after or accepted the advances of a married man. That makes her no better in my book,” I told him. I didn’t want him thinking that I couldn’t see their affair for what it was.
“Fair enough,” he conceded.
We put the topic of our parents’ affair on hold as the waitress came back with our lunches. I had ordered a chef salad, while Logan had ordered a lunch sandwich special. The waitress asked if we needed anything else and promptly left when we both said we were good.
I added dressing to my salad and took a bite before I resumed our conversation. “I honestly don’t know how I feel about all this, Logan. No matter how strong my curiosity, I can’t help but feel like this is a bad idea.”
He sandwich filled hands stopped midway to his mouth. “Why,” he asked simply.
“Elliot doesn’t deserve absolution at the expense of his wife’s feelings,” I told him. “Regardless of his health issues, why should he be granted a chance to make things right when all it’ll do is hurt his wife further? Even if I restrict my association to just you, or you and Steven and Jeffrey, Elliot still gets a silver lining in knowing his children are working things out.” I stabbed at my salad. “This may sound cruel and bitter, but he doesn’t deserve any kind of positive when he created such a hurtful situation with his unfaithfulness towards his wife.”
Logan took a bite of his sandwich and I noticed he was chewing slowly. I wondered if it was calculated to give him a chance to digest my words. He finally swallowed and said, “I don’t think you sound cruel or bitter. I think you sound hurt.”
I stared into his brown eyes. “I was hurt, Logan. I was hurt for years.” I dropped my fork and leaned in to make sure I had his attention. “You see, while you guys were living the picture perfect suburban life with dinner at the table every night and soccer tournaments and Easter Sundays, or whatever the hell is was you guys did, I was being raised by a woman who made no effort to hide the circumstances of my birth. I had to listen to my mother comment every day how she was good enough to fuck for months, but she wasn’t good enough to acknowledge once she became the mother of his child. She didn’t shield me from letting me know that how she would still to this day lay on her back for Elliot. And she sure as hell didn’t protect me from the fact that Elliot knew about my existence, but chose to act like I didn’t exist anyways.”
He blanched a bit at the little glimpse into my upbringing. “I don-”
I held up a hand to stop any apology that he was, no doubt, ready to spew. “Here’s the thing, though. I’m no longer hurt by my mother’s bad choices and Elliot’s callousness. Right now, what I am, is appalled and offended that after being discarded like last week’s trash, that man had the nerve to call my mother and ask for my help because now he needs something from me. And I’m pissed that my mother still loves him more than she does me, after all these years, to actually ask me to help him. That’s what I’m feeling, Logan. Hurt went out the window years ago.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Log-”
“No, Isabella. I know you don’t want me to apologize, but it needs to be said. You got the crappy end of this deal and you’re right. While we got to live the All-American suburban life, ignorant of my father’s behavior, you weren’t granted that privilege. It might not be my place, but someone needs to apologize to you. You deserve one,” he stressed.
I let out a deep sigh, my appetite forgotten. I didn’t want to berate him or take my resentment out on him. Now that I was no longer in shock at his arrival into my life, I could see that he was genuine about wanting to get to know me. I just didn’t think I could. Even though none of this was my doing, I couldn’t help but feel guilt and shame at my mother’s behavior. I couldn’t get Logan’s mother out of my mind. “Logan…”
“Isabella, I’m asking…or probably begging at this point,” Logan chuckled sadly. “Can you honestly sit there and tell me that if this was our last meeting, that you could go on with your life and never wonder about me again? Wonder about Steven and Jeffrey?”
His eyes looked so sincere. “Probably not, but I don’t just think of you, Steven or Jeffrey when I think of your family. I think of your mother, too. Actually, I think of your mother more than I probably should. I have no desire to pick up where my mother left off and continue to cause this woman pain and heartbreak because there’s no way she thinks of me and doesn’t associate me with her husband sleeping with another woman.”
And then Logan floored me with something I would never expect in a million years. “What if you met my mother? What if you met her and Elliot at the same time?”
My face had to have resembled that of a cartoon character with their eyes bugging out. The shock of that question had me speechless. Was his mother a saint? “Why on earth would you think that you’re mother would be willing to meet me?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Granted we haven’t really discussed her feelings on all this, because that’s between her and my father, but I know she hasn’t said anything hateful or derogatory about you. Well, at least she hasn’t said anything to me.”
This was all becoming too much. “Look, Logan, I understand how you feel and I appreciate your honesty, but this is bigger than just the two of us.”
“Steven and Jeffr-”
“No. I’m not just talking about you, your brothers and your mother-”
“Our brothers,” he corrected me.
“Fine…our brothers. But this clusterfuck isn’t just limited to you, our brothers and your mother. This disaster is like a wad of gum on your shoe. It’s going to touch every place you walk. That means a decision to take this further will bring Elliot, my mother and Julian into the fray,” I explained further.
He sat up straighter, his sandwich forgotten. “Okay, I’ll grant you that Elliot will try to still find a way to get to you through me, or us, if you choose to meet Steven and Jeffrey. But I don’t see how this has to impact your mother or your boyfriend.”
The word boyfriend threw me back to the argument with Julian on Saturday. I’m sure Logan didn’t mean to, but the word made Julian’s place in my life seem insignificant.
I now officially hated that word.
I hated that people thought he was just my boyfriend, even though it was my fault he wasn’t my husband, yet.
“Because they’re a part of my life,” I went on to clarify for him.
“I’m just saying, you can keep it from Julian and your mother until you’re ready t-”
A huge shadow covered the table and the bottom of my stomach plummeted to my feet.
I’d recognize that shadow anywhere.
Julian~
It was taking everything I had in me not to pull Isabella’s b
rother up from his chair and beat the ever loving shit out of him.
When Garret had texted me that he was driving Isabella to lunch, I was thankful for the tidbit. But when he texted me that a man had joined her for lunch, I was feeling anything but thankful.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, but there was a stranger who was fixated on her running loose and I didn’t like not knowing who she was with. When Carson had come back with information that the orders were being made at random internet cafés around the city, I had put a hold on digging further. It was like a needle in a haystack at this point, so I wanted some time to see if there was another way to track the fucker down.
Luckily, for Logan Stanhope, I knew what he looked like. I had combed the files on the Stanhopes until my eyes had crossed when Carson’s handed over everything his PI could get on them. I knew what they all looked like, what they were worth and where they all lived. Hell, I even knew what pets they owned.
Carson’s PI was very thorough.
I entered the bistro ready to put the fear of God into whomever Isabella was having lunch with, but when I had seen Logan’s face, I regrouped and decided to join them as moral support for Isabella instead. While I still wasn’t thrilled about inviting Logan into her life because of Elliot, I was willing to support her on it, because Logan wasn’t Elliot.
That all changed the second I heard him advising her to keep secrets from me.
I wanted to kill the motherfucker.
I could see Isabella looking up at me as she acknowledged me, but my eyes never wavered from Logan’s shocked ones. “Julian, what a-”
“Let’s go, Isabella,” I managed to get out.
“Juli-”
“I said let’s go,” I repeated as I pulled out my wallet, and taking out two one hundred dollar bills, I threw them on the table.
Isabella scrambled to get her purse and Logan stood when she did. “You must be Julian Moretti,” he stated calmly.
I had my hand on Isabella’s upper arm and I waited until she was positioned behind me before I addressed him. “And you must be the stupidest fucker on the planet.”
Claiming Isabella Page 20
