by Naima Simone
Dragging in a breath and struggling to contain her temper in the face of their venom, Isobel straightened her shoulders and tipped up her chin.
“As I was saying,” Isobel gritted out. “I would never come between you and Darius. His relationship with you is yours. And if it’s as strong as you say, then there’s nothing I could do to harm it,” she pointed out. Ignoring Helena’s outraged gasp, Isobel continued, “But while you might revise history with Darius, don’t look me in the eye and speak it to me. We both know I’ve never tried to keep you from your grandson. You were the ones who didn’t believe he was a prestigious Wells.” She uttered that name as if it were sour. “You decided he wasn’t worthy of your time and attention. Your love. As for me, I don’t need your approval or acceptance. I don’t even want it. But now, for some reason, you’ve changed your mind, and I won’t deprive Aiden of knowing his father’s family. But if you believe for one second that I’ll let you twist and poison him, then you’re absolutely correct. You won’t see him.”
I won’t allow you to turn him into his father.
“Twist him? Poison him?” Gabriella bit, her lips curling in a snarl. “That is rich coming from you of all people. You, a gold-digging wh—”
“What’s going on here?”
All of them turned toward the living room entrance at the sound of Darius’s voice. A steadily darkening frown creased his brow as he scanned Isobel’s features before moving to Helena and Gabriella.
Relief coursed through her, but she locked her knees, refusing to betray any sign of weakness in front of the two women.
“Helena? Gabriella?” he pressed. “What are you doing here?”
Isobel desperately needed to retreat and regroup. Shore up her battered shields.
“They came by to see you. I’m just going to check on Aiden. I’ll be right back.” Forcing a smile that felt fake and brittle on her lips, she left without a backward glance at Helena and Gabriella.
“Isobel,” Darius murmured, catching her arm in a gentle grasp as she passed him. “Sweetheart...”
“No, Darius,” she said, slipping free of his hold. “Just give me a minute.”
She left the room and prayed that when she returned, the two women he considered a surrogate mother and sister were gone. If not, she might not be responsible for her actions.
Fourteen
“What happened?” Darius demanded as soon as Isobel disappeared from sight. “And can one of you explain to me why I received a phone call from my nanny to return home as soon as possible because two women were attacking Isobel?”
Fury simmered beneath his skin. They both stared at him, their faces set in identical mutinous lines. Helena rose from the couch, turning fully to face him.
“Helena? Gabriella?” He strode farther into the room, halting across from them. “What. Happened? And don’t tell me ‘nothing’ or ‘everything is fine,’ because both would be lies.”
He’d glimpsed Isobel’s face when he’d first entered the room. That cold, shuttered mask had relayed all he needed to know. She only wore that blank expression when hurt or angry. And from the shadows that had swirled in her eyes before she’d pulled away from him, both emotions had applied.
“I love you, Darius,” Helena said, approaching him with her hands outstretched toward him. “You know I do. But how much longer is this supposed to go on? How much longer are we supposed to pretend that that...woman is welcome in our family?”
“Helena,” he warned, his muscles tensing when she clutched his forearms.
He’d never pulled away from her touch before, but with those vicious words ringing in the room—no matter the pain they originated from—he couldn’t take it. He stepped back, her arms dropping away. Hurt flashed across her face, her lips parting in surprise.
“Darius,” Gabriella murmured, glancing at her mother, then back at him. A plea filled her gaze. “That’s why we came here today. To tell you that we know you went through this farce of a relationship so we could have Aiden in our lives. You’ve sacrificed for us, but you don’t have to anymore. Mother told me about the DNA test. And now that we have the results back—”
He slashed his hand through the air, dread spiking in his chest. “Did you tell Isobel about the DNA test?” he growled. Driving his fingers through his hair, he glanced away from the women. His motives—bringing closure to the family—had been pure, but Isobel would see it as a betrayal. He needed to talk to her first, to explain. “Gabriella, did you say anything to Isobel about the test?”
“No, I didn’t say anything to your precious Isobel,” she snapped, whipping around and pacing away from him. “But you should know that we’ve been talking and have come to some decisions.”
The unease that had coiled inside him slowly unfurled. “What are you talking about?”
For a heartbeat, Helena and Gabriella didn’t respond, just stared at him. The tension thickened until it seemed to suck all the air out of the room.
“Answer me,” he grated out.
“Now that we know for certain that Aiden is Gage’s son, we intend to go forward with the suit for sole custody,” Helena announced. “We’ve already contacted our attorney.”
“You. Did. Not,” he snarled. Betrayal, rage and despair churned in his chest, and he fought not to hurl curses and accusations that would irrevocably damage his relationships with these people. “That wasn’t my plan or my agreement with Isobel. The terms of which I expressly discussed with you.”
Helena scoffed, waving a hand. “That was before we knew that Aiden was our grandson. Ours,” she stressed, pressing a fist to her heart. “Gage would’ve wanted him raised with us. By us and not that...that deceiver, that liar. And no judge on this earth wouldn’t see that we’re much more fit parents than her.”
“Darius, don’t you see?” Gabriella implored, moving closer to him. She clutched his upper arm, and he curbed his automatic reaction to shake her off. And that reaction sent a blast of pain through him. “This is for you, too. Now you can break off this joke of an engagement. You did all this for us, and we love you for it. But now, with us suing for custody, you don’t have to chain yourself to a woman you hate. We know you might not agree with this, but we believe it is for the best.”
“For the best,” he repeated. “Do you know all Isobel has been through with her marriage to Gage? He wasn’t a loving, faithful husband. He emotionally beat her down, cheated on her. He mentally abused her. Now, after she survived that, you want to rip her child away from her.”
“How dare you?” Helena hissed, anger mottling her skin. She advanced on him, eyes narrowed and glittering. “I love you like a son, Darius, but I won’t allow you to speak ill of my son in this house. Who told you these lies that you’re so willing to swallow? Isobel?” She spit the name, her mouth twisting into an ugly sneer. “So, you believe her over a man who you loved as a brother? Did she warp your mind? Is that it, Darius? Do you think you’re in love with her?”
He parted his lips, but no words emerged. His pulse pounded in his ears, and his tongue suddenly seemed too thick for his mouth. Helena’s question ricocheted off the walls of his skull.
Do you think you’re in love with her? Do you think you’re in love with her?
Over and over. No, his mind objected. Not possible.
He pivoted sharply on his heel and strode to the bank of windows. After Faith, he hadn’t believed himself capable of having deep feelings for another woman. Just the idea of opening himself and risking that kind of pain once more... He’d vowed never to make himself vulnerable—weak—again. And Isobel...
She had the power to hurt him like Faith never did.
If he gave her the chance, and she betrayed him, she could wreck him.
The knowledge had fear and anger cascading through him. Could he take a chance? Could he crack himself open and lose not just his family—because the Wellses w
ould view him as choosing her as the biggest betrayal—but also risk losing himself?
No.
Coward that he was, no, he couldn’t risk it.
“Darius.”
He jerked his head up, spinning around.
Isobel stood in the doorway. How long had she been standing there? How much had she overheard? He moved towards her, but she shifted backward.
And that one movement supplied the answers.
* * *
“Isobel, please let me explain.”
She stared at him, numb. The blessed nothingness had assailed her from the moment she’d returned to the living room and overheard his conversation with Helena and Gabriella.
Did you tell Isobel about the DNA test?
We intend to go forth with the suit for sole custody.
No judge on this earth wouldn’t see that we’re much more fit parents than her.
Do you think you’re in love with her?
That awful, damning silence.
The two women had left soon after she’d appeared in the room, but she hadn’t moved. Hadn’t been able to. And now, as pain invaded her body, she prayed for the return of the numbness.
“Yes,” she agreed, voice hoarse. “You’re right. Which should we talk about first? The violation of running a DNA test on my son behind my back? Or how your family intends to take my son away from me?”
He closed his eyes, and a spasm of emotion passed over his face. But it disappeared in the next instant.
“I’m sorry for not telling you about the DNA test, Isobel,” he murmured.
“You’re sorry for not telling me, but not for doing it,” she clarified. A sarcastic chuckle escaped her. “You promised me we would make decisions regarding Aiden together. Without interference from the Wellses. You betrayed my trust.”
“I didn’t...” He broke off his sentence, briefly glancing away. “Yes, I did break that promise. And I’m sorry,” he said, returning his gaze to her. “I am, Isobel. But my motives weren’t to hurt or betray you. I thought if Baron, Helena and Gabriella knew for certain that Aiden was their grandson and nephew, he could bring healing to them. To this family. I wanted to give them that. But also, knowing you told the truth about him being Gage’s would start to change their view of you, as well. Not only do they need to know their grandson and nephew—they need to begin to know you.”
“No, Darius. Now they just think it was luck that Gage fathered him, out of all the other men I supposedly screwed.” She shook her head. “But this isn’t about them. It’s about how you lied to me. It’s about how you put them—their feelings, their welfare—above Aiden.” Above me. “And you handed them cause to take him away from me.”
“I won’t allow that to happen,” he growled, moving toward her, his arms outstretched. As if to touch her.
No. No way could she allow that. Not when she was so close to crumbling. She shifted backward, steeling herself against the glint of pain in his eyes.
“Agreeing to marry you, to move in here, to put my son under your protection was supposed to stop it from occurring. But it didn’t. I still find myself at their mercy. A place I vowed two years ago I would never be again. And all because I trusted you.”
“Do you really believe I would throw you to the wolves? That I would abandon you to face this alone? Do you think I’m capable of that?” he demanded, stalking forward, but he drew up several feet shy of her.
“Would you want to? No,” she whispered. “But would you do it all the same? Yes. If Baron, Helena and Gabriella made you choose between them and me, I have no illusions about whose side you would come down on. And I’m so tired of waging a losing battle between the past, your mistrust and Gage’s family. Your family. Because I’ll never be considered a member of that perfect unit.”
“That’s bullshit,” he snapped, his features darkening in anger. “We’ve been building something here. Something good. Our own place, our own family. You can’t deny that.”
She shook her head once more. Desperately needing space, she backpedaled, then caught herself midstep. She was through running. Through letting others dictate her life, her truth.
“What we’ve ‘been building’ was founded on blackmail, lies and mistrust. It’ll never be ‘something good.’”
Raising her head, she committed every one of his features to memory. Though she might wish she could evict him from her heart, she never would.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. She had to. For her peace. For her sanity. For her future.
“I love you, Darius,” she admitted quietly.
His body stiffened, and lightning flashed in his eyes, brightening them so the gold almost eclipsed the dark brown. “Isobel,” he rumbled.
“No.” She slammed a hand up, though he hadn’t moved toward her. “Let me finish. I didn’t think I would ever be able to open my heart to another man. But you did the impossible. You made me trust again. Love again. Made me believe in second chances. And I thank you for that. And I might hate you for that,” she whispered. “Because you showed me what happily-ever-after could be, then snatched it from me.”
“Isobel,” Darius rasped again, erasing the distance between them and cradling her cheek.
And for a moment, she cupped her hand over his, pressing his palm to her face and savoring his touch. But then she dragged his hand away from her.
“Do you love me?” she asked, staring into his eyes. Glimpsing the surprise flicker and then the shadows gather in them.
Darius stepped backward, a dark frown creasing his brow. But he said nothing. And it was all the answer she needed.
“You awakened something in me,” she said softly. “Something I wish would fall back asleep, because now that it’s alive, I hurt. I...hope. The Isobel from two years ago would believe she could change you, make you accept her. Fight for her, if she just loved you hard enough. That Isobel would be happy with the parts of yourself you were willing to give her. But I’m not that woman anymore. I deserve to be a man’s number one and to be loved and cherished and valued and protected. I deserve a man who will love me beyond reason, and though I’m not perfect, he will love me perfectly.”
“What you want, I...” he trailed off.
The raw scrape of his voice and the sorrow in his gaze should’ve been a balm to her battered soul, but it did nothing.
“I’m not telling you this to emotionally blackmail you, Darius. I’m admitting this for me, not you. So when I walk out of here, I won’t have regrets.”
“Walk out of here?” he repeated on a low growl. His arms lifted again, but once more he dropped them, his fingers curling into fists. “We had an agreement. A contract. You can’t just break it.”
“We’ve been breaking the contract from the beginning. Becoming lovers. The DNA test. Falling in love with you.” The contract was supposed to have been a defense against that. A reminder of who she was marrying and why. But it hadn’t shielded her heart, just as Darius hadn’t protected her and Aiden. “Do what you feel you need to do regarding the consequences. But I won’t remain in this home, in this...arrangement knowing I can’t trust you. That I will continue to pay the price for Gage’s lies and the Wellses’ grudges. I refuse to be someone’s emotional and mental punching bag again. And every time you side with Gage’s memory and his family, you deliver another blow. No, Aiden and I will be leaving today. But I won’t keep him from you. He loves you, and I know you feel the same. We’ll set up a schedule after we’re settled...”
Her arms tingled with the need to throw themselves around him. Her throat ached with the longing to ask him to say something, to beg her not to go. To declare his love and loyalty.
But nothing came from him.
She straightened her shoulders and inhaled past the pain. Then she turned, exited the room and climbed the stairs. Once she entered her bedroom and shut the door, her back hit the
wall and she slowly slid to the floor. The tears she’d been reining in fell unchecked down her cheeks. How long she sat there, quietly sobbing and hugging herself, she didn’t know. But during that time, her resolve to do right by Aiden, and by herself, firmed until it resembled a thick, impenetrable wall.
She might be losing Darius, losing the future she’d so foolishly allowed herself to imagine for her and Aiden, but she was gaining more.
Her self-respect.
Her dignity.
Her.
And it was more than enough.
Fifteen
Darius stared down into the squat glass tumbler and the amber-colored bourbon filling it.
At what point would the alcohol send him tumbling into oblivion, where the memories from Thanksgiving couldn’t follow? He’d been seeking the answer to this for four days now. But while he’d been fucked up, that sweet abyss of forgetfulness had eluded him. No matter how many bottles he’d gone through, he could still see Isobel’s beautiful face etched with pain and fierce determination as she confessed she loved him—and then left him. Could still hear the catch in her voice as she accused him of betraying her trust. Could still hear the sound of the front door closing behind her and Aiden that afternoon.
Closing his eyes, he raised the glass to his lips and gulped a mouthful of the expensive but completely useless liquid. But he was desperate to not just escape the mental torture of his last, devastating conversation with Isobel, but the terrible, deafening silence of his house. It’d chased him into his study, where he’d shut himself away. But there was no refuge from the emptiness, from the nothing that pervaded his home.
I deserve a man who will love me beyond reason, and though I’m not perfect, he will love me perfectly.
If Baron, Helena and Gabriella made you choose between them and me, I have no illusions about whose side you would come down on.
You betrayed my trust.
Do you love me?
