Then her face crumpled, and she fell into my open arms with a quiet sob that ripped through me like shrapnel. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her as she cried, wishing I didn’t feel so damn helpless.
No one was above Valhalla’s rules, not even the managing committee. I could easily find her another job or pay her bills so she didn’t have to find new employment, but that wouldn’t go over well. She was too independent to accept anyone’s charity. Besides, I knew Isabella well enough to know her termination from Valhalla was not the root issue here.
She confirmed it less than a minute later when she lifted her head, her eyes red and swollen from her tears.
An ache clawed its way into my chest and stabbed at my heart.
“I’m sorry.” She hiccupped. “This is so stupid. I totally didn’t mean to cry all over your really nice and probably very expensive shirt.” She rubbed her thumb over the mascara-stained cotton like it would magically erase the black marks.
“It’s just a shirt.” I grasped her wrist, stilling her. “And it’s not stupid. You’ve had a…taxing day.”
“Kai Young, the king of understatement.” Isabella’s watery smile dissolved almost as soon as it formed. “It’s not even the getting fired part that gets me. I mean, obviously I’m upset, but part of me expected it to happen. I just…” Her throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “I feel like such a failure. My mom’s birthday is in a few weeks, my book isn’t done yet, and I’ll have to go home and tell my family I got fired. It’s worse because they’ve been so supportive. Well, besides Gabriel, but that’s another story. They’ve had faith in me this entire time, and I keep letting them down.”
“You’re not letting them down. There’s no time limit to success, and they’re your family,” I said.
“They want you to be happy.”
“I’m happy when I’m with you or my friends. But when you leave and I’m alone, I just feel…lost.
Like I don’t know where I’m supposed to be in life.” The last word came out as an achingly vulnerable whisper.
The ache intensified, creeping into my bones and veins like poison without a cure. I had billions in the bank and the most powerful people in the world on speed dial, but I’d never felt so powerless.
“You’re not alone,” I said softly. “You have me.”
If it were anyone else, they’d have to pull the words out of me with pliers. But with Isabella, the admission floated as easily between us as a gust of air.
Her eyes brightened with a fresh sheen. A tear streaked down her cheek, and I brushed it away with my thumb, wishing I could offer more than words and a promise. I’d give anything to see her happy—truly happy, not just happy in the moment. No fears, no anxieties, just the freedom to bloom to her fullest potential.
“We’ll be lost together.” A smile edged my lips. “Lucky for you, I have an excellent sense of direction.”
“Funny, because I don’t have any direction.” Her expression dimmed further before she shook her head. The tense melancholy retreated an inch. “Every man thinks they have a great sense of direction.
I bet you refuse to ask for help even when you are lost.” Isabella sniffled out a laugh. “Anyway, enough about me. What about you? The board must be freaking out about the photos. I’m not exactly CEO partner material.” Concern swallowed the fleeting humor in her eyes. “It’s not going to affect the vote, is it?”
Her question grabbed hold of my heart and squeezed. She was the one who’d gotten fired, and she was worried about me.
In that moment, I wanted to hunt down every person who’d ever made her feel like she was a failure, a disappointment, or anything less than fucking perfect.
“It’s caused some complications, but they’re nothing I can’t handle.” I smoothed away the furrow in her brow with a kiss. “Don’t worry about me, love.”
“I know we should’ve been more careful,” she said quietly. “But is it bad that I don’t regret what we did?”
“No.” My lips traced the curve of her cheek to the corner of her mouth. “Because I don’t either.”
I’d replayed and dissected the past three months dozens of times since the photos surfaced. The piano room, the holidays, our first “date” in Brooklyn and subsequent library rendezvous…they were reckless, yes, but they were also the only patches of sunlight in the overwhelming grayness of my life.
I hadn’t noticed how muted my world was until Isabella burst in, full of life and color and energy, like a rose blossoming in the middle of an arid desert.
I wouldn’t trade any of my moments with her for all the calm and peace in the world.
I thought I abhorred chaos, but somehow, somewhere along the way, I’d grown to love it.
“What are we going to do?” Isabella whispered. “The Star could still have people following us…”
“I’ve taken care of that.” The special team I’d hired immediately upon seeing the photos could ferret out a tail faster than a bloodhound could find a bone. It should’ve been enough, but impulse and a desperate desire to wipe the worry from her face pushed my next words out of my mouth. “Let’s go away.”
She startled at my words. “What?”
“Let’s go away for the weekend. Take a break, recharge and regroup.” The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a strategic withdrawal to somewhere warm, away from prying eyes and the icy claws of the city. “My family owns property in Turks and Caicos. No one will bother us there.”
Isabella stared at me like I’d suggested walking barefoot to California. “We can’t just leave.”
“Why not?”
“Because!” For once, she was the caution to my spontaneity. “You’re already in hot water over the photos. Even if your tail doesn’t follow us there, someone could see us and sell more pictures to the tabloids.”
“They won’t. Trust me.” I nodded at her computer. “You have to finish your book and find a new job. I have to put out a hundred fires and craft a new strategy for the CEO vote. We can work on them together. It’ll be our version of an executive retreat.”
Isabella hesitated.
“You’d be surprised how much a change in scenery can unlock your creativity,” I said. “Think about it. Would you rather work in an overcrowded Midtown café or on a beautiful tropical island?”
“I don’t go to cafés in Midtown. They’re too depressing.” She was caving. I could see it in her eyes. “Are you sure no one will see us?”
“Positive.”
“God, what a fucking day.” She shook her head, a burble of hysterical laughter escaping from her throat. “I woke up, got fired, and now I’m thinking about running away to Turks and Caicos.”
“To be fair, there’s no better time to run away than after getting fired,” I said. “Unlimited vacation days.”
My mouth curved when she let out another small yet genuine laugh. My professional life might have been going up in flames, but the sight of Isabella’s smile had a way of righting my world, if only for a time.