Chapter 166
LEVI
She slowly drifted toward the jacuzzi, the water swirling gently, steam curling into the air. She dipped one slender leg in, testing it as though savoring even the anticipation of warmth. Satisfied, she slipped in fully, sinking with a sigh—but still she didn’t let go of my hand.
She leaned back against the edge, head resting, eyes half-lidded yet never straying from me. She looked at peace, serene, but beneath that calm was something more—a quiet need, a submission so raw it broke me open. “There is enough space in here for the both of us,” she whispered. The plea in her voice, the surrender in her eyes—that was my undoing.
Of course there was—hell, a dozen people could have fit in here if they wanted—but tonight I waited for her permission. She was delicate, and it was my duty to be as gentle as I could, even if gentleness had never truly been my nature. Tonight was an emergency lesson in restraint.
“You have to let go of my hand,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended. Both our gazes dropped to where we were still joined, fingers entwined like we couldn’t bear to part.
Isabella smiled, reluctant, and finally let me go. The absence of her touch burned—a sudden, raw void. I curled my hands into fists to steady myself, inhaled, and turned my attention to the suit I suddenly despised, even though I loved it—loved how it felt, loved how it fitted and looked on me from the moment I had received it from Valentino’s atelier for this engagement—handmade, flawless, impossibly expensive. My fingers itched to tear it off, to shred the damned thing from my body, price be damned.
But I restrained myself, unfastening each button slowly, painfully, until I stood bare.
Heat pressed down on me as I gathered my discarded clothes, tossing them into the basket in the corner of the bathroom. Every movement felt heavy, dragged out by the weight of her watching. When I finally stepped into the jacuzzi, the water welcomed me—warm, fragrant, almost intoxicating. I sank down beside her, shoulders brushing faintly as we leaned back against the smooth edge.
For a long moment we said nothing. Just breathed. The heat seeped into my bones, unwinding knots I hadn’t even realized were there.
I felt relaxed, like I was in the paradise the Jehovah’s Witness who used to preach to my mum talked about when I was a kid.
“I really needed this. It feels so good,” Isabella murmured after a while, her voice softened, her head tilting toward me.
I turned my face to meet her gaze. Our eyes locked in that charged quiet, the air still trembling with something unspoken.
“I don’t want us to fight anymore,” I admitted, voice low and steady, almost a whisper. “I know you care about me. And I care about you too.” I swallowed; my chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped a hand around my ribs. I wanted so badly to say the words—the ones dancing in my throat, choking me, begging to be set free.
“I have a confession to make. But first… is there anything you’re hiding from me? Anything I should know?”
My whisper fell into the space between us, my eyes trailing down to her mouth. I had wanted those lips from the first moment I saw her step down those stairs today, and the thought of kissing her had lived beneath my skin ever since—a small, relentless ache.
Her makeup was smudged, her hair wild, and somehow she was still perfect. Isabella was a fucking gorgeous woman, and right now she looked nothing like the one I’d first met at the bar. She was brighter, alive in a way that burned. And it felt good—God, it felt good—knowing that even then, even at the very start, I had seen her beauty.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze back to hers—and what I found made my heart seize. Isabella’s eyes shimmered with that fragile, beautiful fear, tears trembling at the rims.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting up at once and wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her close until her head found the hollow of my chest. I could feel the quick flutter of her pulse against my sternum and the wetness of a single tear on my hand. I smoothed her hair back and let my fingers linger at the base of her skull, feeling her shiver beneath the water.
“Isabella, what are you hiding from me?” I asked again, gentle but insistent. “Whatever it is, just know I’ll protect you. You don’t have to face anything alone anymore. I can take the weight off your shoulders, make the worry fade—you just have to trust me. Please. I know you are hiding something… What is it? Tell me who you are. I want to know you, Isabella. I want to learn you.”
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