Chapter 171
ISABELLA
Immediately, I remembered—Matt and Caroline. They must be scared, waiting for me. I had promised to call them once the party was over, and I had completely forgotten. Guilt pricked my chest. Of course it had to be one of them.
I reached for the phone, but Levi’s arms tightened around me, pulling me back into him. I giggled, squirming in his hold, trying to escape.
“I have to take it,” I said breathlessly, turning in his arms to face him. “It might be my siblings calling.”
I brushed a quick kiss across his lips, smiling as he shook his head, stubborn and impossibly handsome even in his refusal.
“I’ll get rid of them quickly,” I promised, the words tumbling out in a rush. “Please.”
For a moment, he only held me tighter, his teasing resistance making my heart stutter. Then, finally, with a reluctant sigh, he let me go.
I reached for my bag where it lay against the side table. Levi leaned over the edge of the mattress to help, handing it to me. But when I pulled the phone free, the screen showed a number I didn’t recognize.
“An unknown number. Maybe spam,” I muttered, frowning. I was just about to hang up and call my siblings when a message appeared, stopping me. As my eyes scanned the text, my breath shattered.
Come home or your siblings die.
My heart slammed so hard it rattled my chest. The phone slipped from my hand. I already knew who the message was from.
Only one person would send me such a threat to force me to leave Levi.
I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill, swallowing hard as my heart pounded so violently it felt like it might tear itself free. Every beat seemed louder than the last, echoing in my ears, leaving me dizzy and trembling. I forced myself to breathe, to think, to act as if I had control. Slowly, I slid off the edge of the bed and tried to pull a smile across my face, even if it was nothing more than a fragile, shaky mask.
“I… I have to go,” I said, my voice tight, brittle. “Caroline—she just—she ran into some trouble with her uni application, and she wants me to help. The deadline is today. I totally forgot.” My words were hurried, improvised, yet I tried to keep my tone balanced—urgent but not panicked.
Levi’s eyes—those deep, easy brown eyes—locked onto mine, calm but probing. “You’re not trying to run away from keeping your promise of telling me all about you today, are you?”
I gave a forced laugh, trying to steady my trembling hands. “I’m not,” I whispered, already searching for where he had dropped my clothes.
He slid off the bed and started walking toward me. My pulse skyrocketed. My gaze darted frantically around the room, finally landing on my gown draped over a chair. My cheeks burned as I realized I’d left it half off. I grabbed it, fumbling with my bra and my hair, desperate to compose myself as I stuffed the dress back into something wearable. My hands shook violently.
Just as I was straightening the fabric, Levi reached me. He took my hands in his, holding them firmly, almost possessively. My instinct was to pull back, to escape, but his grip was steady, and there was something in his eyes—something so human, so raw—that I froze instead. Fear, relief, longing, confusion—all collided inside me.
Can I trust him?
“Something happened with that call,” he said, his voice low, assuring but insistent. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I muttered, forcing down a trembling breath, trying to make myself small, invisible, safe.
Levi’s gaze softened, but there was steel beneath it. “Baby girl… I cannot help you if you don’t let me in. You have to trust me.”
I wrenched my hands free for a moment, stepping back, trying to keep my composure. “I’m sorry… but you…” I stopped, my voice cracking. I almost fell apart when I saw him—vulnerable, sincere, willing to stand there and help me, despite everything.
“You can’t help me,” I whispered, voice barely audible. “Not this time. I just… I need time…”
Levi’s hand stayed where it was, warm and grounding. His eyes searched mine. I could see the desperation there, the plea for me to open up, but I was too scattered, too confused to do that now.
There was a quiet tension in the room, an unspoken battle of fear and desire, trust and defiance. I wanted to run, to hide, but at the same time, every instinct in me knew I was utterly, irreversibly tied to him.
And in that moment, with the chaos of my heartbeat and the weight of his gaze pressing into me, I realized something I had tried to deny for so long: nothing—no secret, no fear, no fragment of myself—could be kept from him for long.
“You can’t help me, Levi,” I repeated.
“What do you mean I can’t help you?” Levi’s voice cracked through the air at last. His face was a mask of restrained fury, but I could see the fissures—the heat behind his eyes, the muscle in his jaw ticking. He stepped closer, each movement deliberate, controlled, yet unmistakably threatening.
“This,” I said, my voice trembling as I tried to find the words. “This thing between us is only a contract. A… a condition. I don’t want you thinking it’s anything more than that.”
Levi stopped mid-stride. His brow furrowed, his mouth tightened, and his gaze sharpened until it felt like it could cut through me.
I shook my head, almost violently. “Don’t go falling for me. I would never… I could never love someone like you. I want a man who isn’t living in his father’s shadow.”
His expression shifted, a flicker of disbelief and anger flashing across his face. “I am not in my father’s shadow,” he said, low and dangerous, the rage curling off his words like heat from a fire. “What the hell has gotten into you? Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s the truth. Can you do without him?”
“What the hell—why would I want to do without him? He’s my father, but that doesn’t mean I can’t—what is this about? Tell me.”
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