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I lift her hand to my lips for a kiss. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. The two of you look alike, but Brooke had a mean streak. It’s actually one of the reasons why I was drawn to her.”
Isabella’s brows furrow together. “I don’t understand.”
Neither do I, and I’m not sure why I’m telling Isabella any of this, but I want her to understand. For the first time since meeting Isabella, I want her to take a peek at all of my skeletons, past and present, and I want her to see the broken twelve-year-old who was plucked out of the darkness.
I want her to see the man I am, not the one I pretend to be. I have no idea why it’s suddenly so important to me that she does.
“Everyone else tiptoed around me when I first came here,” I tell Isabella with a frown. “I have no idea how much my parents told them about my upbringing, but I’m guessing they told them enough. Tristan was the only one who treated me like a person, not some fucking China doll. Then there was Brooke.”
Isabella takes both of my hands in hers and waits.
I blow out a breath. “Brooke didn’t treat me like I was some fragile or broken boy, but she wasn’t completely horrible either. Still, she was nicer to me than she was to the others…”
Isabella’s expression softens. “I’m guessing that was a big deal for her.”
I nod. “It’s part of the reason why I was drawn to her. Her mean streak felt familiar, and it was something I was used to.”
Isabella’s expression falls, and she inches closer to me. “I’m so sorry, Carter.”
“Don’t be. I didn’t feel like I deserved anything else, and I didn’t know anything else either.”
Brooke was a familiar lifeline in a sea of unfamiliarity, but it’s taken me too long to recognize my attachment to her for what it was.
A desperate and sad attempt to cling to what I knew. What I’d always known.
“You deserve more, Carter,” Isabella tells me, squaring her shoulders. “I don’t know how Brooke felt about you, and I can’t pretend to understand the relationship the two of you had, but I’m not her. I’m not going to treat you like that.”
I brush my thumb along the inside of her wrist. “I know.”
“You deserve kindness and compassion and empathy, and someday you’re going to allow yourself to recognize that,” Isabella continues, her eyes filling with tears as her words pour out of her. “And when that day comes, I’m going to be right there. Your daughter and I are going to be right there.”
I pull Isabella into my arms and kiss her soundly. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted and more.
With Isabella, there are parts of myself that I’d long since given up on that are finding their way back into the light. Maybe there’s some fucking hope for me yet.
Brooke was my lifeline in the darkness, a familiar tether to keep me from drifting, but Isabella is more than that. She’s light at the end of a very long tunnel, and I’m so fucking lucky to have found her.
When she angles her head to deepen the kiss, someone clears their throat.
With a growl, I pull away and give Tristan a withering look. “This better be important.”
“There’s been an attack on the docks. Donahue is behind it.”
Ice settles in my veins as Isabella’s arms fall, and I jump to my feet. “Fucking Donahue. Call the others and have them meet us there. Daniel too. It’s time we squash that little cockroach once and for all.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Carter
On his way past, Daniel pauses to step to the side. A long line of men steps past him and into the spacious conference room, where several Natori men are already gathered. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a flash of movement, and I see Floyd Philips and his men come in.
We exchange a quick and terse look on his way past. I don’t breathe until Daniel places a hand on my arm and pulls me to a quiet corner.
More and more people are pouring into the airy conference room, with its big bay windows and a view of the city’s skyline. Far below, there are rows of men from all four families gathered, poised and ready to fight if need be.
But I doubt that anyone wants things to go that far.
This war has gone on for long enough, and when it comes to the Natoris and Philipses, I know they’re eager for the truce to go through.
