They entered the massive room, where two walls were floor-to-ceiling windows and the other two were filled with books. A large, glossy black desk dominated one end, and couches, armchairs and an immense fireplace claimed the rest. It invited a person to grab a book and settle in for a long read. She couldn’t say how she knew, but she’d bet her last chocolate bar that Darius spent most of his time here.
“So, you’ve come to a decision.” He perched on the edge of his desk and waved toward one of the armchairs. “Please, have a seat.”
“No, thank you,” Isobel murmured. “I—” She swallowed, for an instant unable to force the words past her suddenly constricted throat. A wave of doubt assailed her, but she broke through it. This was the right decision. “I’ll agree to marry you.”
She expected a gloating smile or a smirk. Something that boasted,I win.
Instead his amber gaze studied her, unwavering and intense. Once more she had the inane impression that he could see past her carefully guarded shields to the vulnerable, confused and scared woman beneath. Her head argued it was impossible, but her heart pounded in warning. His figuring out her fears and insecurities when it came to the situation andhimwould be disastrous.
“What made you change your mind?” he asked.
No way was she telling him about arriving home with Aiden after work one night last week to find the police staked out in front of her building because of a burglary and assault. It’d only nailed home Darius’s warning about the unsafety of her environment—for her and for Aiden.
Instead she shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“This was a hard decision for you, wasn’t it?” he murmured.
Anger flared inside her like a struck match. “Why would you say that? Maybe I just held out longer so you wouldn’t guess how giddy I am to have a chance at all your money? Or maybe I was hoping you would just offer more. I’m a mercenary, after all, always searching for the next opportunity to fill my pockets.” His mouth hardened into a firm line, but she didn’t care. She was only stating what they both knew he thought of her character. Straightening from the chair, she crossed her arms over her chest and hiked her chin up. “Like I said, I’ll agree to marry you, but I have a few conditions first. And they’re deal breakers.”
He nodded, but the slight narrowing of his eyes relayed his irritation. Over her sarcasm or her stipulations, she couldn’t tell, but in the end, neither mattered. Just as long as he conceded.
“First, you must promise to place Aiden, his welfare and protection above anything else. Including the Wellses’ needs and agenda.”
Another nod, but this one was tighter. And the curves of his mouth remained flattened, grim. As if he forced himself to contain words he wanted to say. If that were the case, he controlled it, and she continued.
“Second, I’m Aiden’s mother, and since he’s never known a father, you’ll fill that role for him. If you don’t, I won’t go through with this. If you can’t love and accept him as if he’s your own blood, your son, then we’re done. I won’t have him hurt or rejected. Or worse, feel like he doesn’t belong.” Like she had. The soul-deep pain of being unworthy had wounded her, and she still bore the scars. She wouldn’t subject Aiden to that kind of hurt. Even if it meant going to court.
“Heismy blood,” Darius said, and she blinked, momentarily stunned by his fierceness. “Gage and I might not have shared the same parents, but in all other ways we were brothers. And his son will be mine, and I’ll love Aiden how his father would have if he’d lived and had the chance.”
Satisfaction rolled in, flooding her and sweeping away the last of her doubts surrounding that worry. Even if Darius knew next to nothing about the man he called his brother. She believed him when he said he’d love Aiden how Gageshould have.
“Which brings me to my next concern. I’m Aiden’s mother and have been making all decisions regarding him since he was born. I’m not going to lie and claim including you will be an easy adjustment, but I promise to try. But that said, we’re his parents, and we will make those decisions together. Us. Without interference from the Wellses.”
“Isobel,” he growled, pushing off the desk. He stalked a step closer to her, but then drew to an abrupt halt. Shoving a hand through his hair, he turned his head to stare out the window, a tic pulsing along his clenched jaw.
Cursing herself for doing it, she regarded the rigid line. That night when they’d been two nameless, faceless people in the dark, she hadn’t needed sight to tell how strong and hard his jaw had been. Her fingers and lips had relayed the information.
God, she needed to stop dwelling on that night. It was gone, and for all intents and purposes, it didn’t happen. It’d disappeared as soon as the morning light had dawned.
“Isobel.” He returned his attention to her, and she braced herself for both the impact of his gaze and his words. “I agree with your conditions, but they are his grandparents. And you need to understand that I won’t keep him away from them.”
Like you have. The accusation remained unsaid, but it screamed silently in the room.
“I emailed Baron and Helena pictures of Aiden after I left for California. And when every one of those messages bounced back as if I’d been blocked, I mailed them, along with letters telling them how he was doing and growing. But they came back unopened, marked ‘return to sender.’ So I didn’t keep him from them. They kept themselves out of his life.”
Darius frowned. “Why would they lie about that?”
“Yes. Why would they lie about that?” She shook her head, holding up a hand when his lips parted to what would, no doubt, be another defense of his friend’s family. “I have one last condition.”
She paused, this one more difficult than the previous ones. Demanding things on Aiden’s behalf proved easy for her. But this one... This one involved her and Darius. And it acknowledged that something had happened between them. That “something” being he’d made her body sing like an opera diva hitting notes high enough to shatter glass.
“What is it?” Darius asked when she didn’t immediately state the added rule.
“No sex,” she blurted out. Mentally rolling her eyes at herself, she inhaled a deep breath and tried it again. “This arrangement is in name only. No sex.”
He stilled, his powerful body going motionless. Shadows gathered in his gaze, broiling like a storm building on a dark horizon.
“I guess I need to applaud your honesty,” he drawled. “This time around, you’re being up front about your plans to betray your husband with another man.”
