Missed him.
“See Darry,” Aiden whined, tears pooling in his eyes. His bottom lip trembled.
She hugged her son tight, as if she could somehow squeeze his hurt and confusion away. “I know, baby. But right now we’re going to see the lights and animals at the zoo, okay?”
She’d kept Aiden—and herself—busy with outings. They’d visited the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, the Christmas tree at Millennium Park and the model trains at Lincoln Park Conservatory. And now they were headed to Zoolights at Lincoln Park Zoo. Yet, during all the trips, she couldn’t help but imagine how different they would be if Darius had been by her side. As a family.
Standing, she forced the thoughts away. Yes, she loved Darius. Maybe she always would. But he didn’t return the feeling, and there was no getting past that.
They weren’t a family.
“Good,” she said, injecting cheer into her voice for Aiden’s benefit. “Let’s go—”
“Darry!”Aiden’s scream burst in the air seconds before he yanked his hand out of hers and took off across the tiny courtyard.
“Aiden!” she yelled, but her footsteps faltered, then jerked to a complete stop as she took in the man stooping low to catch her son and toss him in the air before pulling him close for a hug.
And the love on that face as he cuddled Aiden... It stole what little breath her baby’s mad dash away from her hadn’t.
Darius.
Oh, God. Darius.Here.
Stunned, she watched as he kissed Aiden’s cheek, grinning at whatever Aiden chattered about. Joy, sadness and anger filled her, and heat pulsed in her body at the sight of him. The wind flirted with his hair, and her fingers itched to take its place. Hair that just passed the five-o’clock shadow covered his jaw and emphasized the sensual fullness of his mouth. A long black, wool coat covered his powerful body. But she remembered in vivid and devastating detail what was beneath it. She craved the strength of it at night.
Darius shifted his attention away from Aiden and pinned her with that golden gaze. The intensity of it snapped her out of her paralysis. Still, her feet wouldn’t move, and she stood, immobile, as he approached her, carrying her son in his arms.
“Isobel,” he said, and she worked not to reveal the shudder that coursed through her at the velvet sound of her name.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered. Damn it. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “What are you doing here, Darius?”
Sighing, he lowered Aiden to the ground, and turning, pointed in the direction of the curb where his town car idled. “Aiden, look who came to see you.”
The window lowered, and Ms. Jacobs popped her head out, waving to him. Shrieking, he ran to the car, and the older woman opened the door, scooping him up. In spite of the emotional maelstrom whirling inside her, Isobel smiled. Aiden had asked about her only slightly less than he had asked about Darius.
Rising, Darius slid his hands into his coat pockets. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want him to overhear our conversation.”
“No. He’s missed her,” she admitted softly. Shifting her gaze from the ecstatic pair back to him, she murmured. “You, too.”
Darius nodded, studying her face as if he, too, were cataloging any changes that had taken place in the last week. “You look tired,” he observed in a gentle tone.
She hardened her heart against his concern, shielding herself against the tenderness that immediately sprang to life. “What are you doing here, Darius?” she repeated her question.
“To see Aiden. And you,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “I’ve missed you both. I just needed to lay eyes on you.” Then he loosed a short bark of laughter that fell somewhere between self-deprecating and rueful. “That’s not quite the truth. I came to find you and beg you to come back home. To give me—give us—a second chance.”
Beg you to come back home.
The words echoed in her head and her chest, and swirled in her belly. A yearning swelled so high, so strong, that it nearly drowned out the steely resolve to not give in. She wanted to—God, she wanted to just walk into his arms and have him hold her.
But she couldn’t live a life without love, acceptance, trust and loyalty.
She refused to settle anymore.
“Darius, we can’t,” she murmured, but he clasped her hand, and thegoodnessof his touch cut her off. But just as quickly as he’d reached for her, he released her.
“Please, sweetheart. I know I don’t have the right—don’t deserve the right—to ask you to hear me out. But I am.” He paused, as if gathering his thoughts, then continued. “Everything you said to me was true. I betrayed your trust. I betrayed you. Our family. And I do meanour family, Isobel. Because that’s who you and Aiden are to me. You two are who I look forward to coming home to when I leave the office. And that’s who you are for me, Isobel—home. All these years I believed the memories of my time there with my parents made it that. But I forgot the reason I love the house so much is because it means family. It means love. And I didn’t realize what was missing until you and Aiden came to live with me. The moment you left, it was empty, a shell. And I need you to come back, to return it to my haven, my sanctuary.”
Her heart thudded against her chest, her pulse deafening in her ears. Hope—that stubborn, foolish hope—tried to grow. But she shut it down. Only more pain led down any road hope traveled.
