Ilse. Ilse. Ilse.
Gloria stared at him, looking like she was about to break down any moment. “Ilse,” she choked out.
Of course, of course, his mind acknowledged dully. It was almost like the past all over again. He had fucked up, and now someone else was paying the price.
Someone else was always paying the price.
THEY ASKED FOR A NURSEwho could act like a naïve country bumpkin. That was normal. But they also asked for someone with dark hair and brown eyes, and that was what raised a red flag for me. It was too specific – like the booking was tailor-made for Ilse.
So I called someone I know from the credit card company, traded everything for one single favor, and that’s how I found out it was Ilse’s ex-best friend, Natalia, behind all of it. She’s throwing this bachelor party for her fiancé, and it’s the guy who used to be in love with Ilse.
I don’t know what Natalia’s planning – I just don’t want Ilse to be hurt.
Gloria’s words pounded the billionaire’s mind over and over, and terror like Jaak had never known dogged him as he combed the streets ofDe Wallen,his blue gaze rapidly scanning his surroundings left and right for a brunette in a nurse’s uniform.
With every second that passed, he felt like he was taking a step closer towards redemption. This time would be different. This time, he would make it, this time he would save her.
But every second that passed in which hedidn’tfind her also made the billionaire feel like a fraud.
His soul shriveled at all the bad things that could happen. Men from her past trying to make Ilse feel ashamed of something she should be proud of. Men thinking they could do anything they wanted to just because of Ilse’s job—-
The billionaire’s fears did its best to cripple him.
Would he really be on time?
Could he really change the past?
Should he even try?
He had no fucking answer to these questions.
The only thing he knew and understood was that he had to try.
More minutes crept past him, and the billionaire struggled to hold on to the belief that he could still make it. Ilse needed him, dammit. And he would be there for her. He would be fucking there, no matter what—-
And that was when he heard her voice.
Beautiful, sweet, and so goddamn familiar because he had dreamt of it every night—-
The billionaire strained to hear it again, and he looked around wildly, trying to find where it was coming from.
And then he heard it again—-
“Oh lawd, the way you stare at me, sir!”
Ilse. That was Ilse. That washisIlse.
“I’m not the one on display, sir. Please look here instead.”
The billionaire followed the sound of her voice, and soon enough he found himself just a few feet behind her tour group—-
Ilse.
Indeed, she was wearing a nurse’s uniform, and though her costumes had always been tight, this one was more so than usual, and his jaw clenched at the thought that this one could actually burst open given enough time.
She stood in front of a window illuminated with neon blue lights, and her voice was earnest as she explained to them that this was the place they should go to if they wanted to be friends with—-
He watched Ilse cock her head to the side, her brows furrowing as if she was trying to recall something.
