Ilse as he kissed her the very first time—-
It was Ilse when she was at her kindest, her bravest, her strongest.
It was Ilse when he didn’t yet have the power to hurt her, to fail her because she hadn’t needed him then—-
The way he did now.
Come home.
The words broke him because Ilse shouldn’t have been saying them at all.
WHEN A FULL MINUTEpassed, and only silence emerged from the other line, Ilse knew that if she were smart – she would put the phone down and pretend this never happened. If she kept pretending, he would continue pretending, too.
If she were smart—-
But she wasn’t.
Right now, she was just tired.
“I miss you, Jaak.” The words were torn out of her.
It was the first time for Ilse to say such words, and the billionaire’s fists clenched. How many times had he dreamt of her saying these very words? But God, he would rather not hearthem at all if it would mean that Ilse could go back the way she was.
Taking a deep breath, he managed to say casually, “You know I miss you, too, babe.”
He was hoping that Ilse would take it from there—-
Let’s keep pretending.
But Ilse only continued to make both of their hearts bleed.
“Don’t you...” Her voice caught. “D-don’t you love me anymore?”
Ah God.“More than my life,” he said fiercely.
A painful laugh escaped her. “Then...what’s wrong?”
Everything. Nothing.But the billionaire knew that whatever he said, it wouldn’t be the truth.
The continued silence hurt, and Ilse couldn’t stop herself pressing one tight fist against her chest. It was hurting so, so much—-
Because she felt too, too much.
“Jaak...” A shuddering breath racked her chest as she prepared herself to take the leap. “Jaak...I love you.”
The billionaire stared numbly at the rain-blurred window of his hotel suite.
God, why now?
Why?
He said tonelessly, “I love you, too.” And he did. There had never been a question about that. He loved her, and he would always love her.
He loved her, but he would rather she never love him back if it would mean she would need him, too.
“Oh, Jaak.” Despair strained Ilse’s voice, and it was all he could do not to succumb to the urge to give her a litany of impossible promises.
Let’s start again.
