He’d never been in a situation remotely close to this, so he had no idea what to expect.All he knew was that he couldn’tnotgo.
The elevator arrived and got him out of there before anyone else tried to stop him.He had no illusions about Jackson keeping this news to himself and fully expected to hear from each of his siblings imminently.He’d deal with them later.First, he’d see what Isla needed.She was all that mattered right now.
Driving as fast as he dared through traffic, he thought only of her and of their time together the other night and the things she’d shared with him about her complex emotions in regard to Gabriel.His mind raced with thoughts and implications as his phone rang with calls from each of his brothers, right on schedule.
Julian declined each call and then declined them again when they called a second time.
The dash screen lit up with texts.
At a red light, he saw one from Carson:What the hell are you doing?Come back to the office.Let’s talk about this before you go off a cliff.
He didn’t want to talk about it.Even knowing he was heading for a cliff couldn’t stop him from hanging that left turn onto Laurel Canyon Boulevard and racing up the hill to her, taking the curves faster than he ever had before.
Julian had no clue what he’d be walking into and didn’t care.
Thanks to some lucky breaks with traffic, sixteen minutes after leaving the parking garage, he pulled into the driveway at her rental, relieved to see her car was there.That was sixteen minutes too long, he thought, as he pressed the doorbell.
An older woman answered.
“You must be Mrs.Ventura.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m here to see Isla.”
“And you are?”
“Julian Remington.”
“It’s okay, Mrs.V,” he heard Isla say from inside as relief washed over him.“Let him in.”
Mrs.V stepped aside to admit him, and he went right to Isla, who was standing in the foyer.
He stopped short of immediately embracing her the way he wanted to.She looked so small and lost that he wanted to wrap his arms around her and do anything he could to make this better for her, even if that was an impossible task.“I came as soon as I heard.”
“Thank you.”Her chin quivered as she looked up at him with swollen eyes that were shiny with new tears.“I still can’t believe it.”
“I know.”He couldn’t stop himself from reaching for her.
She came to him like she’d been doing it all her life, slipping her arms inside his suit coat and around his waist as he drew her in close to him while she sobbed.
He noticed that she fit perfectly in his arms as he rested his chin on the top of her head while breathing in the unmistakable scent he was already addicted to.“I’m so sorry, Isla.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Oh shit.“I know, but I wanted to be here for you.”
“No, I mean because the kids have had a stomach bug.I don’t want you to get it.”
“I don’t care about that.What can I do for you?”
“This,” she said, snuggling into him and sighing, “is just what I need.”
“How are the kids?”
“They’re napping after a rough weekend.”
“What do you need?”
