Isabella was not interested in falling in love. Marco was not looking for a relationship.
The perfect combination for a foolproof agreement.
Right?
*
Isabella Hammond, the first female billionaire in her city, is a smart, straightforward and stunni...
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EIGHT YEARS AGO
Silence.
Dead silence.
There's nothing, but silence in the room.
If a needle fell to the carpet, I would hear it with how quiet it is.
It's like the entire world stopped breathing.
I've gone still.
Completely still.
My mouth is slightly open.
I can't move.
When my words don't come and my hands don't move, Lily's tears start afresh.
She starts shaking under my touch.
She's crying because she thinks that I don't care about her, or that I'm wondering how to get away.
I'm not.
I'm just surprised.
Lily is still looking away from me and I know that she won't turn to look at me.
Instead of trying to make her turn, I lift myself up and over her, so that I'm lying on her other side, looking directly at her.
Lily's eyes are squeezed shut so tightly that I wonder how long it'll take for her to open them again. her brow is furrowed so deeply that I wonder whether it'll leave marks on her forehead. Her lips are downturned so severely that I wonder whether it's painted on. Her nose is so red that at any other time I would have made a Rudolph joke.
My angel is hurting.
My angel is hurting because of me.
I don't want to hurt her.
I only want to make things better for her.
With my thumb, I brush across her cheeks and under her eyes to wipe away the tears.
"Why are you crying, angel?" I ask her in the softest voice I can manage.
This only makes Lily cry even harder.
Realizing that she won't speak right now, I pull her to my chest and hug her tightly.
"I will wait, angel," I tell her, "I know that this might be scary for you, so if you want to cry, you cry. I'll wait."
Lily's fingers close around my t-shirt, the way they have done so many times before, and she crumples it, trying to pull me towards her.
She doesn't stop crying for a while and I just hold her because that's what Lily needs. She needs quiet until she's done crying.
When she does, she opens her eyes and looks up at me.
Her blue eyes are watery and swollen and red and it breaks my heart.
