Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
In spite of everything, Issac couldn’t keep himself from chuckling. “You don’t ever run out of big words, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” As she spoke, she reached for her phone, and he watched her fingers move over the screen like she could see every button. She asked Siri for the time, and at Siri’s reply, Ilse glanced at Issac in dismay. “I didn’t realize so much time’s already passed. I promised Jan I’d pick him up from school today and we’d eat out.”
“Oh.” Doing his best to hide his disappointment, he said instead, “That’s okay. Maybe we can just go out again. You only have to say when and where.”
“I’d love that.” But her voice was faint, her smile vague, and Issac knew her mind was focused on something else completely.
“Shall I walk you to your car?”
Ilse appeared startled then grateful, her unseeing eyes shining. “Yes, please.” She offered him her hand – the gesture speaking of practicality rather than self-pity – and Issac took it silently, not trusting himself to speak.
It had only been over a month since she had lost her eyesight, and yet Ilse was acting like she’d had an eternity to accept and move past the fact.
They walked to the parking lot in companionable silence, and by the time they reached her car, Issac had almost convinced himself that he had been wrong. She had not asked to meet him out of the blue because of that. She had only wanted to catch up with him, just like she had said.
And yet when he turned to tell her that they had made it to her car and it was time for them to part, that was when Issac realized he had been wrong.
She hadn’t been quiet because things were okay between them.
She had been quiet because—-
Her wet brown eyes met Issac’s, almost like her heart allowed her to see, and she choked out, “I’m sorry.”
The sight of the tears running down her face stunned him. Once upon a time, he had dreamt of having some kind of “first” with Ilse. He had dreamt of being her first date, her first kiss – any kind of first.
And now, he had it, but God, it was not what he wanted. He never wanted this.
“Ilse...” His voice was hoarse.
And still, she kept crying in silence, and the sight ravaged him.
He suddenly remembered how she had been on the day of her parents’ funeral. She had been nineteen, and despite being clueless and grieving, she hadn’t allowed herself to cry. Instead, Ilse had smiled back when people smiled at her, had laughed when the people needed to hear her laugh, and she had only nodded when people unknowingly, selfishly forbade her to show weakness by telling her they believed she would be strong for Jan.
And she had.
She hadn’t only faced insurmountable odds, but she had overcome them, too.
She was strong – the strongest person he had ever known – so why...why, goddammit, why did she look like she was about to shatter now?
“Ilse.”
The tears fell faster, and he could no longer help it. He hauled her into his arms, and she clung to him, sobs wracking her body, and it was another first he didn’t want, another first that did not and would never feel right.
“Issac.” She said his name like it was a cry for help, and oh God, it wasn’t fucking right.
His arms tightened around her. “I’m here,” he said rawly. “I’m always here for you.”
She raised unseeing eyes to his, and all the pain in the world was in it.
Ah God.
He suddenly felt like he was on the verge of breaking, too.
“Anything you need, Ilse.” His voice was fierce. “Anything you goddamn need—-”
“Issac—-”
“Because I’m yours.”
Ilse choked back a sob. “Please...please don’t say that.”
“My promises were empty before, but not now, Ilse. I’m yours.” His hand shook as he carefully wiped the tears that continued to stain her cheeks. “So anything—-”
“I think,” she said brokenly, “you already know.”
Ah.
“D-don’t you?” Ilse swallowed hard. “You know w-what I wanted to talk to you about.” Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she did her best to stop crying. “No one w-wants to tell me a t-thing, but I know. I know something’s wrong even if I can’t see it.”
She tried to swallow back another sob, but the pain was too much to keep inside, and another cry went past her throat.
“Ilse...”
“Please, Issac,” she whispered. “Please. You’re the only one I trust to tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Such long, damning silence.
“I’m sorry, Ilse.” Issac’s voice was harsh. “He’s been seen leaving the hotel room of an ex-girlfriend.”
And Ilse shattered.
He caught her before she fell, and he held her tightly to him, even knowing that he was not the one she needed.
Goddamn you, Jaak de Konigh.
Angels weren’t made to cry.
Chapter Twenty-One
The flight back to Amsterdam was spent in somber silence, with most of the flight crew still struggling with shock at what had transpired earlier at the airport in Milan. When the controversial photos broke the Internet yesterday morning, paparazzi from all over Europe came running to Italy’s capital like bloodhounds going for the kill. Yasmin, the billionaire’s ex-lover, although readily obliging the reporters’ demands for a statement, had not much to say. “The matter is between Jaak and me.” Innocuous words certainly, but because they were not an outright denial of the billionaire cheating on his Dutch non-celebrity girlfriend, they only served to fuel the rumors.