Page 89 of The Widower
“Everything’s going to be okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
She kept crying. And while she did, I already knew what I had to do—it didn’t even take a second thought.
“You three are coming to stay at the mansion.For as long as it takes.”
She froze in my arms, lifting her head to look at me. Her eyes were wide with surprise.
“No… that’s out of the question.I can’t accept that,” she stammered.
“I didn’t ask.Consider it an order, if it makes it easier.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her voice cracked as she wiped away the stubborn tears still falling down her cheeks.
“Because I care about you.About all of you. More than you think.”
Even I could hardly believe the words that had just come out of my mouth. The way they sounded—effortless, honest—it had been a long time since anything had felt that natural.
I’m not a man who cares about much. But when it comes to Isabelle, I can’t ignore it. God knows I’ve tried.
“How can I ever thank you?”
“Just… be there for Hanna whenever she needs you. That’s enough.”
I’ve never been good with words, and I’m even worse when it comes to this woman—she disarms me every damn time.
“I’m sorry for everything,” she said softly. “For cursing you in my head every chance I got. For arguing with you all the time…”
“If that’s your way of saying thank you, you might wanna work on it,” I said, half-smiling.
And just for a second, I got a smile out of her too. That alone was enough to make me feel like—for once—I’d actually done something right.
CHAPTER 21
“When the little one wants something, there’s no way out…”
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
I didn’t manage to save much from my house.
Most of our clothes were burned or torn apart, and I was still completely disoriented by everything that had happened.
Just thinking that all this might have started because of someone who abandoned me years ago filled me with a furiouskind of anger. Those men who came after me couldn’t really believe I knew where Rudolph was. It made absolutely no sense.
Even though I was in a comfortable room in Colin’s mansion, I couldn’t sleep. I wandered into the living room—a place I’d come to really like. I had to admit, the view from there made the outside of the mansion look even more beautiful.
After a few minutes, I heard footsteps behind me.
“I figured I’d find you here.”
I gave a faint smile.
“Couldn’t sleep either?”
“That’s not why I’m here.Not this time.” He came closer.“I thought you’d come down here, so I waited for you.”
I looked at Colin, a little surprised by how casually he said that, as if we’d been friends for years.
“You could’ve just looked for me. It’s your mansion.”
