Chapter 8
In that life–or–death moment, James–usually calm and cold–looked utterly panicked, something Isabella had never seen before.
Veins bulged at his temples, and his arm trembled violently with exertion. Sweat rolled down his sharp jawline, completely shattering his usual composed demeanor.
Jessie was pale as a sheet, sobbing so hard she could barely catch her
breath.
“James, I’m scared! Please, pull me up!”
To Isabella, her voice was just noise.
Purchase completed
If Jessie had the energy to cry, she might as well use it to climb. Wasting everyone’s strength like this–either the fire would get them, or they’d fall
to their deaths.
James clenched his teeth. “Isabella, you were a police officer. I’ll pull Jessie up first. Hold on as long as you can!”
Isabella’s lips twitched faintly.
Her chest felt numb.
He remembered she had once been an Interpol agent, always top in physical training, but forgot that years of emergency contraceptives had ravaged her body. She was so far past disappointment, that she couldn’t even feel pain anymore.
“James, go ahead and pull her up.
Chapter 8
Η
“From now on, whether I live or die has nothing to do with you.
“I won’t depend on you anymore, and I won’t beg for even a shred of your affection.”
James flinched at her words, but Jessie’s panicked cries pulled his
attention away.
“James, save me! I don’t want to die…”
Isabella ignored them. With a burst of strength, she yanked the dagger from her belt and jammed it into a crack in the cliffside.
Though she was still dangling precariously, it was enough to slow her descent for now.
Seeing this, James gritted his teeth and yanked Jessie up to the top of the cliff in one swift motion.
Still shaken. Jessie collapsed into his arms, her face ghost–white.
“I thought I’d never see you again.”
James‘ eyes darkened. To her surprise, he pushed her away and turned toward the edge.
“Isabella’s still down there.”
Jessie burst into even louder sobs and clung to him tightly. “No! You can’t go! What if something happens to you? How am I supposed to live then?
“If you go over there, I’ll run straight into the fire!”
James froze mid–step.
“Isabella, I’ll take Jessie down the mountain first. The fire hasn’t reached
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the cliff yet–hang on just a little longer. I promise I’ll come back for
you…”
Before he could finish, a sharp snap rang out. Click!
The dagger slipped from the crevice. Isabella plummeted toward the foot of the mountain, time seeming to stretch and slow around her.
The last thing she saw before blacking out was James shoving Jessie aside. and sprinting toward her like a madman.
Pain brought Isabella back to consciousness–not the familiar dull ache of the whip scars on her back, but a sharp, blinding agony in her ankle.
She bolted upright, only to be pressed back down by a steady hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t move.”
James’s voice came out of the darkness, low and calm. “You just had surgery. Your Achilles tendon was transplanted to Jessie.”
Isabella’s mind went blank. Her throat filled with a metallic bitterness.
“Her tendon was shredded by rocks. The tissue was dying.” James paused, looking her in the eye. “Dancing is Jessie’s life. She can’t be left disabled.”
“So,” he continued, gaze dropping to the bed, “I had the doctors take yours.”
“What?”
Isabella couldn’t tell if she was still in that nightmare, falling endlessly.
Her chest heaved, and the pain from her stitches tore through her like a blade.
Chapter B
11
“James, what gave you the right to make that decision about my body?”
James looked away, his usually indifferent eyes rippling with an unreadable emotion.
“If you’re disabled… I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.
“You’ve always wanted a child, haven’t you? You won’t have to take birth control anymore.”
“I don’t want it anymore!” Isabella screamed, tears streaming down her
face.
“You’ve gone too far, James!”
Through her blurred vision, she stared at this man–so familiar and yet so strange–and her chest ached so badly she could hardly breathe.
“In your eyes, is she that much more important than me? Do I deserve to be trampled and humiliated like this?
“You think you can just…” She sobbed until she was gasping for air, each word like blood from her throat.
“Rely on the fact that I used to love you…
James felt an unexpected pang in his chest. His mind involuntarily flashed to that moment by the cliff–her eyes, calm and resolute, as she let go.
“I won’t depend on you anymore, and I won’t beg for even a shred of your
affection.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He looked at the crying woman on the bed, conflicted, just about to speak…
When the butler entered the room.
Chapter 8
“Mr. Keane, we’ve received word from Paris. Madam Catley’s emerald brooch is finished and ready.”
James turned immediately, the hem of his suit catching the night air.
“Get the chopper ready. We’re flying to Paris now.”
As he stepped out, the chandelier’s crystal light stretched his shadow long across the wall.
“I’ll make this up to you,” he said without turning. “As for the child…”
He paused. A faint sigh lingered in the air. “When I come back, I’ll keep my promise.”
The moonlight spilled through the window, casting a pale glow on his retreating figure until his dark gray coat disappeared through the doorway.
Left alone, Isabella curled into the corner of the bed.
And finally, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
