Chapter 25

JAX

As we sip our coffees, Knox asks Isa about the appointment she had and her new project.

I don't know why I'm surprised, but she's very professional when she talks about her work.

"I don't know how you keep yourself motivated and disciplined enough to organize your days and get your work done by deadlines. if I hadn't had my brothers, I don't know what I'd be doing right now." Knox confides in her.

"Yes, but you have us, so there's no question." Asher stands up. "By the way, don't you have a meeting to organize Friday's gala?"

"Ah shit, I didn't realize how much time had passed. When my Isa is around I seem to lose notion of everything else." He tells her, exaggerating his amorous gaze, and she laughs.

"I have to go anyway, I have to start brainstorming if I want to arrive next Friday with good ideas." Isabella tells us as she stands up and I'm disappointed.

"I'll walk you home. I'll work from the penthouse." I tell her as I stand up too.

"Good initiative", says Asher through the mind link. "You can get everything in place before Mom arrives for dinner."

I growl inadvertently. "What's wrong?" Isa asks me. "If you have to stay, don't worry about me..."

"I'm fine. I just remembered that our mother is coming home for dinner tonight."

For a moment, her eyes go somewhere, but they quickly return to the present. What a jerk I am. I'm complaining about my mother visiting when she lost hers as a child. That wasn't smart at all. And the disapproving looks on my brothers' faces tell me they're thinking exactly the same thing.

"I'm just stopping by my office to pick up my stuff and I'm all yours." I tell her with a wink to lighten the mood.

ASHER

This idiot should think more before he speaks. My two brothers leave the office, leaving me alone with Isabella.

"I'm glad you thought of stopping by." I say as I approach her. "I've missed you." I add, placing my hands on her cheeks.

She gives me her best smile and pulls me by the jacket to force me to bend down and kiss me. I can't get enough of her soft lips on mine and the smell of strawberries.

"I've missed you too. I thought about you and our dinner for almost the entirety of my meeting."

"Oh then you know how I've felt since I've known you." I tell her before kissing her again. I sigh at the thought of having to let her go. "I'm glad Jax is taking you back, but I wish it had been me."

I catch her frowning for a quarter of a second and know that a negative thought is running through her mind.

"What are you thinking?" I ask, and the sigh that escapes her lets me know I've hit the nail on the head.

"I'm just wondering when I'm going to wake up. When I'm going to realize this is all a dream."

"It isn't. It's not a dream, it's real." I snort. "You know some people would experience this as a nightmare, right? I think it's pretty positive you're talking about a dream."

She shakes her head. "No but... the three of you are knockout, intelligent, interesting and you want me... all three of you."

"Trust me in this story we're the lucky ones. It's pretty rare to find your true mate. What's more, one as extraordinary as you." This time it's her who snorts. "What?"

"There's nothing extraordinary about me. I'm just ordinary."

"Stop selling yourself short and accept compliments. Your driver's here." I tell her just before Jax opens the office door again. I laugh at her surprised look. "Super-developed hearing."

ISABELLA

Jax accompanies me to the elevator under the gazes of their employees, some of whom seem surprised and others jealous, especially of the ladies. As the elevator doors close, Jax approaches and places his arm on my shoulders.

"I can't believe you can make Asher laugh. Believe me, not many people are capable of that feat."

"Your confession wouldn't have surprised me not so long ago, but now I doubt it. He's cold at first glance, but in reality, he's..." I interrupt myself because I don't know how he'd take it if I spoke of his brother in this way.

"It's okay, he's my brother. I know him and I know that deep down he's a good person who takes care of those he loves."

"That's exactly what I was going to say." I add and he smiles at me.

The doors open and Jax leaves his arm on my shoulders as we walk through a corridor before arriving in an underground parking lot. He approaches the same black sedan in which we drove to the restaurant.

I settle into the comfy passenger seat as he takes his place behind the wheel. Before starting off, he pauses to look at me, then approaches me, puts his hand on my cheek and rests his lips on mine.

"I saw that Asher greeted you that way and wanted to know if I could do it too. Like a real couple... well, I know we're not really..."

"Don't worry. You can do it again as much as you like." I cut him off and pull off his jacket to kiss him again.

This kiss is longer and more intense than the previous one. In this moment, it's just him and me. No one else matters. Alone with him, Ash or Knox, when I'm with one of them the others exist without existing. I don't know how to explain it, but I share the moment fully with the one I'm with. I feel shivers run through my body. He rests his forehead on mine and I hear his smile.

"If you only knew how long I've waited... that I've waited for you."

"I know."

"You do?" He asks me, pulling back a little.

"For as long as I can remember I've dreamed of living a great love story, like my parents'. I thought I'd found it with Dominic, but I realized that wasn't the case. But now I tell myself that..." I lower my gaze, a little embarrassed to admit this to him.

"You found it." He says, smiling at me.