Chapter 23 MY HUSBAND HAS FEELINGS FOR ME.

Chapter 23 MY HUSBAND HAS FEELINGS FOR ME.


Damien’s POV.

This was going to be complicated.

The sound of Adrian’s knuckles hitting the wood was a physical jolt, ripping me from the soft, consuming cocoon of Isabel’s presence and back into the cold reality. My heart, which had just been settling into a deep, heavy rhythm of contentment, launched into a furious, panicked beat against my ribs.

“Damien? Damien, I know you’re in there. Open the door. I need to speak with you.”

Adrian. His voice was softer, lacking the volatile edge it had carried the an hour ago.

I shifted instantly, pulling the sheet tighter around Isabel. The blood drained from my face. She was  exposed. If we were discovered, Isabel would take the hit of it. She wasn’t ready for that yet even though I wanted him to badly see how perfectly she fit in my arms.

Isabel was already scrambling, a blur of panicked movement beside me. Her eyes were wide, dark with fear and the shock of the interruption. We hadn’t been expecting company, least of all him.

“I need a minute,” I rasped, my voice thick.

“A minute for what? I hear you, brother. Open up.” Adrian’s tone softened slightly, changing from pleasding to impatience. “I’m not here to fight. I promise. Just open the door.”

I pressed a quick kiss to Isabel's forehead,  “Get dressed. Quickly. I’ll talk to him.”

I threw on my trousers and grabbed the first shirt I could find—it was the shirt I had worn to their wedding, a detail that was ironically wrong for this moment. My hands trembled as I worked the buttons, my mind running through a dozen plans. What would he do if he sees us together. Fight me?

I snatched a book from the table and flipped it open, trying to make it look like I had merely been reading, though the room smelled more of our release than books. I ran a hand through my hair, and walked toward the door, forcing my muscles to move with a pretense of calm.

I pulled the heavy door open, stepping immediately across the threshold to block the view into  my room . My floor hall was empty, save for Adrian. He stood tall, but his shoulders were slumped just slightly. He was dressed in riding gear, indicating he had been out, blowing off steam perhaps.

“Finally,” Adrian said, crossing his arms. He took one look at me—my rushed dressing, my flushed face, the way I stood guarding the door—and a slow, knowing smirk spread across his lips. It was a classic, infuriating Adrian expression, the one he used back then, whenever he had caught me in some teenage mischief.

“Were you about to leave, then? You look… productive,” he drawled, his eyes scanning the space just beyond my shoulder, but stopping politely short of peering in.

The heat rushed back to my face. I gripped the doorknob tightly. “I was working, Adrian. What do you want? ”

He waved a dismissive hand, the smile fading to something more sincere, more vulnerable. “Enough of that. Look, I didn’t come here to bother your… afternoon activities. I came to apologize. To you.”

He stepped closer. “I was an idiot last night. A complete idiot. I let the pressure and the gala stress and I took it out on Isabel. You were right to shut me down. And I was wrong to question your loyalty to the family, or to the company” He reached out, clasping my shoulder with a firm squeeze. “Forgive me, brother. I got carried away.”

The genuine warmth of the gesture hit me hard, and oddly comforting because  I was holding the door closed on the very thing he was here to discuss—Isabel.

“You’re forgiven,” I said, the words strained but true. “It’s forgotten. The pressure is on all of us. Just don’t do it again.”

Adrian nodded, satisfied. He released my shoulder but didn’t move to leave. He looked past me again, and the teasing glint returned to his eyes, but it was mixed with uncertainty.

“Good. That’s half of it. The other half is… Isabel. Is she around? I’ve been looking for her study.”

My heart stopped. “Isabel? Why are you looking for her?” I tried to keep my voice flat, uninterested.

“To apologize, of course. That's the main reason I stormed out yesterday. I knew I was being unfair to her. She was being targeted, and instead of defending her, I let myself be used as an instrument. I owe her a proper apology. I need to make sure she understands I respect her, and her position, regardless of what mother says.”

He paused, lowering his gaze to the floor, scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor “And, look, since we’re being honest, and you clearly have your own… company… I might as well say it.”

He glanced up, the openness in his eyes almost disturbing to witness. “I have to thank you, Damien. Truly. For holding me back. For that conversation the night before, when you told me to stop rushing, to be careful. I know I was close to… making things irreversible with her. I was getting so emotional, so protective, so possessive. If I had gone beyond what I did yesterday, I would never have forgiven myself.”

He ran a hand over his face, looking  exhausted. “I am starting to have feelings for her, brother. Real ones. Not just for the contract And that makes everything terrifying. I’m starting to look at her and see the person beneath the alliance, the woman who is smart and beautiful and… good. I want to deserve her, Damien. And rushing in, making demands, behaving like a  fool, that’s not how i earn the respect of my wife”

His wife? I tasted bile.

Adrian let out a heavy sigh, the confession hanging between us, “I need to apologize, clear the air, and then… take a huge step back. Play the long game, take her on dates. So, is she around? I haven't seen her this morning.”

My brother, my annoying impulsive brother, was laying his heart bare, confessing his true feeling for the woman I had just shared the most intimate moment of my life with. The woman I was trying to keep hidden ten feet away.

He loves her. Or he could. I stood there, a liar by choice? protecting a secret that would crush Adrian if revealed.

“She’s… not here,” I managed, my voice strained. “ I saw her leave after the gala.”

Adrian hesitated, looking disappointed but accepting. “Damn. Well, alright. Tell her I was looking for her if you happen to see her. Tonight must have been a lot for her”

He finally smiled, a genuine, easy smile  “Now, back to the lady. You’ve been working too hard lately, Damien. Take the night. And maybe learn to be quieter about it next time. I heard your floorboards creaking from two halls over.” He winked.

“Go on. I’m leaving. And thank you, again. For everything.”

Adrian clapped my shoulder one last time and finally turned, his boots echoing down the  floor of the my  hall. I watched him go until he rounded the corner,

I waited five agonizing seconds, then quickly  shut the door, turning the lock. I leaned back against the wood, closing my eyes, letting out a long, shuddering breath. The adrenaline slowly receded, replaced by a devastating sense of complication.

I turned into the room.

Isabel was fully dressed now, her face pale, sitting on the edge of the velvet lounge, the sheet folded neatly beside her. She looked like  a goddess of war, beautiful and everything.

“Did he… did he suspect?” she whispered, the tremor in her voice audible.

I shook my head, walking toward her, running a hand over my chin. “No. He was blind to it, caught up in his own confession.”

I sat beside her, taking her hand. Her skin was cold. “Adrian came to apologize to me. And he was looking for you to do the same. He said…” I hesitated, the words feeling like heavy stones in my mouth. “He said he needed to thank me for holding him back, because he is starting to have real feelings for you. He was afraid he would have ruined everything if he’d acted on impulse yesterday.”

Isabel squeezed my hand tightly, “oh God. This is bad. Really bad”

I looked at the woman beside me, the woman who had just shattered every barrier I had ever built. The conflict was unbearable, a tearing inside my chest.

“I know,” I said simply, pulling her into my arms, holding her tight, savoring the warmth that countered the chill of the terrible secret now wedged between us. “It changes everything. And now we have to decide what to do with Adrian’s very honest complicated heart.”