*Isabella's POV*
"Mazal Tov," Jacob muttered, lips twitching into a small, infuriating smirk that made me want to smack him.
"Shut the fuck up, Jacob. It's just… so wrong. I mean—he's my boss," I snapped, heat rising to my cheeks.
"That hasn't exactly stopped you from leaving a trail of drool the size of the Amazon every damn time he walks into the room," he fired back with a wink, his voice dripping with amusement.
"That's not true," I argued, even though the betrayal of my flaming cheeks said otherwise.
He rolled his eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. "Sure it's not. And I'm a fucking dragon." His sarcasm cut sharper than a blade, and I groaned in frustration.
"Should I push it," he asked, leaning in like a gossiping bitch, "and ask what actually happened?"
"No," I shot back instantly. My stomach twisted as I looked away, biting my lip. "I shouldn't even be talking to you about this anyway. We're kinda…"
"Isabella," he cut me off smoothly, his tone softening, catching me completely off guard. "Don't worry. It's okay. Don't tell me shit if you don't want to. Just… know that I'm okay with it. You obviously wanted it for a long-ass time, and maybe you just needed to get it out of your system."
Out of my system.If only he knew.
Because the truth? More like I wanted it again.
I didn't respond. My throat tightened, and instead of saying what I really felt, I turned sharply toward the window, letting the silence swallow the rest of the ride. My heart pounded against my ribs like a guilty fucking drum, and all I could think about was Damien Lancaster's kiss—hungry, raw, and impossible to forget.
_______________________________________________________________________________
At work, the tension in Damien's office was thick enough to cut with a knife. Jacob stood near the window, arms folded across his chest, fury practically radiating off him.
"I don't want him here. Why the fuck is he coming here?" Jacob demanded, his voice sharp, almost venomous.
Damien, seated behind his desk, leaned back in his chair with a weary sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as though he'd been preparing for this storm all morning. "I don't know, Jacob. He didn't give me a damn explanation. He just texted me—'On my way.' That's it." He lifted his phone, the short message glowing on the screen.
Jacob scoffed, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. "I swear, if he even thinks about staying at our place..."
"My place," Damien corrected coldly, eyes narrowing. "And whether you like it or not, I think he will. He's our father, Jacob. You'll just have to get over it."
"My place," Damien corrected coldly, eyes narrowing. "And whether you like it or not, I think he will. He's our father, Jacob. You'll just have to get over it."
The glare Jacob shot him could've burned holes in the wall. "Get over it? Are you fucking kidding me?" His tone rose, heavy with contempt. "This isn't about me being petty. He's a hypocrite, Damien. An old man running around with a girl who's what—twenty-three? Twenty-four? She's younger than us. It's disgusting."
Damien's jaw tightened, but his tone stayed cool. "Whatever makes him happy."
"Yeah, no," Jacob snapped, throwing his hands up. "Happiness is one thing. But decency? Respect? He should have some, especially at his fucking age."
Damien's patience began to fray. He leaned forward, his hands pressing firmly onto the desk. "Jacob, let it go. You're letting your hate control you again. It's not worth it."
"It is worth it," Jacob shot back immediately, his voice almost breaking with raw anger. "Because I don't want that man anywhere near me.Do you hear me? He doesn't get to play happy family with me."
"Jacob..." Damien tried again, his voice low, authoritative, but his brother wasn't having it.
"No, Damien. I mean it. I don't want him near your place tonight," Jacob spat, his tone dropping like steel.
And just then, the office door opened, shattering the heated silence. Isabella stepped in, her eyes flicking between the two brothers, both of them visibly tense, Jacob nearly vibrating with rage and Damien holding his calm like a man gripping a fragile mask.
"What's going on?" she asked carefully, her voice soft but edged with concern, her presence immediately cooling the air—but not enough to erase the storm still burning in Jacob's eyes.
______________________________________________________________________________
*Isabella's POV*
I stepped into Damien's office, Jacob's voice already echoing through the walls, sharp and raw with anger. My brows furrowed. "Jacob, why the fuck are you yelling?" I asked, shutting the door behind me.
The second I entered, the air shifted. The tension was suffocating, pressing down on me like a weight, making it hard to even breathe. Damien sat behind his desk, calm but stone-faced, while Jacob stood rigid by the window, fists clenched, his chest rising and falling like he'd just run a marathon. The way the two of them stared each other down was enough to tell me this wasn't a minor disagreement. It was a war waiting to erupt.
For a heartbeat, neither of them said anything. The silence was heavy, brutal, charged with all the words unsaid. My eyes flicked between them, reading the anger radiating off Jacob like heat waves, and the cold, calculated stillness in Damien's gaze.
"Well?" I finally pushed, my voice slicing through the quiet like glass shattering.
Jacob turned toward me, and the storm in his eyes nearly made me step back. "I'm going out for a smoke," he muttered through gritted teeth, every word laced with fury.
I blinked, caught off guard. "Smoke? Are you fucking serious right now? For the record, I hate when people smoke. It smells like shit, Jacob."
That was when he froze, his back stiffening before he turned his head just enough for me to see the fury in his eyes. It wasn't the quiet kind, either, it was the type of rage that looked like it could boil over at any second.
"Don't worry," he spat, his voice venomous, his words sharp enough to cut. "You can kiss Damien instead of me."