*Isabella's POV*
I returned to the finance department, Charlotte was still talking, her voice a friendly drone as she filled me in on the team dynamics and upcoming projects, but my mind was a mess, replaying the look on Damien's face, the raw ache in his voice.
Then, a frantic buzz against my hip. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Who the fuck is video calling me? The screen flashed with Jacob's name, and my heart did a stupid little flip.
"Can you excuse me, Charlotte," I said, my voice tighter than I intended. "I need to take this."
"Of course, Isabella. I'll get a coffee, we can take five," she said with a warm, understanding smile.
I stood up and moved to a quieter corner by the window, my back to the room. I swiped to answer, and his face, all bright eyes and easy grin, lit up my screen. He was chuckling, the sound a low rumble through the phone's speaker.
"Jacob, what the fuck do you want? I have work to do," I snapped, the remains of my frustration with Damien spilling out onto him.
"Hello to you too, sweetheart," he said, blowing me an exaggerated, silly kiss through the screen.
"Ugh, sorry I yelled," I said, the anger whooshing out of me, replaced by a wave of exhaustion. "It's my first day in the finance department and I'm fucking freaking out."
"You'll do an amazing job, doll," he said, his voice warm and confident, exactly what I needed to hear but also part of the problem. "You're my girl. You know that, don't you?" The words, meant to be reassuring, landed like a stone.
"Can you stop referring to me as your girl?" I said, my voice laced with exhaustion. "Like, try to be real here." I saw his theatrical pout form, his bottom lip jutting out.
"I miss you," he said, and just like that, the playfulness vanished. His eyes were suddenly serious, pinning me through the screen, and the simple, honest words hit me with the force of a physical blow.
"Fuck your puppy dog eyes," I sighed, the words lacking any real heat. I could see him on the screen, his bottom lip pushed out in a perfect, practiced pout that was designed to disarm me completely. And fuck, it was working.
"I do too, I totally do," I said, my voice softening despite my best efforts. "But you know it's for the best. We'll stop hurting each other." I was trying to convince myself as much as him, the words a flimsy shield against the longing on his face.
"Oh, doll, but it's so hard," he said, his voice dropping, the playful chuckle gone, replaced by a raw vulnerability that made my chest ache.
"Don't you have work to do?" I asked, desperately trying to change the subject, to act casual, like my entire world wasn't tilting on its axis.
"You're so cruel," he said, his frustration palpable even through the phone. "You don't deserve to be called my sweetheart."
"Thank god," I shot back, a sarcastic smirk playing on my lips. "I never wanted to be called that."
"Really?" he asked, and a wink followed the word. And just like that, the dam broke.
Jacob always made me feel so fucking special. How he's always so into me, spoiling me rotten, I totally miss it. I miss being crazy with him. I was always cherished, loved, and adored by this man child, and my heart couldn't bear not to feel that anymore. I still have hope, a stupid, flickering candle in a hurricane, that one day they'll reconcile miraculously, but I still need to focus on school, for the time being. That was the mantra, the only thing keeping me grounded.
"I love you, doll. Take care," he said, his voice gentle again.
"Bye, Jacob. You too, take care... and give Elly my kisses," I said, trying to sound normal, like we were just a normal couple having a normal chat.
"She doesn't want to kiss you right now," he said, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "I think you pissed her off."
Oh, damn. She warned me not to break her man child boss's heart. The memory hit me like a splash of cold water.
"You tell her I said hi anyway," I said, and quickly hung up the phone before he could respond.
Fuck.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. I built a fortress around myself, brick by fucking brick, made of spreadsheets, textbooks, and the mind-numbing routine of my new life. I kept myself so occupied I barely had time to breathe, let alone think. And in a way, it worked. I survived being away from the Sexy Lancaster boss brothers. It was a fucking daily battle, a conscious effort not to text, not to drive by their places, not to check my phone every five seconds for a message that would either break my heart or make it soar.
But there was one little, fucking problem: my raging sex drive. It was a low, persistent hum beneath the surface of my carefully constructed calm, a restless energy that made my skin feel too tight. It was the ghost of their hands, the memory of their mouths, a phantom ache that no amount of cold showers could soothe.
So, I started going to the gym in my building. Living downtown has its perks. The gym was a real buffet of sweaty, muscular, amazing-looking hotties. Glistening biceps, thighs that could crack walnuts, and backs that were a work of art. I'd watch them, as a fan, a critic, but never a participant. I enjoyed the view, appreciated the aesthetic, but that's as far as it went. I'd never go too far.
"Hey gorgeous," one of them said, approaching me while I was on the treadmill, interrupting my carefully chosen playlist and my even more carefully decided disinterest. He leaned against the machine, all smiles and tanned skin.
"Walk away, big guy," I said, not even breaking my stride or looking at him.
I mean, how could I? I've had not one, but two fucking gorgeous, infuriating, billionaire brothers. Men with huge dicks and an even bigger capacity to drive me completely insane. Men who, for all their fucking faults, loved me and treated me like I was the only goddamn queen in their kingdom. I thought about the way Jacob looked at me, the way Damien touched me, the way they both made me feel like the centre of their fucking universe.
Yeah. I was pretty much fucking ruined for anyone else.