The car rolled to a stop in front of my apartment building, and I barely had time to open the door before I heard my name.
"Isabella!"
Ian was there, rushing down the sidewalk like he'd been waiting for hours. His shirt was wrinkled, his hair a mess, his face drawn tight with worry. Before I could even speak, his arms were around me, crushing me against him.
"Jesus Christ, Bella." His voice was low, ragged, almost breaking. "Where the hell have you been? I thought something happened to you, I thought….." He pulled back, his hands skimming over my arms, my shoulders, my sides like he was checking me for broken bones or any injuries. When his eyes caught on my cheek, he froze.
The dried blood. The angry red line where the bullet had grazed me.
"Who did this?, what the hell happened, your apartment looks broken into, there's a freaking bullet in your wall and blood on your floor, which I can now tell is your blood." His thumb hovered just shy of my skin, trembling. His jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might crack.
"Ian, I—"
"Come on." He didn't let me finish. He grabbed my hand and dragged me up the steps, unlocking my door with the spare key he'd stolen ages ago and never returned. Not like there was anything to unlock, the door was broken off its hinges. He marched me straight to the kitchen, pulled out a chair, then shook his head like that wasn't enough. "Up. On the counter."
I blinked at him. "Uhmmmm What?"
"Counter, Bella. Now."
Something in his voice made me obey. I climbed up onto the cold marble, swinging my legs nervously as he yanked open the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the first aid box. His movements were sharp, restless, like his body couldn't contain the storm inside him.
He snapped the kit open, doused a cotton ball with disinfectant, and came back to me. "Hold still."
The liquid burned like fire as he dabbed it against the wound. I winced, but he caught my chin with his free hand, holding me steady. His thumb brushed my jaw with an intimacy he probably didn't mean, but I felt it all the same. His eyes never left the cut, but his voice was soft. "You scared the shit out of me bella."
I didn't answer. My chest was too tight, my throat too raw.
When he was done, he smoothed a bandage gently over the graze, his fingers lingering a second too long. Then he stepped back, exhaling shakily. "Okay. Now tell me. Everything."
And so I did.
I told him about the pounding on the door when I woke up . The men who broke it down. The gunshot. Waking up in a locked room. And finally, Alexander Cross — his face, his impossible presence, the way he dangled my mother's debt over my head like a noose. I told Ian about the ultimatum. Marriage, or jail. Two years, or a lifetime.
When I finished, the kitchen was silent except for the faint hum of the refrigerator. Ian's knuckles were white against the edge of the counter.
"Bella…" He shook his head, disbelief and fury warring in his expression. "No. No, absolutely not. You're not marrying him. You don't need to marry him. I'll take care of it. I'll find a way. Whatever the bills are, however much debt it is, we'll figure it out together. I won't let him own you. I can't."
My heart ached at the fierceness in his voice, the naked emotion in his eyes. I knew how protective he was of me, we practically grew up together and have been inseparable since then. I saw him him like the older brother I never had because he was a few years older than me. And maybe some part of me wanted to lean into it, let myself believe he could save me, that he could protect me like he always did.
But the number ....two hundred and forty million dollars echoed like a curse in my head. Even he could not come up with such an amount in such a a short time frame and I wouldn't ever burden him like that. Ever. I'm his my responsibility too as much as I'm his.
"Ian…" My voice cracked. I bit my lip hard to steady it. "It's not that simple. You don't understand how much it is. You couldn't fix this even if you tried for the rest of your life."
He flinched like I'd slapped him. For a moment, he looked away, his jaw working. Then he leaned closer, his hand brushing mine on the counter. "I don't care how much it is. I'll find a way. I don't want you anywhere near him, Bella. Please. Don't do this."
I wanted to promise him I wouldn't. I wanted to tell him I hated Alexander enough to never even consider it. But the truth was heavier.
"I haven't made up my mind yet," I whispered.
The disappointment in his eyes gutted me. He forced a smile that didn't reach his face, closing the first aid box with a sharp snap. "Okay. Just… think about it. Really think about it. Because once you cross that line, there's no coming back."
He rose, his hand lingering on my cheek for just a second before he pulled away. At the door, he glanced back, his voice rough. "Be good, Bella. Please."
And then he was gone, leaving me alone with the bandage on my cheek and the weight of a choice that felt impossible.