Page 79 of Dear John

“Listen here. The only nails that get to scratch this skin are hers. Understand?”

The little kitten opened its mouth, but hardly a peep came out. I took that as affirmation that it understood. Then she jumped up to my shoulder and dug her claws in hard enough to draw blood.

27

ISABELLE

Gettingout of bed was hard this morning. With every week that passed, I was sure I would wake up and realize this had all been some horrible dream. While I was in the hospital, I was so drugged up that it was easy to ignore the pain in my chest. Ebarardo was gone. He wasn’t on vacation or on a trip to the mainland. The man who had protected me and kept me safe for thirteen years was really gone, and I was going to have to find a way to deal with that.

But how?

No one around here understood. I saw the looks they gave me. Those pitying, sad faces for the poor woman who they assumed was abused. They didn’t know what my life was like with Ebarardo. He took care of me. Was it really too much to ask that I abide by his rules? They were there for a reason.

He had enemies and it was vital that I followed his rules to a T so I didn’t get injured, or worse, used against him. I was his weakness, the woman who, if caught, would be used to torment him. We’d discussed this many times, how if anyone ever took me, he would not be able to get me back. There would be no bargaining for my life because that would show a weakness he couldn’t afford.

I didn’t like it, but I understood it. There was no way he could sacrifice any part of his business for me. He’d built an empire. Being his wife didn’t grant me special privileges.

A knock on the door dragged me away from my thoughts. I didn’t want to interact with anyone today. What was the point when the love of my life was gone? But if I didn’t get out of bed, it would only make things worse for me. The questions would start up again and the worried glances would never end. It was all a show, and I had to play my part if I wanted to keep my mother at a distance.

Striding over to the door, I practiced putting a smile on my face. Despite my wrinkled pajamas and bedhead, I knew I could pull off something convincing. I opened the door with a serene smile that I knew Knight would see through. He was about the only one around here that I didn’t have a chance at fooling.

“Hudson. Good morning.”

His eyes scanned me from head to toe, making me shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny. “It’s after noon.”

I shrugged. “I just felt like having a lazy day. I was reading a book.”

His eyes flicked to the nightstand where I kept the same book I’d been pretending to read for the last month. Since no one came in, I didn’t have to worry about anyone examining my lie too closely.

“Get dressed. We’re going for a walk.”

“Oh, I don’t?—”

He pushed into my room and grabbed the book off the nightstand, holding it in the air. “You’re in the same place you were three weeks ago.”

My jaw dropped open in shock. “How did you?—”

“If you don’t want anyone to know you’re lying, you need to start by not leaving the bookmark in the same spot. And you should change books to make it believable.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at my brother. “Maybe I’m rereading it.”

“The spine isn’t creased even a little. The pages are pristine. In fact, I would go so far as to say the only time this book was opened was when you slid the bookmark between the pages.”

Dammit, I hadn’t thought of that.

“Get dressed.”

“You can’t order me around,” I said, stomping my foot.

The anger on his face was quickly replaced with calm. “I’m not ordering you around. I would never do that. I just hoped you would go on a walk with me.”

The sincerity in his voice had me instantly giving in. No one was allowed to give me orders but Ebarardo and his guards, and since they weren’t around, I had only to look to my conscience. And I was pretty sure Ebarardo would tell me never to listen to my brother, that he would only poison my mind with lies. But Hudson hadn’t done that once. In fact, he was the only one around here who didn’t try to tell me how wrong I was for loving Ebarardo or that our whole relationship was a lie.

For that reason alone, I nodded and grabbed some clothes out of my drawer while he stepped outside. I quickly dressed, pulling on a sweater and wrapping a scarf around my neck to fight off the chill. I still wasn’t used to the weather being so much cooler, but I couldn’t deny that the change was nice at times. I could imagine I was on vacation in a colder climate, and one day, I would be back on my island.

When I stepped into the hallway, Hudson nodded after giving me a cursory glance. I never felt judged by him or under the microscope. He came, we went someplace around the compound, and then he returned me home.

Granted, this was the first time I’d seen him since he informed me that Rafe was dead. I still didn’t know how to feel about that. I was shocked at the extremes Rafe went to in orderto save me. But then I felt like screaming that I didn’t need to be saved. I was happy on that island. And now…now everything was just a mess.

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