Page 27 of Isabelle and the Beast

“Hey!” I cry.

But he doesn’t listen. Instead, he picks me up from the chair and sits on the thick, plush rug with me in his lap, wraps the blanket around us both, and holds me tightly, rubbing my arms with his hands. The combination of his warmth with the fireplace does seem to work even better, but again, I’m rendered speechless from this gentle act.

I look up at him. “Why are you doing this?”

He inhales deeply—I can feel his chest expand—and thenexhales. His jaw clenches before he decides to speak. “My sister, Lily, got lost out there once when she was five. I remember…” He swallows hard. “It was terrifying. And you’ve never been here before, so I knew you’d get lost, too.”

There she is again. The mention of Lily is the one thing that brings any kind of softness to Adam. He’s not going to say more, and he doesn’t need to.

So I respond the only way I know how.

“Thank you.”

Chapter

Thirteen

ADAM

Light begins to filter in through the window of the study, illuminating the deep red walls and paintings of trees. Despite sitting on a cushioned rug all night, my back aches. My guess is that it’s around seven in the morning, which means I’ve been sitting here by the fire with Isabelle for approximately five hours.

After she thanked me, Lionel brought her a warm cup of tea. She drank it while I held her, ensuring her shaking subsided. Once she finished the tea, she promptly fell asleep in my arms.

She has been asleep this whole time.

I could have put her back in bed. Or in the chair. Or I could have laid her on the floor and left her.

But I can’t.

I haven’t held or been held by someone in years. And it feels…nice.

Ugh. I sound like my sappy younger brother, Henry.

Isabelle stirs in my arms, and I look down to see her slowly blink her eyes. When she registers where she is, she sits straight up and moves away from me. Reluctantly, I let her go, so now we’re sitting a couplefeet apart.

“Sorry, I…” She bites her bottom lip and darts her gaze away from me.

“You don’t need to apologize. I stayed of my own accord.”

She looks back at me. “Well, thank you.”

I nod, acknowledging her gratitude. “How do you feel?”

“Better.” She glances out the window at the falling snow and shudders. “That could have ended so badly.”

“Yes.” I study her, analyzing her status. “Do you need more clothes? Are you still cold?”

She shakes her head. “I feel warm enough now.” She blushes, probably thinking about the fact thatI’mthe reason she’s warm after her sleep.

She clears her throat. “Coffee! Can I get some coffee?”

I wave over at Lionel, who’s been standing nervously in the doorway. He nods and heads over to the kitchen.

The silence in the air is thick and loaded, but I do feel the need to discuss what happened last night, especially now that she seems to be almost back to normal. After all, I had every intention of apologizing to her until I found out that she ran off. I take in a breath, preparing for the words I’m about to say. “I watched the recording.”

She raises a brow. “And?”

“And…I suppose you were telling the truth. You weren’t in there to intentionally reveal my secrets.”

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