Page 47 of Silence and Surrender

Let them watch. Let them talk. Let them wonder.

Because for the first time in years, I wanted more than controlled encounters in expensive hotels. More than physical release without emotional connection. More than carefully maintained distance.

I wanted her.

I checked my phone one last time before pulling my car out into traffic—a message from Stryker about Monday’s training session. The American’s influence showed in my stance now, in the way I carried myself. Even the tuxedo fit differently across shoulders built by combat drills rather than occasional golf.

The transformation had started before Isabella, but she’d accelerated it. Given it purpose beyond simple self-defense. Now each session with Stryker felt like preparation—for what, I wasn’t quite sure yet. But something was coming. I could feel it in the way Rodger watched me at the bank. In the way certain board members grew quiet when I entered rooms.

My phone rang—Cooper again. I swore under my breath as I answered.

“You’re suffocating me,” I said by way of greeting.

“Someone has to.” Background noise suggested he was in his wine cellar. “Allegra wants to know when you’re bringing your girlfriend to dinner.”

“She’s not—”

“Don’t.” The sound of bottles being moved. “Don’t lie to me, Colton. It was one thing to lie to me when you were lying to yourself as well, but not anymore. This girl is special.”

I thought of how natural those instincts had become—tracking her movements, assessing threats, staying close enough to protect her.

“It’s different with her,” I admitted finally.

“Good.” Simple. Direct. “You’ve been alone too long, brother. Hiding behind those controlled encounters and careful rules.”

“They worked.”

“Did they? Or did they just keep you safe?” A pause, then softer: “There’s a difference between living and existing, Colton. Between satisfaction and joy.”

I stopped at a traffic light and adjusted my cufflinks—platinum, a gift from Cooper last Christmas. “When did you get so philosophical about relationships?”

“When I watched my twin brother turn intimacy into business transactions.” No judgment in his tone, just understanding.

“It was easier that way.”

“Easier isn’t always better.” The sound of a cork being pulled. “Tonight at Ashworth—you’ll see her there?”

“Yes.” The single word carried weight.

“And you’ll what? Play it safe?”

I thought of Isabella in that vault, of walls crumbling under her touch. “That’s the plan.”

His laugh was soft. “Plans change, brother. Trust me on that one.”

After he hung up, I tried to direct my thoughts anywhere but on Isabella. Even my usual patterns had changed. The women I’d chosen before—elegant, sophisticated, understanding the rules of emotional distance—held no appeal now. Not since Isabella had shown me what real passion felt like. What it meant to actually want someone rather than simply seeking release.

My phone lit up with a final message from Cooper:She’s changed you. Let her.

He wasn’t wrong. Everything about me was different now, how I moved, how I thought, how I felt. The careful distance I’d maintained for years was crumbling under the weight of whatever was growing between Isabella and me.

Tonight would test that transformation. Watching her move through London’s elite while pretending we hadn’t changed everything in that vault.

Five years of careful control. Of maintaining rigid boundaries. Of never letting anyone close enough to matter.

All undone by one kiss.

Chapter Twenty-One

---