Page 40 of Bartered Innocence

Isabelle stands next to me, looking out the window into the backyard and then down at the book.

“So she filled it with family in other ways?”

My lips pull at the corner of my mouth and I hand the book to her. She takes it hesitantly. “The Secret Garden. I would have never guessed this is your favorite bedtime story,” she says.

I smile this time, laughing softly. “It’s not. It was my mother’s. A library full of stories, but she always came back to that one.”

Isabelle frowns, flipping through the pages gently. “Why?”

“She told me once it reminded her not to always judge circumstances for what they may look like at first glance.”

Her hand pauses and then she shuts the book, clutching it to her chest, but her gaze is averted away from me.

“When people found out how hard they tried to have other kids, they usually pitied her. But she said that while she may have only birthed me, her home was always filled with her kids.”

“Cillian, Aodhan, and all of them?” Isabelle asks, her fingers stroking the cover.

I suppress my sigh and move toward the hallway, leading to outside. I haven’t spoken about her in so long that it feels foreign to my tongue, like a forgotten fable I’m grasping at the lost memories to tell. “Yeah, they’re my brothers in every way but blood. My mother always enjoyed cooking, too. I’ve had her garden kept up.”

Her head snaps up to meet my eyes. “Like a full garden?”

Stifling my amusement, I shrug. “I couldn’t tell you. Greg takes care of it all. I'll introduce you two.”

A smile pulls at her lips. “I’d like that.”

Chapter16

Isabelle

The greenhouse iseverything I could have dreamed and more. Rian lets me explore until my heart is filled with contentment and excitement for the future. When we’re nearing lunch time, he tilts his head toward the house, asking if I’m hungry. He doesn’t say anything when I silently take back the book he offered to hold while I was gathering some of the herbs.

“Weren’t you going to New York? Or did you decide to spend the day with me?” I ask as we walk back.

Rian glances at me, curiously. “If I did, would you appreciate that?”

“Don’t do it for my benefit,” I say, trying to shrug nonchalantly. But inside, I’m trying to bury the butterflies swarming. I’d promised my mother to have an open mind, and hadn’t expected him to show me a different side to him on the first day. They seem to be a large family, and have accepted me without a second thought. The way his mother’s things have remained untouched, a living memory of their love for her, has me at odds with the anger I still hold for being forced into this union.

His lips quirk. “What about your father? Does he spend a lot of time at home with your mother?”

My steps slow as my heart squeezes tight. It’s only been a day without my parents and I already miss them. And Ricky, it feels weird knowing my brother isn’t going to just pop up and bother me. I’d been so focused on the restaurant, I feel like time has slipped by and I’ve barely spent any with my family.

“He didn’t used to, but he does more now. I don’t know if it’s because he’s not needed as much at the restaurant or because Ricky and I are out of the house more so he doesn’t want my mom alone,” I say. A large reason is because he trusts António to handle the restaurant, and by some extension, me too.

“And when you and your brother were younger?”

I scrunch my nose. “It was mostly my mom, but it’s not like he wasn’t involved. We knew where he was. We could just walk to the restaurant if we ever needed him. But…I think it’s part of why I loved being in the kitchen so much. I didn’t like knowing my mom was alone in there.”

Rian’s throat bobs and he nods, glancing toward the second level of the house as we approach it. “My father made it a point to be home for dinner, no matter what was happening. He said there’s no greater disrespect than not showing up for the meal your wife cooked you.” A man after my own heart, a man who raised Rian…I push away the thoughts, trying to stay planted in the present, and not any hopes of the future.

“Is that why you want to do dinners? To start the tradition again?”

“Part of it, but also…I want this marriage to work, Isabelle. We may not have been a love match, but we’re obviously compatible. We came together once of our own free will.”

My cheeks flush at his reminder of the night I threw away my virginity. I pause, staring at him in earnest. “I want to make it work too, even given the circumstances. But I need you to meet me halfway on stuff. I want to continue working at the restaurant. You can’t expect to just bulldoze your way and think I’m going to be the perfect, obedient wife.”

There’s a small wince when I mention my work, but then Rian’s mouth curls in that deliciously dark sensuous smile and my core clenches in response. He moves toward me and I’m backed against a wall before I realize. “You? Obedient? Two words that could never be in the same sentence.”

My lungs freeze when his hands skim down my stomach, playing with the waistband of my leggings. I glance around, knowing we can’t be alone.

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