Page 32 of The Billionaire's Bargain
They’d earned it.
Isobel hadn’t.
“He’s still running a small fever, but it’s lower than yesterday, and he has more energy. As you can tell,” she added dryly.
He nodded, poking Aiden in his rounded stomach and chuckling at the child’s giggling and squirming. Setting the boy on his feet, Darius straightened, finding Isobel’s stare again.
“Can I see you downstairs for a moment?”
“Fine,” she said after a brief hesitation, rising from the floor and setting Aiden’s book on his bed.
“I’ll wait for you in the living room.” Not waiting for her response, he retraced his earlier path down the hallway and staircase. He’d purposefully chosen the living room. Right now the study contained too many memories.
Minutes later, Isobel entered the room, and though he resented his reaction to her, his blood sang and his pulse drummed, the throb echoing in his cock. This was what she did to him by simply breathing. How did he armor himself against her?
God forbid she discovered his weakness.
“You wanted to see me,” she said.
“Yes.” He picked up a manila envelope from the mantel over the fireplace and offered it to her.
Frowning, she strode forward and gingerly accepted it. “What is this?”
“Open it, Isobel.”
Flicking him a glance, she reluctantly acquiesced. He studied her as she withdrew the thin sheaf of papers and scanned the contract and bank documents. Bewilderment, shock and finally anger flitted across her face in rapid-fire succession. Her head snapped up, and her eyes narrowed. She pinned him with a glare.
“What. Is. This?” she repeated, her tone as hard as stone.
“Exactly what it looks like,” he replied evenly, unsurprised by her response. “An addendum to our original contract. For entering our agreement, you receive one million dollars that will be deposited in an account under your name alone, as the bank documents reflect. It’s yours free and clear. Even if you seek a divorce, it will still be yours.”
“Like a signing bonus?” she drawled, the words acerbic.
He dipped his head. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
“No.” She dropped the papers and the envelope on the glass table next to them as if they burned her fingers. “Hell no.”
“Isobel—”
But she slashed a hand through the air, cutting off his explanation. “Is this about last night?” She shook her head so hard, her hair swung over her shoulders. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel guilty. If you hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn’t have said anything. At. All. But I damn sure won’t take pity money from you now. If you wanted me to have that money—” she jabbed a finger in the direction of the papers “—then you would’ve included it during our originalnegotiations.”
“You’re right,” he growled, and from her silence, he surmised his admission shocked her. “But at the time, I didn’t want to hear anything except a yes. But now I want you to have it. And I can’t unhear your fears or your dreams.” Or the other things hinted at but left unsaid. “Maybe I need to give you what you missed. Your education. A father for your son. Help raising him. Time with him. Let me try to give it back to you, Isobel.”
The only time in his life that he’d ever begged anyone for anything was when he’d pleaded with God to return his parents to him. But here, he came damn close.
She stared at him, and he battled the urge to turn away and evade that fey gaze that cut too deep and saw too much.
“Okay,” she murmured.
He paused, her capitulation rendering him momentarily speechless. “Okay,” he repeated. “And I’m not asking you to quit the supermarket or not replace it with something else. You can return to college, or I can arrange an entry-level position in a company or field of your choice that will allow you to get your foot in the door of your career. Or both college and the job. I don’t want to steal your independence, Isobel. I don’t want to be your jailor.”
“Well, I really didn’t want to ask my current manager for a reference anyway.” A small smile flirted with her mouth. “Thank you, Darius.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his fingers suddenly tingling with the need to brush a caress over those sensual lips and feel that smile instead of just seeing it.
Silently, they stood there, snared in each other’s gazes. She was the first to break the connection, and he bit back a demand for her to return to him, to give him her thoughts.
“I was going to bundle Aiden up and take him to see my mom. She’s been calling nonstop since yesterday. I think she just needs to lay eyes on him.” She halted, her eyes again meeting his. “Did you... I don’t know if you’d like to...” Her voice tapered off, red staining the slashes of her cheekbones.
