Page 219 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
“She’s afraid of flying. That’s why she drove here.”
“I know,” Hugo interrupts. “But she said her greatest fear has already happened, so what’s the harm in facing another one?”
I stay quiet, unable to comprehend what Isabelle means by her statement. She said earlier that the gentleman at the gala didn’t scare her, so why is she afraid?
“Her greatest fear was losing you.” The weight on my chest is more crippling than Hugo’s desolate tone. “What did you do, Isaac?”
“I made a mistake.”One that I’ll regret every day of my life.“Please keep her safe, Hugo. You can’t let anything happen to her.” My tone makes my request come out more like a plea than a demand.
“I will.” His voice isn’t as harsh as it was earlier.
“Thank you.”
Just as I’m about to disconnect the call, Hugo’s deep voice shouts my name. I press my phone back to my ear in just enough time to hear him say, “Not all mistakes are unfixable. If you work hard enough, even the most broken things can be repaired.”
He can say that because he didn’t see the look in Isabelle’s eyes when she said goodbye. It cut me like a knife. Nothing has ever hurt as much as hearing those words seep from her lips.
When the creak of the suite door opening resonates into the living area, I strengthen my stance, pretending my heart wasn’t just ripped out of my chest.
“Hey.”
Hunter strolls into the living room, dumping his hemp bag near the sofa on his way. While scratching his scraggly beard, he takes in the space, paying dutiful attention to the half-eaten food on the coffee table. After his eyes shoot to the French doors, they drift back to me. “Where’s Izzy?”
Ignoring the low hit his question smacks my stomach with, I gather the dishware off the coffee table to place them on the waiter’s trolley. “She and Hugo have gone back to Ravenshoe.” My tone is as gruff as Hunter’s beard.
“I thought she was staying here until Monday?”
The dishware breaks when I throw it onto the stainless-steel trolley with more force than needed. While scrubbing my hand across my tired eyes, settling my fury, I turn around to face Hunter. “Her plans changed.”
He watches me curiously with a puzzled expression clouding his gaze. His pupils widen when his eyes zoom in on the red welt Isabelle’s hand left on my face. “Did she find out about our trip to Vegas?”
I shake my head, confusing him more. “She found out about the tenant staying in my apartment.” My words are so hoarse, it’s as if my throat has been cut with shards of glass.
My proclamation doesn’t ease Hunter’s confusion. If anything, it intensifies it.
“My apartment on Hyde.”
“Oh fuck…” he breathes harshly, finally clueing on.
He knows about my indiscretion as he was the first and only man I called when I woke up with Clara in my bed. He accessed every security camera in my building to substantiate that there was some type of error, that what I saw with my own two eyes couldn’t have been true.
The only error that morning was my abysmal lapse in judgment.
Clara is one of Cormack’s younger sisters. I’ve known her for nearly as long as I’ve known Cormack. He introduced us when she visited our dorm on the first family visit at our college over nine years ago. She’s undeniably beautiful with long golden hair, bright blue eyes, and flawless skin, but she reminds me so much of Cormack, all I see is him when I look at her. That alone meant I’d never look at her in the same light that she looks at me.
I know she’s had a crush on me for years. She’s tried numerous times to make our relationship something more than a friendship, but I never looked at her that way. I never saw her as anything more than a friend. That’s why I’m so shocked. The day I got arrested, I spiraled out of control, but even in the most demanding situations, I usually maintain a collective mentality.
Obviously, that day my moral compass was way askew.
“Did you explain the situation to Izzy?” Hunter asks.
“What’s there to explain? I got rip-roaring drunk the day you arrested me, then woke up the next morning in bed with another woman having no recollection of the night before.”
Hunter pulls at the collar of his shirt. He’s back to his standard jeans and t-shirt combination. “I probably wouldn’t use those words, but if you explain what lead to it, she might understand.”
My disbelieving chuckle booms in the quietness of the living area. It’s a laugh that expresses the pain tearing through my chest.
“Explain that you didn’t purposely deceive her. It was just the wrong-time-wrong-place shit.” His concerned eyes glance into mine. “You were dealing with some bad shit that day, Isaac, and this proves you’re a mere man and not the myth everyone thinks you are. People make mistakes all the time. You had a lapse in judgment. That doesn’t make you a terrible person.”
