Between Two Brothers

CHAPTER 6.

ISLA'S POV

The air in Dare’s office thickened the second Julian burst through the door. My heart slammed against my ribs as I watched the two cousins face each other. Julian’s face twisted with fury, Dare’s expression carved from ice and arrogance.

“Get your hands off her, Dare,” Julian snarled again, stepping closer. His eyes flicked to where Dare still loomed over my chair, one hand braced on the leather back, caging me without touching.

Dare didn’t move. A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. “This is my office, cousin. My company. My employee. You’re the one trespassing.”

Julian’s gaze dropped to me, softening with that familiar concern that now felt suffocating. “Isla, come with me. You don’t have to do this. I told you I’d take care of everything.”

I stood on shaky legs, the weight of their stares pinning me in place. The impossible schedule on the tablet burned in my mind—meetings that couldn’t possibly be made, errands designed to break me. And behind it all, Mum’s restaurant, her health, the lease dangling by a thread Dare controlled.

“Julian, I—” My voice cracked.

Dare straightened fully, his broad shoulders filling the space between us. “She’s staying. Unlike you, I don’t make empty promises. Isla knows exactly what’s at stake if she walks out that door.”

Julian laughed bitterly, but there was real anger beneath it. He took another step forward, fists clenched. “Your father fired her, few days ago, nos you found your way to bring her back, then blackmail her with her mother’s lease? That’s low, even for you, Darian. After six years of silence, you think you can just snap your fingers and own her again?”

Dare’s eyes darkened to storm clouds. He moved with lethal grace, closing the distance until the two men were nearly chest to chest. The tension crackled like live wire. “Own her? I don’t need to. She came crawling back because you failed to protect her from my father. And yes, cousin—I control her employment. One word from me, and her mother’s lease evaporates. The landlords answer to Blackthorne. Try explaining that to Isla while she watches everything her mother built crumble.”

I felt sick. The choice wasn’t a choice at all. Julian’s arm reached for me, possessive and pleading, but Dare’s threat wrapped around my throat like a vice.

“Julian… I have to stay,” I whispered, the words tasting like betrayal. “For Mum. I can’t risk it.”

Julian’s face contorted with hurt and rage. “You’re choosing him? After everything? After he paraded Serena in front of you on your birthday? After he abandoned you?”

“I’m choosing survival,” I said, my voice trembling but firm. “Not him.”

The lie hung heavy. Julian looked like I’d slapped him. He lunged forward, but Dare moved faster, shoving him back with one powerful hand against his chest. They were seconds from blows—jaws clenched, eyes blazing with years of rivalry.

“Security,” Dare called out, his voice calm and cutting. Two burly men in black suits appeared almost instantly at the door. “Escort Mr. Blackthorne from the building. He’s no longer welcome on this floor without my express permission.”

“You’ll regret this, Isla,” Julian spat as the guards gripped his arms, dragging him toward the elevator. His eyes locked on mine with desperate intensity. “He’ll destroy you. And when he does, don’t come running to me.”

The doors closed behind him, leaving deafening silence.

Dare turned to me, satisfaction gleaming in his cold eyes. “Wise choice, little maid. Now prove you’re worth keeping.”

He dismissed me to my desk with a curt wave, but the day didn’t end at five. As the sun sank over London, casting long shadows across the penthouse, Dare’s voice crackled through the intercom.

“You are assigned for an overnight, Harlow. Those files won’t sort themselves. And the schedule starts tomorrow. Fail, and we both know what happens.”

I worked through the night, the city lights blurring beyond the windows. My fingers ached as I reorganized the chaotic folders Serena had dumped, cross-checked contradictory calendar entries, and drafted impossible itineraries. Exhaustion clawed at me, but fear kept me upright. Every few minutes, I felt his eyes on me through the glass wall of his office.

At midnight, he emerged, sleeves rolled up to reveal corded forearms, his tie loosened. He circled my desk like a predator, picking up a stack of papers I’d just finished.

“Sloppy,” he murmured, though his eyes said otherwise. “You used to have steadier hands.”

I didn’t look up. “It’s been a long day.”

He leaned closer, his cedar scent wrapping around me. “You used to tremble for a different reason when I was this close.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. I tried to focus on the screen, but my pulse betrayed me. “That girl is gone, Dare. You killed her with six years of silence.”

He set the papers down and gripped the edge of my desk, boxing me in. I stood quickly, but he followed, backing me against the polished surface until my hips pressed into the wood. His body hovered inches from mine—close enough that I felt the heat radiating from him, close enough that his breath ghosted across my lips.

My mind flashed to the greenhouse: rain hammering the glass, his hands gentle on my waist, the promise whispered against my skin. You’re the only one in my heart, Isla. Forever.

Now, those same dark eyes burned with something far more dangerous than love—possession mixed with pain.

“You still tremble,” he whispered, voice low and rough. One hand rose, fingers hovering near my jaw without touching. “I can see it. Your body remembers even if your pretty mouth lies.”

I swallowed hard, trapped between the desk and the wall of his chest. His lips were so close I could almost taste the bitterness and want warring inside him. My breath hitched. For one suspended second, I thought he might close the distance—crush his mouth to mine and drag me back into the fire we’d both escaped.

Instead, he pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. “Finish the schedule by dawn. Then go home and think about whose name you’ll be whispering in your sleep tonight.”

He turned and walked back into his office, leaving me flushed, furious, and aching with memories I wished I could burn.

I sank into the chair, hands shaking as I returned to the files. The night stretched endlessly ahead, but one thing was painfully clear: I was already burning in Dare’s grasp.