Chapter Nine ISLA'S POV
1076 Words
The restaurant was Marco's favorite, which meant dark wood, loud Italian-American energy, and a waiter who knew his order before he sat down. Neutral ground, Kai had called it. It was about as neutral as a courtroom.
Marco was already there when we arrived. Nadia beside me was the only reason I walked through the door without hesitating.
He stood when he saw us. His eyes went to Kai first, then to me, then to the gold band on my finger. His jaw tightened visibly.
"Sit down," I said, before he could open his mouth.
We sat. The waiter appeared immediately with water and bread. Bless him.
Marco looked at Kai across the table. "You want to explain yourself?"
"Marco." I kept my voice level. "I asked you to listen."
"I listened on the phone. Now I want to hear it from him."
Kai met Marco's stare without flinching. "Everything happened fast. Brandon escalated to a level that required immediate action. The marriage protects Isla legally and practically. I made the call."
"You made the call." Marco repeated it slowly. "About my sister."
"With my agreement," I said. "I was there. I said yes."
"You said yes because you were scared."
"I said yes because it made sense." I put my hand flat on the table. "Brandon has been in my apartment, Marco. He installed cameras. He's been watching me for months. He's also connected to Kai's business rival, which means it wasn't random. He targeted me deliberately."
Marco's expression shifted. The anger was still there but something colder moved underneath it. "What do you mean targeted you?"
Kai explained it concisely. Mitchell Properties, Richard Crane, the shell corporations, the timeline that matched when Brandon had first approached me. Marco listened without interrupting, which was unusual enough that Nadia raised her eyebrows at me across the table.
When Kai finished, Marco was quiet for a long moment.
"You knew about this connection this morning?"
"Derek confirmed it this morning. We'd suspected Brandon wasn't acting alone but didn't have the paper trail until today."
"And your solution was to marry her immediately."
"My solution was to give her every legal and practical resource I have as fast as possible. Marriage was the most efficient way to do that."
"Efficient." Marco said the word like it tasted bad. "She's not a business problem."
"No. She's not." Kai's voice didn't rise. "Which is why I'm not treating it like one. I'm treating it like a threat to someone I—" He stopped. Adjusted. "Someone who matters."
Marco caught the pause. I felt it too.
Nadia quietly tore a piece of bread and said nothing, which was remarkable restraint for her.
"How long have you had feelings for her?" Marco asked.
"That's not what tonight is about."
"Answer the question."
Kai looked at him steadily. "Long enough that you already know the answer."
The table went quiet. Something passed between them, the kind of exchange that belongs to people who've been friends for over a decade. I watched Marco's face move through several things at once.
"You should have come to me," Marco said finally.
"Yes."
"Years ago."
"Yes."
"Instead you said nothing and let it sit there."
"I made you a promise. I kept it."
"I never asked you to keep it forever." Marco's voice had dropped. The anger had changed shape, less hot now, more tired. "You think I don't know my sister? You think I couldn't see what was happening on both sides?" He shook his head. "I needed to know you'd tell me. That's all. I needed you to have the conversation instead of disappearing into your own head about it."
Kai said nothing. But something in his posture shifted.
"The promise was about respect," Marco continued. "Not about you punishing yourself indefinitely." He picked up his water glass. "She's been miserable over you for years. You know that?"
"Marco," I said sharply.
"It's true." He looked at me without apology. "You think I'm blind? You'd go quiet every time his name came up. You turned down a date with a perfectly good architect because he reminded you of—"
"That is not relevant," I said.
"It's extremely relevant." He looked back at Kai. "You both wasted a lot of time being noble."
Kai glanced at me sideways. I stared at the bread basket.
"So what now?" Marco asked. "You're married. It's legal. What does the actual situation look like going forward?"
Kai walked him through it. The inheritance clause, the board meeting Monday, Richard Crane, the restraining order being filed against Brandon. Marco asked specific questions and Kai answered them all. By the time food arrived they were talking the way they normally talked, focused and direct, the tension still present but workable.
Nadia leaned close to me. "That went better than I expected."
"He's not done," I murmured back. "He'll have more feelings about it later."
"But he's not putting Kai through a wall."
"The night is young."
Halfway through dinner Marco pointed his fork at Kai. "If she's unhappy at any point, I will hear about it."
"You'll hear about it from me directly," Kai said. "Not from Isla. From me."
Marco studied him. Then nodded once. "Fine."
It wasn't a blessing exactly. But it wasn't a war either.
After dinner, Marco pulled me aside while Kai settled the bill.
"Are you actually okay?" he asked quietly. "Not the version you tell people. Actually."
I thought about Brandon's message this morning. The photo was taken outside city hall. The camera in my bedroom that had been watching me sleep.
"I'm scared," I said honestly. "But I feel safer than I did this morning."
"Because of him."
"Yes."
Marco looked across the restaurant at Kai, who was talking to the waiter, jacket off, completely at ease in a way he rarely was in public.
"He's going to hurt you," Marco said. "Not intentionally. But he doesn't know how to let people in. He never has."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that risk?"
I watched Kai laugh at something the waiter said, brief and unguarded, gone before anyone else noticed.
"I've been okay with that risk for five years," I said. "At least now I'm close enough to do something about it."
Marco put his arm around my shoulders briefly. "Call me if you need anything."
"I will."
"And Isla?" He dropped his voice. "That architect was a good guy. Just saying."
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