ISABELLA

Chapter 33

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Leo’s POV

I didn’t even knock.

Something about her room always pulled me in—like crossing that threshold meant I could finally breathe, even if I didn’t want to admit it out loud. I pushed the door open, and there she was, sitting by the window in nothing but that silk nightgown Aria had given her, the moonlight painting her in silver.

She turned quickly, startled, her eyes wide. “Leo… what are you doing here?”

I closed the door behind me, not breaking eye contact. “Couldn’t sleep.” My voice came out lower than I expected, rough, almost like gravel. “You couldn’t either, I assume.”

Her lips parted, but no sound came. She just looked at me, almost accusingly, almost pleading. I walked toward her slowly, each step deliberate, until I was standing just inches away.

“You still look shaken from what happened,” I said, softer now. “And you haven’t even processed it.”

“I don’t need to process it,” she snapped too quickly, but her voice cracked. She turned her face away, like if she didn’t meet my eyes she could hold it together.

But I wasn’t going to let her hide.

I caught her chin gently, forcing her to look at me. “Stop pretending, Isabella. Stop acting like you’re made of steel when I can see you’re breaking inside.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears, her chest rising and falling as if the weight of everything she’d been holding in finally crushed her.

She broke.

The sob tore out of her before she could stop it, and the sound hit me harder than any bullet ever had. She pressed her face into my chest without asking, without hesitation, like her body had been waiting for this collapse. My arms wrapped around her instantly, tighter than I’d ever held anyone, grounding her as she shook against me.

Her tears slowed, but she didn’t move away. She lifted her face, eyes red and glistening, and for one suspended second our lips were too close. Too dangerous. I could feel the heat of her breath, the pull of something forbidden, something I shouldn’t want.

I wanted to kiss her.

Badly.

But I forced myself to pull back, jaw tight, pulse burning. “You’re safe now,” I said, more to myself than to her. “As long as you’re here, no one will touch you.”

The way she looked at me, like I was both her savior and her sin, nearly undid me again.

So I turned to leave before I did something I couldn’t take back.

I had just reached the door. My hand was on the handle, my chest tight like I was holding in a war inside me. If I stayed another second, I’d lose the control I’d been clinging to.

“Leo…”

Her voice cracked through the silence, soft but raw, trembling in a way that shattered me.

I froze. My jaw clenched, my back stiff, but slowly—like something magnetic dragged me—I turned around. She was standing now, barefoot, her nightgown hanging loosely around her, her eyes glassy with tears but blazing with something else.

Something dangerous.

I felt my restraint slip the moment our eyes locked.

“Don’t…” I warned hoarsely, my voice rough like gravel. “Don’t look at me like that.”

She took a small step forward. Just one. But it was enough. My pulse spiked, my breathing uneven.

Fuck it.

I closed the space between us in two strides, my hand cupping her face before she could even take a breath. And then my mouth crashed against hers.

The kiss was raw, desperate—like years of silence and tension and anger all exploded in that one moment. She gasped against me, but she didn’t pull away. She clutched my shirt, pulling me closer, kissing me back like she had been starving and I was the only thing left that could save her.

Her lips were soft, trembling against mine, and I felt like I wasn’t drowning.

But it wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet. It was rough, possessive, the kind of kiss that said you’re mine, even if the world burns for it.

When I finally pulled back, our foreheads pressed together, both of us breathing hard, I whispered, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

But my hands didn’t leave her face.

And her whisper cut through me like a blade—“Then why did it feel like it had to?”

Her words cut me open. I should’ve pulled away, walked out, pretended this never happened. But when I looked at her—those teary eyes, trembling lips, her whole body begging me not to leave—I couldn’t.

“Isabella…” I whispered, my thumb brushing away the tear sliding down her cheek. My voice cracked, rawer than I intended. “I’m sorry… for everything. For pushing you away. For being a f*****g asshole when all I wanted to do was keep you safe.”

Her eyes flickered up to mine, wet and broken, but shining like she finally saw me—not the mask, not the control, but the man underneath.

“I don’t care what it costs me,” I rasped, my forehead pressing to hers. “I’ll protect you until the very end. Even if it kills me.”

Her breath hitched, and before another tear could fall, I kissed her again.

This time slower, deeper. Not desperate like before, but tender, like an oath sealed on her lips. She melted into me, her tears mixing with the heat of the kiss, her hands clutching the back of my neck like she couldn’t let go.

And God, I didn’t want her to.

Her soft whimper undid me, pulling me closer until I lifted her, her body pressed against mine, like there was no space left for the world to wedge between us. Every kiss was a promise, every tear on her cheek a wound I swore I’d heal.

When I finally pulled back, her lips were swollen, her breath shaky. She looked at me like I was both the fire and the water she needed to survive.

“Leo…” she whispered, her voice barely there.

I rested my hand on her cheek, brushing another tear away. “You don’t have to be strong anymore. Not with me.”

And then I kissed her again—because words weren’t enough, because no vow could match what I felt in that moment.

(They didn’t have s*x)

The morning light crept in slowly, slicing through the curtains in golden strips. She was still asleep, her head resting on my chest like it belonged there. Her breath was steady, warm against me.

My arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her close like if I let go, the world would snatch her away. My free hand moved on its own, fingers brushing through her hair, tangling gently in the silky strands. She stirred but didn’t wake, only burrowed closer, her lips brushing my shirt as if she was afraid I’d disappear.

I let out a low breath, my chest tightening. I wasn’t supposed to be here with her like this. I wasn’t supposed to feel like this. But every second I watched her sleep, every second I felt her heartbeat against mine, I knew I was already too far gone.

“Trouble,” I muttered softly, almost smiling. “That’s what you are, bella.”

She shifted slightly, a small sound leaving her lips, and I froze, half-afraid I woke her. But she only sighed, curling her fingers against me, like she didn’t want to let go.

I tightened my hold, pressing a kiss into her hair.

And for that stolen moment, I didn’t think about my father downstairs, or Sabrina lurking around, or the goddamn war brewing with the Russians.

All I thought about was her.