Chapter Fifteen – Undressed Truths
649 Words
The silence in Raine’s gallery was deafening.
Isla stared at the name—Elijah Belle—printed across the file. It felt like the walls were closing in.
“He’s… Cassian’s brother?” Her voice cracked.
Aiden placed a hand on her back, grounding her. “It explains everything. Why the Valiente records buried his name. Why they targeted you.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “My whole life—my mom, my childhood—it was all a lie?”
“You weren’t meant to know,” Raine said, arms crossed. “Your father tried to leave that world. But the past never lets go without blood.”
Aiden’s jaw tightened. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
---
They checked into a hidden apartment Leo kept under a fake name. The room was small—one bed, one flickering lamp—but safe. For now.
Isla stood by the window, staring out at the city. Her thoughts raced, heart tangled in betrayal and confusion.
Behind her, Aiden sat on the bed, silent.
“Everything I thought I knew about my family is gone,” she said. “All those birthdays, all those nights my mom told me he died because someone ran a red light…”
She turned to face him. “She lied to protect me.”
Aiden nodded. “She did what she had to. Just like we’re doing now.”
Her eyes searched his. “Are we any better?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I know I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
He stood, stepping closer. The air between them shifted.
“Isla,” he said quietly, “you’ve been thrown into hell because of me.”
“No,” she said, stepping closer. “Because of them.”
Her hand found his. “You’ve protected me. You’ve told me the truth when no one else did.”
Aiden looked down at her fingers wrapped around his, then slowly up into her eyes.
“I’ve done things I’m not proud of,” he said. “I don’t deserve you.”
She cupped his cheek. “Then let me choose you anyway.”
His breath hitched. “Are you sure?”
A long silence stretched between them, the storm outside mirroring the thunder in her chest.
“I’ve never done this before,” she said, voice soft. “I’ve never been with anyone. But right now, all I want is you.”
Aiden's expression shifted from disbelief to something raw, aching, almost reverent.
“I don’t want to rush you,” he whispered, lips brushing her forehead. “You’ve been through too much—”
“I want you,” she interrupted, standing on her toes, “to be my first. Because no one has ever made me feel like this. Safe. Seen.”
His arms wrapped around her like armor, and he kissed her—slow, deep, filled with everything they couldn’t say.
---
They moved together in quiet urgency. No rush. No performance. Just truth, skin to skin, breath to breath.
Aiden’s hands were careful as they removed layers—her sweater, her bra, her hesitation. She trembled, not from fear, but from the intensity of it all.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, voice rough.
“You’re mine,” she whispered.
When he entered her, her breath hitched, eyes locking with his. It hurt, but not in the way she feared—it hurt in the way beginnings always do.
But with every touch, every whispered promise, the pain melted into something electric.
They didn’t say “I love you,” not yet. But it was there—in the way he held her after, in the way she curled against his chest like he was home.
And for the first time since her world shattered, Isla felt whole.
- Writer
