*Isabella's POV*
"Wait, but leaving aside the shock and everything, this was Jacob's idea, right?" Damien said, his mind already working, piecing together the logic of it all. "He flew us here to ask how we could break the bond."
"It's already broken," Jacob said, a slow, dawning realization spreading across his face, followed by an almost childlike excitement. "That means... That means you can be with us separately."
"Uhm..." I managed to stutter, my brain still trying to reboot. The word "separately" hung in the air.
"I'm not saying you should," Jacob said quickly, backtracking as he saw the overwhelmed look on my face. "We both love you."
"We do," Damien agreed, his voice firm and steady, a united front that was both comforting and terrifying.
"We get along so well now," Jacob added, his tone softening. "I think you can be with us separately as well as together. No pressure."
"We can wait," Damien said, his gaze unwavering. "We've been waiting."
"You... you still love me?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, the question feeling huge and terrifying. After everything, after the lies, the near-death experience, the silence... could it still be true?
"Of course we do," they both said in perfect, fucking unison.
"After... all this time?" I pressed, my heart hammering against my ribs. "With no connection, no... nothing?"
"My love for you had nothing to do with Damien's, ever," Jacob said, taking a step closer. "I know I started to be interested in you even before meeting you, through Damien's feelings. But after I met you... I couldn't not be in love with you. These months without you..."
"They were torture," Damien finished for him, his voice raw. "I still can't fucking believe I survived. I'm with Jacob on this. I want you back. I need you in my life. We gave you the space, you graduated. We don't want to pressure you."
"Take your time," Jacob said softly. "But know we love you."
"Beyond all senses and magic bonds," Damien added, his voice low and intense, his grey eyes burning into mine. "Beyond all reason."
I..." I began, taking a deep, shuddering breath. The weight of their combined love was intense, but it wasn't suffocating anymore. It felt... like a choice. A real one. "Let's go back to Raleigh. I don't want to make you wait for me anymore. Once we're home... I'll... I'll give you my answer."
After the flight, Damien instructed Tony to drive me home. The drive was a silent, heavy affair, the city lights blurring past the window, each one a reminder of the life I was about to potentially get again. When I got back to my apartment, I didn't even bother turning on the lights.
I just walked straight to the living room and collapsed face down onto the couch, burying my face in the cushions. The silence of the place was deafening. I knew what I had to do. I just had to fucking do it. I picked up my phone, my thumb hovering over Damien's name for a long moment before I finally typed, "can I come over tomorrow?" He replied almost instantly. "Of course."
The next day, Tony was sent to pick me up. The ride to Damien's mansion felt like the longest fucking journey of my life. My heart was doing a frantic drum solo against my ribs, and my palms were sweaty.
As we pulled up the long, winding driveway, the house came into view, and I felt my resolve waver. I had my fucking heart in my hands as I walked in, the familiar scent of him washing over me.
I found him in the study, a room I knew almost as well as my own. He was dressed in a simple black shirt and grey sweatpants, his feet bare. He looked so fucking sexy it should be illegal. It was the casualness of it, the relaxed, domestic version of the powerful CEO, that always got to me.
"Hey, Isabella. Sorry, I had some work to do and I couldn't come get you," Damien said, looking up from his laptop, a faint smile on his lips.
"Don't worry about it, Damien. I'm not a stranger, I let myself in," I said, my voice a little too high, a little too tight.
"How have you been?" he asked, and the simple question felt loaded, heavy with everything we hadn't said.
I took a deep, shuddering breath. "Let's... there... I... I want to get something off my chest, please," I stuttered, the words tumbling out in a messy rush. I took another deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Is Jacob home?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"I think he is. Do you want me to call him?" he asked, already reaching for his phone.
"If you can't contact him telepathically anymore, I guess you can use your phone," I teased, a desperate attempt to break the tension with a familiar joke.
"Isabella, we were never able to telepathically communicate with each other," he said, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest before he looked back at me, his expression turning serious again. "I've fucking missed you," he said, and the raw honesty in his voice made me feel instantly uneasy, like the floor was dropping out from under me.
"Okay, okay, I'll call him," he said, his eyes softening as he noticed my unease. He understood. He always did.
He pulled out his phone, his thumb moving with a practiced ease over the screen. He dialed Jacob, and I held my breath, the sound of the ringing echoing in the tense silence of the study. "Can you come down to the study, please. We have company," Damien said, his voice calm and measured, before hanging up without another word. The finality of it sent a fresh wave of anxiety through me.
A few minutes later, the door swung open, and Jacob strolled in, a fucking whirlwind of chaotic energy. He was wearing a tight white tank top that did little to hide the lean muscle of his chest and displayed the sleeve of tattoos that snaked down his arm. A pair of grey sweatpants hung low on his hips, and a wide, smirk was plastered across his face.
"Well, you failed to mention the company is hot as fuck," he said, his eyes raking over me, lingering on the simple dress I'd chosen. "I love that dress on you. It gives me all sorts of dirty ideas. Are you here to tempt us, you little minx?"
His words, which would have made me blush, but right now just made me feel incredibly self-conscious and nervous. A cold knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. This was so much harder than I'd thought it would be. His playful energy felt like a million meters away from the serious, life-altering conversation I was about to have.
His smirk finally faltered as he truly looked at my face, at the panic I was failing to hide. "Who died?" he asked, his usual dark humour falling completely flat in the tense atmosphere.
"Isabella is here to talk to us both," Damien said, his voice a steady, low rumble that cut through the tension like a knife.
And just like that, the playful, cocky facade vanished. I saw the shift in Jacob's eyes, the smirk dissolving into a look of genuine, deep-seated worry.