Chapter 84: Burden
Isabella felt the warm air of his breath brush against her cheek, and her heart gave a sudden, hard thud against her ribs. She froze.
The heavy scent of his cologne and skin filled her senses, so close it made her head spin.
Her cheeks flushed hot. Without thinking, she brought her hand up and slammed her flat palm directly over his mouth, shoving him back with all the force her small frame could muster.
"You’re too close," she snapped, her face burning red as she tried to pull her head back into the pillow to widen the space between them.
Aaron didn’t stumble. He barely shifted, though his head tilted back slightly from the sudden push.
His eyes glinted with quiet, amused surprise, but he didn’t move away. Instead, he reached up, his large, warm fingers gently wrapping around her wrist, trapping her hand where it was, pinned right against his lips.
Slowly, without breaking his gaze, he pressed a warm, deliberate kiss into the center of her open palm.
The touch sent a sharp spike of heat straight up her arm. Isabella gasped softly, trying to yank her hand back, but his grip was like a velvet lock... firm, unyielding, and warm.
"Aaron, let go!" she demanded, her voice rising in mild panic.
She couldn’t see him, but she could feel the sheer weight of his eyes on her face, heavy and intent. It felt like he was looking right through her skin, watching every quick beat of her pulse at her throat.
A strange flutter rose in her chest, settling low in her stomach. She tried to tell herself it was just the nausea coming back, just a reaction to the sudden movement, but the warmth spreading through her veins felt nothing like sickness.
"You should get used to it," Aaron said, his voice deep and smooth against her skin as he finally released her wrist. "We are going to be getting married very soon."
Isabella quickly pulled her hand back to her chest, holding her fingers together.
"You say that like we’re going to be doing things!" She sat up a little straighter, pointing a finger blindly in his direction.
"We had an agreement, Aaron Kazarov. Nothing is going to happen between us. You stay on your side, and I stay on mine."
Aaron chuckled, a low, rich sound that vibrated in the quiet room. He leaned back on his hands, perfectly at ease on the edge of her bed. "And I remember the agreement, Isabella."
"Then honor it."
"I am," he said smoothly. "I’m just saying... I have a feeling you might change your mind about that pretty soon."
Isabella gasped at his sheer nerve. "I am definitely not changing my mind! You’re not allowed to touch me. You’re not even allowed on this side of the bed!"
She reached out, her hands blindly hitting his heavy shoulder, trying to shove his massive frame off the mattress.
Aaron didn’t budge an inch, but he held his hands up in a mock surrender, a wide, lazy smile curving his lips.
"All right, all right," he said softly, his voice full of quiet laughter. "I am leaving."
He stood up from the bed, the mattress shifting as his weight lifted. He walked toward the bedroom door, stopping at the threshold to look back at her. "Rest, Isabella. I’ll have the staff bring up some tea later."
The heavy door clicked shut, and the room fell into complete silence.
Isabella let out a long breath, falling back against the mountain of soft pillows. Her face was still hot, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She lay there in the quiet room, the soft afternoon light filtering through the sheer curtains.
But as the sound of Aaron’s footsteps faded down the hall, the flustered warmth in her chest slowly cooled, replaced by a cold, heavy weight settling in the center of her stomach.
She slid one hand down her ribs, resting her fingers over her lower belly.
It was flat. It didn’t feel any different than it had a month ago. But she knew what was growing inside her.
Kian’s child.
A cold shiver ran down her spine, making her skin prickle. No matter how much she tried to push the thought out of her head, no matter how much she pretended to focus on the divorce and the court hearings, the truth remained. She was carrying the blood of the man who had destroyed her.
Her mind dragged her back to the courtroom earlier that morning. She hadn’t been able to see Kian’s face, but she had heard his voice.
That smooth, controlled tone he used when he was trying to lie his way out of a corner. Hearing it again had made her stomach turn. It was the same voice that had spoken soft words to her in their grand house, the same voice that had ordered her around like a piece of furniture, and the same voice that had sounded so cold right before the darkness took her in her past life.
She could still remember it with terrifying clarity, the metallic smell of blood on the cold floor, the deafening bang of the gun, the burning pain in her chest, and the sound of his shoes walking away while she bled out.
Isabella wrapped her arms tightly around herself, shivering in the warm room.
’It doesn’t matter,’ she told herself firmly, her jaw setting into a hard line. ’You are not in that house anymore. He can’t reach you here.’
She was free of him. She had taken her life back, stepped into the light, and refused to play the victim. All that was left was to cleanly cut every remaining thread between them.
Including this baby.
A lump formed in her throat, tight and painful. She was terrified. She didn’t want to admit it, not even to herself, but the thought of this pregnancy scared her to her core.
It wasn’t that she hated the idea of a child, she had always wanted to be a mother. But keeping this baby meant her life would be tied to Kian Carter forever.
It meant he would always have a weapon to drag her back into his dark, twisted world. She had barely managed to escape with her life; she couldn’t afford to leave a door open for him to walk back through.
And then there was Aaron.
Isabella stared up at the dark ceiling, her blind eyes wide. Aaron had done everything for her. He had protected her, given her a safe place to hide, provided the best lawyers, and thrown his massive power behind her defense.
She was leaning on him completely. She didn’t have much of a choice, she was blind, hunted, and fighting a legal war against a wealthy family but it scared her how naturally she had come to rely on his strength.
Her mind drifted back to the eye specialist in Russia. They hadn’t given her a final answer yet, but they were testing the drops. For the first time in years, a tiny, fragile spark of hope flickered in her chest.
What if she could see again?
What if the darkness lifted, and she didn’t have to depend on Aaron, or guards, or anyone else ever again? She was so tired of being helpless. She was so tired of feeling like a burden.
A wave of guilt washed over her as she remembered the way she used to treat Aaron in the past, before her rebirth, back when she was still blindly devoted to Kian.
She had treated Aaron like an enemy, brushing him off, ignoring his warnings, treating his intense presence as something to be feared and rejected.
And yet here he was, standing over her like a wall of iron, shielding her from the entire world.
She felt like a terrible person who had somehow been handed a second chance at life. She didn’t deserve his kindness, but God, she was grateful for it.
Isabella let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes.
She tried to imagine what it would be like if her sight came back. She tried to imagine opening her eyes and seeing Aaron standing in front of her.
The last memory she had of him was from years ago.
He had been tall, impossibly broad, with sharp, wickedly handsome features and a smile that always seemed to mock the world.
But most of all, she remembered his eyes. Piercing, intense blue eyes that seemed to look right through skin and bone, stripping away every lie and every defense until a person felt completely exposed.
Back then, she had hated that look. It had made her feel naked, like he could read every dirty secret and insecurity she tried so hard to hide.
Now, the thought of those eyes didn’t make her angry. It made her face burn all over again.
Isabella shifted on the bed, her fingers clutching the soft duvet. She remembered how close he had been just moments ago.
She remembered the heat radiating off his body, the broad outline of his shoulders, and the deep, rich sound of his voice right near her ear.
Without meaning to, her mind wandered into dangerous territory. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t sholved him away. What if he had actually kissed her?
A heavy, sudden surge of heat pooled low in her belly, deep and intense.
Isabella gasped, her eyes snapping open in the dark room. Her skin felt hot, a tingling sensation humming through her thighs and up her spine.
She squeezed her legs together, her breathing coming a little faster. ’What is wrong with me?’ she thought, horrified at her own body’s sudden reaction.
Then she remembered something she had read years ago, back when she was desperately researching everything about pregnancy to try and please Kian.
Hormones. Fluctuating body chemistry. Increased sex drive.
Her face turned bright red as she buried her head into the pillow. It was the pregnancy. It had to be the pregnancy turning her brain into mush.
But even as she told herself that, her mind kept clinging to the memory of Aaron’s scent... that rich fragrance that seemed to wrap around her like a heavy blanket, making her feel safe and wildly hyper-aware of him all at once.
Isabella turned over on her side, resting her cheek against her arm. Her stubbornness flared up again, her jaw setting tightly. She wasn’t just some soft, fragile heiress waiting to be saved.
She was a woman fighting for her life. She was going to get through this court battle, she was going to get her freedom back, and by the end of the next court hearing, she would make her final decision about the child.
She wouldn’t cry for Kian anymore. He wasn’t worth a single tear.