Chapter 58
58
Tovah
Taking One for the Team: Isaac Jones Sets Standard for the Kings
On Reina University’s campus, he’s known for his charming smile. On the ice, he’s known for being a team player and his wrist shot. But behind closed doors, Isaac Jones has a depth, loyalty, and conviction of character his devastating dimples and playful wink hide from the rest of the world.
And that’s deliberate. Jones is the epitome of the complicated hero (or antihero), the type of man who would sacrifice anything—including his self-image—to protect the people who are important to him. That’s true in his personal life, and true in his hockey life, too. And although the Kings have gone through upheaval over the past year, his guidance as the team’s forward saw them through this season to the Frozen Four. And when Isaac and his fellow seniors graduate, his legacy of putting his team and everyone who matters to him first will continue on.
“W ell.” Coach Philip placed the tablet back on his desk and sat back in his chair, steepling his hands. “That was quite some piece on Isaac and the team. Not an interview, but still. Impressive work.”
I smiled at him, even though my heart was racing. “Your husband thought so, too.”
A brief smile came to the coach’s face. “He speaks very highly of you. Between us, you’re his favorite student. He says you have quite the journalism career ahead of you.”
That was good to hear—but I wasn’t here about my future. I was here for Isaac’s. He was deeply entrenched in his new life, and I had no idea if he’d ever be able to play again. But he’d sacrificed so much for me, and I wanted to at least give hockey back to him.
“Speaking of careers…” I began.
“Ah, you’re here about Isaac specifically. You know, I’ve kept tabs on him. He’s missed more classes than he’s made. If he graduates, it will be by the skin of his teeth. But then, someone in Mr. Silver’s position may not care about graduating anymore.”
I gaped at him.
“You know.”
He nodded. “After Isaac ran out of the game, and his teammates tried to cover for him, I had a feeling there was more going on than anyone was telling me. Combine that with your own odd behavior this semester, and well…” he shrugged. “As it so happens, I’m married to quite an impressive journalist myself.”
“He won’t?—”
“He won’t do anything to put Mr. Silver or his family in jeopardy. We both know better than that. Isaac’s a good player and an even better teammate, with a great deal of potential in hockey. It’s a shame he won’t be ever be able to see that through.”
I lifted my chin. “That’s actually why I’m here. Like you said, the article is good. It puts Isaac—and the team—in a good light. Which is what the Kings needed. As interim editor-in-chief of The Daily Queen , I’d love to publish the piece—as the lead story on our website. But.”
“But you want something in return,” he guessed.
Of course I did. I might not have Isaac anymore, but I wanted him to be happy. To have everything. Even if I wouldn’t be there to witness it.
“You have a lot of sway with the university, Coach Philip. And with the NCAA. You can get Isaac back on the team. Let him play in the Frozen Four. Please. Or at least give him the option. And if you do that—I’ll publish the article.”
“Hmm.” He considered for a moment, his gaze on the photo of his husband. “And what if I do all that work to get Isaac back on the team, but he decides not to accept it?”
“Then I still publish the article,” I assured him, even though the thought of Isaac not playing hockey hurt almost as much as his absence. “I don’t want to—I can’t—decide his future for him. I want him to get to decide for himself.”
Coach Philip shifted his gaze back to me. “He’s lucky to have you.”
My throat, my chest, my whole body—those five words made me ache with longing.
“I wish he knew that,” I said quietly.
The coach rose out of his chair, holding his hand out for mine. I placed it in his, and he shook it—once. “I promise you, he does. He’d be a complete idiot not to, and Isaac is not an idiot.”
* * *
Later, I sat in front of my laptop, re-reading the email for the third time. I still couldn’t believe it.
Dear Ms. Lewis,
Isaac Silver has purchased ten properties around the world for you. We’ll need certain information from you to set up a property portfolio and make sure we’re managing the apartments and houses to your expectations. Here are the various locations:
Paris, France
London, UK
Kathmandu, Nepal
Lima, Peru
Ushuaia, Chile
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Todos Santos, Mexico
Melbourne, Australia
Tokyo, Japan
Prague, Czech Republic
Please schedule a meeting with one of our assistants at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Ilana Brandeis, Esq.
Every time I reread the email, my heart sank a little more.
“Why do you like this show so much?”
“It’s the combination of them finding a home, a place that’s theirs, a place to be safe in, and the freedom to go wherever they want. I’ve never had any of those things. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
He’d remembered. Down to each individual city I’d listed.
And he’d bought homes for me in all of them.
It hurt, knowing how much he loved me, and how he still insisted on staying so far away.
He’d saved me from Toby’s exposé, too. Toby was in the hospital with broken bones, but he was alive. Everyone on campus was talking about the editor-in-chief falling out of his window. No one seemed to suspect Isaac—but then why would they, when he had the power of the Silver family behind him? Besides, no one but me and the Core Four knew who he really was or what he was capable of. And I’d make sure to keep it that way. To protect him, too.
I should’ve felt guilty about Toby, but I didn’t. Instead, it just made me love Isaac that much more.
You wonderful asshole, why do you keep breaking my heart? I thought, closing out of the email and picking up my phone to text him for the thousandth time—knowing it would go unanswered like all the rest. Two months of complete silence from him.
Putting my phone down, I lay down on the floor and did my PT exercises and stretches. The doctor had pronounced me completely healed from the gunshot and cleared me to return to all normal activities. But I wasn’t healed. How could I be, when half my heart was missing?
At that moment, the security alarm went off.
My mom had changed the locks and reset the system after we’d moved in, insisting that we didn’t know who else had it. She liked having an alarm system. I think after years of feeling unsafe, that fear still never went away.
The alarm was blaring.
Could someone be after me?
My mom was out of town—she’d gone to the city to see old friends she’d fallen out of touch with years ago—and I was alone in the house.
Fuck, what did I do?
I called Isaac immediately, but he didn’t answer.
Hanging up, I called 911.
“What’s your emergency?” a kind woman said on the line.
“Someone’s just broken into my house,” I told her in a whisper. “My address is?—”
The door to the bedroom began to open.
Oh god, after all of this, I was going to die.
But it was Isaac framed in the doorway, chest heaving, covered in dirt and leaves. In the light, I could see his dark eyes, but unlike the last time I saw them, they were no longer filled with devastation.
Instead, they were filled with hope…
…and love.
“Never mind, false alarm,” I told the protesting 911 operator, and hung up.
“Why are you here?” I asked him.
“I’ve never not been here,” he told me. “I’ve been about a hundred yards away every second I could get. I can’t think, can’t see, can’t fucking breathe if I’m not near you, Tovah.”
Oh, god.
“Then why did you stay away?”
A dark look crossed his face. “I had to make sure you were safe. That we were safe. I had enemies, Tovah, and watching you get shot haunted me. All I could see while you slept in that hospital bed was blood pouring from your chest and not being able to get to you in time if you were with me…so I made sure you weren’t. I lied, and broke your heart in the process, and I’m so sorry for that—but not sorry that it was what I had to do to get back to you. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere, ever again. I’m too selfish of a man to let you go.”
I blinked rapidly. This man always made me cry.
He saw, his throat working as he came toward me.
“Oh god, bashert, please don’t cry. Please, every time a tear falls from your eyes, it’s like I die a little inside.”
“Then fix it,” I told him. “Fix it.”
“That’s what I’m here to do.” There was a soft determination in his face, as he knelt down on one knee.
“Isaac, what the hell are you doing?” I wasn’t even sure how I was able to form words.
Was he about to ?— ?
“Tovah, I told you once that the only woman I would ever marry was you. It’s still true. After my mother died, I thought love couldn’t, wouldn’t, exist for me. I was sure I didn’t even have a heart. But the day I met you, even though I resisted, that heart came back to life, and it’s been beating for you and only for you ever since. You are the sole reason I was put on this earth, and I will exist entirely to love you until the day I die, and then I will love you forever after. That’s why I call you bashert, Tovah Lewis. You’re my soulmate. My destiny. You’re it for me.”
“Isaac,” I said softly, my eyes still filled with tears as my heart came back to life, too. “I love you so much.”
Utter devotion moved over his face as he pulled something out of his pocket.
It was a small black velvet ring box.
He flipped open the top.
A rose gold halo diamond ring sparkled in the light.
“Then marry me,” he said fiercely. “Be my wife, be mine forever, like I’ve always been yours.”
Of course he demanded I marry him. Of course he didn’t ask.
But would I want it any other way?
No.
I wanted him, all versions of him.
“Yes, Isaac, I’ll marry you,” I said, moving toward him and holding out my hand so he could slide the ring over my finger.
“Good,” he told me. “Because I wasn’t giving you a choice.”
“But what about the family? What about?—”
“Liza is taking over, thank fuck,” he said. “I’m giving up all of it. None of it means anything if I have to live without you.”
“I can’t live without you either,” I said.
“Good.”
And with that, he kissed me, a kiss that made every other kiss he’d ever given me pale in comparison. The room spun around us, gravity gave up the fight, and it was like I was floating in his arms as they tightened around me. What once felt like a prison was now my safe haven; nothing and no one would ever, ever, tear us apart again.
Finally, he pulled away. And a dark smile spread across his face, popping out his dimples.
“You know what I want you to do next, don’t you, little journalist?”
I nodded, already feeling breathless.
“Good.” He rose, setting me on the floor, and crossing his arms. “I’ll give you a sixty-second head start, and you better move fast, because the second I catch you, I’m going to shove my dick inside that tight cunt so hard and so deep, you’ll feel me forever. Now, run. ”
My feet pounded down the stairs as I raced to the first floor and out of the house, ripping off my clothes as I went. The driveway passed behind me, Isaac close behind, and then I was in the trees, darting through the forest, bare feet catching on rocks and twigs, but I didn’t care, didn’t care, didn’t feel the pain, because all I felt was elation as I ran and the love of my life chased me.
And then he caught me, shoving me down in the dirt and following me down. I was already so wet, and he grunted in pleasure as he shoved my legs apart. And then he was inside me, as hard and deep as he promised, no, harder and deeper, fucking me and fucking me and making love to me and loving me, and I fucked him and made love to him and loved him right back, forgetting everything but the hot, hard, thick feeling of him inside me, his body covering mine, until nothing existed in the world.
Nothing but my monster and me.