Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Isabella’s POV
The last thing I expected after that gruesome meeting with the investors was to walk into my office and find my daughter with him. Dimitri.
Shit.
I froze. Not just physically. Literally.
I felt like the blood stopped circulating through my body.
My lungs seized. My vision tunneled. It was like walking into a horror show where the bad guy was poised to strike you with an axe, and you were too paralyzed with fear to even scream.
That was an exaggeration, but that was exactly how I felt.
My gaze moved from Adele’s bright, innocent smile to Dimitri’s piercing, accusing eyes. And I just knew. He knew.
Dimitri was a smart man. But aside from being smart, he would have sensed the familiar bond between him and Adele the moment she’d gotten close to him.
It was instinctual for shifters—that pull, that recognition of their own blood.
It was the way wolves knew their pack. It was primal, undeniable.
He would have felt it in his bones, in his soul, the moment their eyes met.
He wouldn’t need a DNA test to figure out that she was his daughter.
So much for trying to keep Adele away from him. Barely two weeks in Virginia and he’d already found out about her.
Terror clawed up my throat, threatening to choke me. What if he tried to take her from me? What if he claimed parental rights? What if Selene found out and decided Adele was a threat to her perfect little life with Dimitri?
The thoughts spiraled, each one more horrifying than the last, but I couldn’t let him see the panic clawing at my chest right now. So, I jutted my chin forward, forced steel into my spine, and stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind me with more force than necessary.
“Mommy, look! I made a new friend!” Adele said, scooting even closer to Dimitri and placing her small hands in his large ones. The sight of it made my heart clench painfully. “He looks a lot like the prince from the story you always tell me, doesn’t he?”
I grimaced. Children and their unfiltered mouths.
Dimitri hooked a brow, and I could see the moment curiosity sparked in those devastatingly familiar eyes. “Prince?”
Adele bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically. “Mommy always reads me bedtime stories about a man—part dragon, part human—who always flies to the princess’s room every night to take her out on adventures.”
“Oh, really?” Dimitri said, his gaze sliding to me as his mouth dragged into a slow, knowing smirk that made heat creep up my neck. “And what is the name of this princess?”
“Bella. Her name is Princess Bella.”
The smirk widened. “Bella, huh?”
My face burned. Before this painfully embarrassing moment could drag out any longer, a voice sounded behind me.
“Ms. Crawford, I’ll be heading to my afternoon class now. But I’ll be back by two-thirty to pick up Adele and take her home.” Sarah’s voice cut through the tension, and it was only now that I realized she’d been in my office all this time.
I sighed, grateful for the interruption, before Adele went on about how the Prince and the Princess ended up together with one daughter—a plot point that would make it painfully obvious that the story had been about Dimitri and me.
I hadn’t told Adele the story because I believed a fairytale prince would come along and sweep me off my feet one day.
Those delusions had died the night Dimitri rejected me.
No, I’d wanted to paint a picture of her father for Adele—even if she hadn’t met him—and I didn’t want that picture to be anything like how I’d seen him in the last five years.
I wanted her to see her father as a hero, a good man.
Because despite everything—despite the rejection, the heartbreak—I knew Dimitri was.
I turned to Sarah with as much of a smile as I could offer, given the situation. “Of course, Sarah. You can leave. I’ll call Charleson—my driver—to take you to campus.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to be a bother, Ms. Crawford.”
“First—it’s Estelle. And second, it’s not a bother. Charleson will wait until you’re done with classes and bring you back, okay?”
Sarah smiled appreciatively at me. “Thank you, Ms.—Estelle.” She glanced at Adele. “I’ll see you later, Addy.”
“Are we still going to play hide and seek when we get back?” Adele asked hopefully.
“No!” Sarah said firmly as she exited the office, and Adele grumbled for a few seconds before turning to Dimitri with renewed interest. “Do you play hide and seek?”
Dimitri opened his mouth to answer, but I cut in immediately, stepping further into the room and positioning myself between them like a human shield. “No, Adele. He doesn’t.”
Dimitri shot me a look that was equal parts frustrated and amused. “How do you know that?”
I ignored his question, crossing my arms over my chest and turning to him.
I hated the way my body was already reacting standing this close to him, but I forced myself not to give away a reaction.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Ravencrest? It’s the middle of the afternoon. Don’t you have…anything better to do?”
“Better?” His voice was soft but laced with hurt. And something else. Longing. “Tell me, Isabella, what is better than spending time with your own child?”
I sucked in a sharp breath, the words hitting me.
I bit my lip hard enough to taste copper and turned to Adele, praying she hadn’t caught the implication in what he’d just said.
Thankfully, she was already back to coloring, her tongue poking out in concentration.
She might be four years old, but she was smarter than most four-year-olds.
“Uncle Dimitri was helping me color Nemo,” Adele said, flashing the coloring book at me proudly. “He’s really good at coloring, Mommy.”
“I bet he is,” I said sarcastically, unable to keep the edge from my voice. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to cut this um…coloring session short. Remember, we have to go to lunch, Adele.”
I’d promised to take Adele to a diner for some sliders for lunch today. I used to love them when I was a kid, although my mother couldn’t always afford them. We’d had them for dinner once when we came to Virginia, and it was all she had been talking about since then.
Adele bounced up and down in excitement. “Can Uncle Dimitri come with us?”
What. “No.” The word came out sharper than I intended, and I immediately tried to backtrack when I saw how her expression fell.
“What I mean to say is that I’m sure Mr. Ravencrest, um, Dimitri, has far more important things to do.
Right?” I turned to Dimitri with what I hoped was a pointed look, hoping he would cooperate.
But of course, he was already shaking his head. Great.
“On the contrary, I have all afternoon free.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice dripping with false sweetness. “Don’t you have a board meeting to attend? Alpha council meeting? Lunch with your wife?”
That last question was meant to cut, to remind Dimitri that he was married and had no business inserting himself into our lives.
I saw the way his expression faltered, the way his jaw tightened, and something that looked almost like pain flashed across his face.
But then, almost immediately, he schooled his features and shook his head.
“I’m free, Isabella. And yes, Adele, I would like to come to lunch. But only if your mother permits.”
Adele turned to me, her brown eyes wide with hope and pleading. “Please, Mommy. Can Uncle Dimitri join us for lunch?”
How could I say no to that face? How could I disappoint her when she was looking at me like I held the keys to her happiness?
I let out a long, defeated sigh. “Fine. He can come.”
Adele’s face split into a grin that made my heart ache. She turned to Dimitri with such pure joy that I had to look away. “You’re going to love Poppy Tate’s sliders and pickles. It’s soooo good!”
“I bet I will,” Dimitri said softly, and when I glanced at him, I found him watching Adele with an expression of such raw wonder and love.
I felt Dimitri’s gaze shift to me as I walked to the center of the room, where my desk was positioned. I was hyperaware of his eyes tracking my every movement as I dropped the folder and iPad I’d been holding onto my desk, discarded my suit jacket, and fished for my car keys in the drawer.
I tried to focus on the dilemma at hand.
But it was hard to think straight when I could feel him watching the way my blouse stretched across my shoulders as I moved, and the way my skirt hugged my hips. I’d filled out since having Adele, my body softer and curvier, and I wondered if he noticed. If he liked what he saw.
I hated that I cared.
“I believe you came here with your car,” I said, forcing myself to meet his eyes with what I hoped was cool indifference. “You can follow behind us. Come on, Adele.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I took Adele’s hand in mine and walked out of the office, acutely aware of Dimitri following closely behind us, his presence a looming shadow I couldn’t escape.
Less than thirty minutes later, we were at the diner.
Poppy Tate’s offered a reprieve from all the fine dining I had to do over business meetings to close deals.
It was the kind of place where the vinyl booths were cracked but comfortable, where the air smelled like grease and nostalgia, where nobody cared if you were a CEO.
People usually dropped by here in the evenings, so the place was mostly empty except for an older couple seated near the window. They flashed us a warm smile as we walked in, and I heard the woman say to her husband, “Such an adorable family.”
From the way Dimitri’s gaze snapped to me, I could tell he'd heard the comment. But I pretended not to and walked to the back.