Isabelle: Standing Strong, Being Me It wasn't easy, and my heart hurt like h.e.l.l, but when Gabe was called into work the next morning, I took the opportunity to escape. I left him a note, explaining the independence I needed in my life and why I had to leave him to find it.

I immediately contacted my old friend, boss, and mentor, Lisa. Her office was still in the same place, and she'd cried with relief on hearing my voice. The first night, I found myself a guest in her apartment, catching up on each other's lives. Lisa turned out to be a G.o.dsend and every inch a good friend. First, she offered to hire me as her a.s.sistant so I could slowly get back into design. I readily agreed. Although she'd obviously created the job as a favor, the first day back in the office, I took one look at her desk, her books, and the phone ringing off the hook, and I had little doubt she needed me.

She also gave me a place to live. She'd been seeing the same man for the last two years and stayed over at his place more often than not, and so she insisted I move into her apartment. We agreed on a fair rent, which she insisted helped her out since she'd basically moved in with Tom but hadn't wanted to give up her own place unless and until things were more permanent.

I was grateful, not thrilled about feeling like I was taking, but I wasn't stupid enough to begrudge the opportunity. I also knew Lisa. She didn't lie, and she didn't go easy. She was a tough boss, and I knew I'd work hard-and I did. I also went along on all her design appointments. She asked my advice, often used my vision, and before long, I grew comfortable a.s.serting my opinions on color, fabric choice, and furniture placement. My school knowledge came back to me, and so did the two years of on-the-job training at Lisa's hand.

One morning not long after I'd left, a courier delivered an envelope for me at work. I signed, and the other man left. Inside, I discovered a check for the amount I'd had when I'd moved in with Lance, plus two years' worth of interest. To say I was stunned was an understatement, and I felt sure Gabe had something to do with the return of my funds. Which meant Lance wouldn't be pleased with him-or me. Despite me looking over my shoulder for a while after, Lance never surfaced in any way. And neither had Gabe. Even if he'd cared enough to push Lance into returning the money, he obviously wasn't interested enough to see me himself.

The first day, heck, even weeks after I'd left, I'd waited for him to come after me. A part of me had even hoped he would, not that I knew how I'd find the strength to resist him if he did. I didn't have to worry. He'd let me go much easier than I'd antic.i.p.ated. In fact, he'd let me go completely. Either he'd respected my decision or I'd hurt or angered him to the point that he no longer cared. That was the thought that tortured me, the possibility that I'd caused Gabe pain in order to find my sense of self. I think some part of me believed he'd be persistent even as he tried to understand. I didn't think he'd let contact go. Then again, I'd left him. What else would a man with a healthy ego do?

There were times I wondered if he'd thought I was testing him by leaving and was angry that I'd played that kind of game with him. The truth was, I didn't know how to play games, not when it came to my heart. The fact remained, his silence reigned, as blatant and full of meaning as my parents', I thought, and a knife-like pain hit my heart.

Three months later, I still missed Gabe, all the while asking myself how I could miss a man I'd barely gotten to know. Yet he'd reached inside me with the things I craved most-understanding and true pa.s.sion.

If I was honest with myself, and during this time of self-discovery, I'd forced myself to be nothing but, I also missed the s.e.xual domination he'd exerted over me. Where Lance's control had been damaging and ego crushing, Gabe's had built me up in subtle but important ways. Just a few days with him and I'd felt stronger. Strong enough to leave the easy life he'd offered me and go out on my own just to prove to myself that I could.

This morning, as I settled into my desk and began checking messages, the familiar sound of Lisa coming through the doors had me looking up. She floated into the office. There was no other word to describe her arrival. Makeup perfect, blonde hair in symmetrical waves, she immediately came over to my desk, a huge smile on her face.

"Nice evening?" I asked, knowing Tom had told her to dress up because he was taking her somewhere special.

"Fabulous!" She flashed her hand at me, and I couldn't help but notice the big, sparkly engagement ring on her finger.

"Oh my G.o.d!" I squealed as only a friend could, jumped up, and hugged her tightly. "Congratulations!" I grabbed her hand for a better look. "Gorgeous."

"I know!"

I laughed, truly happy for her. Lisa had just turned forty, and she'd been beginning to think Tom would never propose, but she loved him too much to leave or issue an ultimatum. Clearly her persistence had paid off.

Instead of heading to her office and returning calls immediately as she usually did, Lisa perched herself on the corner of my desk. Never the kind of boss to define the workplace by hierarchy, she also didn't care that I was a good decade younger than her.

We'd clicked, therefore we were friends.

I settled back into my chair. "I'm thrilled for you," I told her.

"Thank you." She quietly a.s.sessed me with her vivid green eyes. "I'm glad you came back so I could share this with you. Not to mention the fact that you keep me organized."

I smiled at her. "I'm glad too." I'd missed the work, and I'd missed her friendship.

She leaned in close. "You know, I was fooled by Lance too."

I whipped my head up. She hadn't brought up Lance since the first night of my return, respecting that boundary, if not many others. I think she realized I needed time to heal, and she'd given me that. Apparently, with her engagement and happiness a.s.sured, it was time to focus on me.

My stomach churned, but I figured it was better to have the conversation and be done with it than to avoid it and let her push me until I revealed all.

"Lance really fooled you too?" I asked, surprised that she hadn't seen beyond the smooth exterior to the slime beneath either.

She nodded. "I would have tried harder to talk you out of quitting it-make that abandoning me here-but you were so happy. You loved him, and you wanted security. I knew you well enough to know that, and Lance seemed the perfect man to provide it."

At least I knew we'd both seen the same thing in Lance-in the beginning.

"I didn't like that you gave up your independence and career to be with him, but I respected that not all women wanted the same things from life. Although I knew I'd miss your talent."

I smiled. "I really did want to be happy with him. I wanted to make the home I never had but..." I smacked the side of my head and forced a smile.

"I admire you knowing what you wanted at such a young age. Nothing wrong with that. We aren't all cut out for career only." She glanced down at her ring as she spoke, making me think she'd done some reevaluating too.

"I should have realized when I called and couldn't reach you, and then when you didn't call me back-"

I held up one hand. "What?" To my knowledge, she had stopped calling me, cold turkey.

"When you started making excuses for getting out of our weekly lunches and had Lance tell me-"

"You called me?"

She nodded. "I called your cell. The number was disconnected, so I called Lance, and he promised to relay the message. After I did that twice, and he explained you'd made new friends and were too busy..."

Heat burned my cheeks. "G.o.d, I'm an idiot." In the beginning, he'd always come up with something I just had to do on the days I'd had plans with Lisa, but I didn't know he'd deliberately neglected to tell me she'd called. I should have realized. I shouldn't have let the friendship go so easily, but Lance had been there, encouraging me to move on.

Lisa waved away my self-blame. "It never dawned on me that he wasn't relaying the messages either. I just thought you were too busy with your new life and friends. And that was okay if you were happy, but I missed you." Her lips thinned. "I should have known you better. So you see? We were both duped. Take heart in that." Her kind gaze fell to mine.

"Thank you." Lisa was another person in my life I could count on, I thought, immediately realizing I was mentally including Gabe in that small group of two.

A lump filled my throat as it always did when I thought about Gabe.

"Anyway," Lisa said, her voice a welcome break from being in my own head, "we'll just find you your own man like Tom."

I hadn't told Lisa about my short time with Gabe before showing up again in her life. The pain had been too fresh, and I wasn't ready to admit I'd gone from one man's shelter directly to another. I also wanted to keep him, what I felt for him, to myself.

I shook my head at her. I didn't want a man like Tom. I didn't want just any man. I wanted the one I'd left behind.

But I didn't think going back was the right move, not with the months of silence between us. I'd taken some independent strides since leaving and had many steps still to come. I'd gotten what I needed-time alone to rebuild my life.

Too bad that life often felt so empty.

"We'll see," she said. "I'm just glad we had this talk."

"And I'm so happy for you." I glanced at her ring and smiled.

Lisa rose from her seat and held out her hand. "Messages," she said, back to business.

I blew out a breath, relieved to have some normalcy and no more talk bout my past. I handed her a stack of pink papers, mostly phone calls I'd retrieved from the answering machine.

She flipped through them. "Okay, I'm on these. I leave for Chicago on Wednesday," she reminded me.

"I remember." Lisa did a lot of travel for the initial consultation phase of a project and again during install.

Lisa headed for her office, and I returned to my work. A few hours later, my stomach growling, I headed out for lunch. Lisa's office was located near Cosi's, my favorite sandwich shop, and I ate outside, enjoying the sun on my skin, the light breeze blowing across my face and through my curls. I returned to the office refreshed and ready to work.

"Isabelle, I've been calling your cell for the last fifteen minutes!" Lisa said as soon as I stepped out of the stairwell. I'd taken to walking up the four flights, the trip up and down the only form of exercise I had time for.

"I'm here now. I didn't have any appointments scheduled. What's wrong?" I asked.

She shoved a folder into my hands. I glanced down. Elite was typed on the folder label. "New client?" I asked.

Lisa nodded, rushing me through the main entry and toward the conference room.

"Then why aren't you taking them? You screen the clients, I work on the-"

"She asked for you," Lisa said.

I narrowed my gaze. "n.o.body knows about me." I paused. "My designing abilities, I mean."

"Doesn't matter. This is a nightclub to end all nightclubs. Only the creme de la creme will go there, or should I say, be deigned entry. The woman in that room asked for you, so go!" Lisa shoved lightly on my back.

This whole scenario made no sense. Grasping the folder, I opened the door to the small conference room. "Lisa-" I glanced over to find my boss had disappeared.

I straightened my shoulders and headed inside, coming face-to-face with a pet.i.te brunette with dark blue eyes-eyes I'd seen not once but twice before. Eyes I wouldn't forget, even if this time they were in the face of a beautiful female.

"You must be Lucy Dare," I said, proud my voice didn't shake and betray my shock.

She smiled wide. "Isabelle."

I shut the door behind me and stared at the woman who looked so much like her brothers. I didn't know where to begin, so I started with the obvious. "Thank you."

"For what?" Lucy tipped her head to the side, curiosity-about all things me-oozing from her as she openly studied me.

"For letting me borrow your clothes." I blushed as I said it, but she deserved my grat.i.tude. I'd come to Gabe with nothing but the clothes on my back, literally.

She waved a hand away. "What's mine is Gabe's to lend." She laughed but quickly sobered when she met my gaze. "He's never done that before. Ever."

Somehow I knew that. Believed her. Believed in him.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

"What do you know about our club business?" she asked.

"Not much." I hadn't been around long enough to learn about Gabe's holdings.

"Good."

"Excuse me? You're obviously here to talk business, and you're glad I don't know much. How does that make sense?"

She smiled then. "I like you. And I can see why Gabe's hooked."

I narrowed my gaze. "I haven't spoken to him in three months."

She waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, all of our current clubs are elite and exclusive. They cater to an upper-cla.s.s clientele. Well-off people looking to blow off steam and pay a hefty fee to just walk in the front door."

Lucy, wearing a white pair of slacks, a yellow silk halter top, and high-heeled strappy sandals, began to pace as she spoke. Hands flying, animated, she was clearly in her element when discussing her business.

"All interesting facts, but it doesn't explain why you're here." I figured Lucy wanted to meet the woman who'd invaded her brother's life for a short time. Because I couldn't imagine that Gabe had pined for long-or at all-after I left.

"Because we've been given the opportunity of a lifetime. There's an exclusive island resort near the Bermuda Triangle. Eden."

I shook my head. "I haven't heard of it."

Her eyes lit up. "Not many people have. The only way to get to the island is to be invited by the Master, who is the host."

I shivered at the name Master, unsure of why.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that. We've been offered first dibs to buy in and recreate one of our signature nightclubs there. Giving it its own unique stamp, of course. And I want you to manage the decor."

She held out a folder. "Inside are photographs of our clubs and other information about what makes Elite ... well, Elite. I want you to up the ante and help me create something beyond fabulous there," Lucy said.

"But-"

"No buts allowed," Lucy said, going on as if I hadn't objected. "We have to go visit the island, so your invitation is in the folder along with travel instructions and tickets. Since I a.s.sume you'll need time to buy island-appropriate clothing and organize yourself, you don't leave until Friday. There's an expense check in there for wardrobe since we're taking you out of your element here. It's a two-hour charter plane ride."

I blinked at the part about the expense check. "I already have summer clothing."

Lucy waved a hand dismissively. "Buy new ones anyway."

My head was spinning, both at the speed of her words and the scope and breadth of her request. No, not a request, a demand, making me wonder if this was her usual MO or something Gabe had concocted to see me again. My heart sped up in my chest at the thought.

"I'll meet you on the island," Lucy said, answering my question about Gabe's involvement. Even if he'd suggested me, this seemed to be Lucy's show and not her brother's. "Any questions?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"So you're in?"

As if I had a choice? Lisa might be my friend, but even she would fire me for turning down this opportunity. Still, none of this made any sense. I didn't have the expertise or the talent to take on this task even with the clearly formidable Lucy Dare to guide me.

"Lucy, don't get me wrong. I appreciate the offer. And please don't take this the wrong way, but if this is Gabe's version of charity, you can a.s.sure him I'm doing just fine."

Lucy tipped her head back and laughed. "Do you really think I'd risk handing over the biggest challenge of my career to someone my brother, at worst, feels sorry for or, at best, just wants to f.u.c.k?"

"Excuse me?" I tried to sound outraged, but the sad truth was, either was a valid possibility. And I appreciated her candor since I wanted to be the same in return.

Lucy propped a hip on the conference room table. "Look, my brother stepped in when my parents died. He made sure I wanted for nothing, from the material to the emotional, and I owe him for that. But even then, I wouldn't jeopardize our reputation on a whim of his. But you're no whim." Lucy Dare met my gaze, confidence oozing from her in a way I envied.

I turned and looked out the windows, confused. My usual state when it came to Gabe.

Lucy came up alongside me. Actually, she towered over my more pet.i.te frame, and her body was even more slender and perfect than her undergarments had led me to believe. Just as I had when wearing her clothes, I wanted to hate the lithe, beautiful woman who, from outward appearances, was everything I wasn't. But I knew appearances were deceiving, and life dealt blows and wounds n.o.body could see.