*Isabella's POV*
"Did you seriously hire a PI to find a fucking fortune teller?" I asked, a disbelieving laugh escaping me. So dramatic and completely over the top.
"Maybe for you, it sounds like a joke," he said, his playful demeanour vanishing in an instant. His eyes locked onto mine, and the intensity in them made my breath catch. "But my love for you is not a joke." The words were spoken with such a raw, unwavering sincerity that it felt like a physical blow.
"I didn't mean..." I was saying, my voice faltering under the weight of his gaze, when he cut me off.
"You left us because of our connection," he said, his voice low and insistent.
"And because you two fought like fucking idiots," I added, a flash of my old sass returning. It was a weak defence, but it was true.
"We don't fight anymore," Damien said, his voice calm and steady, a simple statement of fact that carried an immense weight.
"Yeah, at least one of the two items is checked," Jacob said, his gaze never leaving mine. "If this connection is hurting you, I'm ready to break it. I'll do whatever it takes."
"I think that's impossible," I said, shaking my head, a frown creasing my brow. "Nobody can break a connection between twins."
"The least I can do is ask," he pressed, his voice softening with a desperate plea. "At least then I'll know I did everything in my power..." He said, but I cut him off, unable to bear the sight of him so vulnerable, so willing to tear himself apart for me.
"Okay... I get it," I said, letting out a long, defeated sigh. "I'll come with you to talk to her."
A wave of relief washed over them and they both smiled, a shared, victorious look that made my heart ache.
"Well, Elly drove me here..." I began, trying to bring the conversation back to the practicalities, but Jacob cut me off, his usual confident, take-charge personality re-emerging.
"Forget about Elly, we'll take you to the airport," he said, a smirk playing on his lips. I glanced at Damien, and he was looking at me with a knowing, almost predatory smirk, as if he knew exactly what Jacob was thinking and, fuck, he was probably thinking the same thing. The Lancaster brothers were a unit again, and they had their sights set on me. I was so completely and utterly fucked. And, for some sick, twisted reason, a tiny part of me was thrilled by it.
"Airport?" I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion.
"It's three hours by plane," Jacob said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, a small, confident smirk on his face.
"For fucks sake," I sighed, the idea of a three-hour flight after a long, hot graduation ceremony already exhausting me.
"Let's use my jet," Damien said, his tone leaving no room for debate. It wasn't a suggestion; it was a statement of fact.
"Okay," Jacob said, with a simple shrug, not a single hint of his usual competitive spark.
I couldn't help it. A slow, teasing grin spread across my face. "Just okay? No more 'mine is bigger' kind of bullshit?" I asked, glancing between them.
Damien chuckled, "Nah, if he wants to take his plan, I'm cool," Jacob said, his expression completely relaxed.
"You guys really did make up," I said, a genuine warmth spreading through my chest that had nothing to do with the afternoon sun.
"We did," they both said in perfect, creepy unison, which only made my smile wider. Seeing them like this, so united and... happy, it made me feel something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Soon we settled into the plane's cabin. The low, powerful hum of the engines vibrated through the floor as we lifted off, pressing me gently back into my seat. The world outside the window shrank, the city becoming a sprawling, glittering map. It was surreal, a fucking dream. Here I was, on a private jet with the two men who loved me to death and who's hearts I had broken, flying off to see a psychic to fix a cosmic problem. You couldn't make this shit up.
The comfortable silence stretched for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts, before Jacob leaned forward, his expression serious, breaking the quiet.
"There's something you should know, sweetheart," he said, his voice low.
"What now?" I asked, a familiar sense of worry mixing with the exhaustion.
"The connection... it's weaker now," Jacob said, his eyes searching mine.
"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up straighter, my heart starting to thud a nervous rhythm against my ribs.
"That kiss we shared on New Year's," Damien said, his voice a calm, steady baritone from my other side. "I told Jacob about it, and he didn't feel it."
"What?" I turned to him, my mind racing. "Maybe it wasn't that intense, so you could have just dismissed the feeling," I said, trying to find a logical solution, a way to file this away and not have it be another monumental, life-altering problem.
Damien looked at me in surprise. "Wasn't that intense, Isabella?" he asked, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl that sent a shiver straight through me. "I could barely fucking stop myself. Everything is intense when I'm with you."
The raw honesty in his voice stole the air from my lungs. "Maybe... I don't know," I stammered, my carefully constructed logic crumbling to dust. "I have no explanations left."
"I felt strange too, lately," Jacob added, his brow furrowed in thought. "Like a static hum that's just... fading."
"Everything is strange," Damien said, running a hand over his face. "That's why I was so eager to see this lady. I'm not exactly a believer."
"Yep, you and me both," I said with a weak, humourless laugh.
"But I think we need to investigate this further," Damien said, his tone shifting back to that of a decisive CEO.
"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "I'm open for anything if it means nobody would get hurt." That was my only condition. No more pain.
"Sweetheart... we love you too," Jacob said, his voice soft, a gentle anchor in the sea of confusion. And just like that, the two of them were looking at me with such unwavering, intense affection that it made my head spin and my heart ache all over again.