All Chapters of Falling For My Father's Best Friend : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

**Chapter 1** **Isabella's POV**I stepped off the plane in New York last night, jet-lagged and hollow, but I still couldn’t bring myself to face my father. Not yet. Not when I had nothing to show for the last four years except a useless degree, an empty bank account, and the ghost of a boyfriend who vanished the moment I stopped being convenient.Ethan had controlled everything...my schedule, my friends, my dreams. He made sure I never worked, never partied, never even breathed without his permission. Then one afternoon I came home from lectures to an empty apartment. His clothes, his cologne, his half-hearted promises—all gone. Just like that.And my father? Nathan Hartley had made it crystal clear over the phone months ago: “You’re not a child anymore, Isabella. I’m done carrying you.” “Haven’t you taken enough from my life already?”Those words still burned behind my eyes every time I closed them.I checked into a cheap midtown hotel because I had nowhere else to go. The pla

Last night I barely slept. The walls in Dad’s apartment were thin, and they didn’t even try to whisper. “She’ll be fine, Nathan,” the girlfriend said in that syrupy voice. “She’s a big girl now. Let her go figure it out.” Dad grunted something I couldn’t catch—probably agreement. Probably relief. Who knows?I lay there staring at the ceiling cracks until my eyes burned, then gave up and scrolled flight confirmations on my phone for the hundredth time. Anything to drown them out. Anything to pretend I wasn’t already gone in my head.Morning came gray and cold. I dragged my suitcase to the door without knocking. No one came to see me off. No hug. No “good luck.” Just the echo of the front door clicking shut behind me like a period at the end of a sentence nobody wanted to finish.At the gate, I whispered to the empty seat beside me, “To your face, Mom.” Then I closed my eyes and let the plane carry me away.I slept the entire flight—deep, dreamless at first, then softer. In the haze

I woke up alone. Sheets tangled, body still humming from yesterday, but the space beside me was cold. Mateo was gone-no note, no text, no lingering scent on the pillow. Just silence.For a second I let myself wonder if he had regretted it. If the taste of me on his tongue had turned sour in the daylight. If he'd decided one slip was enough and I was now just another favor he'd done for my father.Was I? No! I refuse to believe myself.I shoved the thought away. We weren't anything. One night in New York. One afternoon here. No promises. No labels. Overthinking would only make me stupid.I dragged myself to the bathroom, stood under the shower until the water ran lukewarm, then figured out the coffee maker. Microwaved leftover fish and chips from the delivery he'd sent yesterday. Ate standing at the counter, staring out at the gray London skyline.By the time I flagged a taxi to work, I'd convinced myself yesterday was a fluke. A moment. Done.Done! I really want to believe it was done

**MATEO'S POV**Isabella.That girl has no idea what she does to me.Since that night in the Velvet Room, she's lived rent-free in my head. Every curve, every gasp, every time she looked up at me like I was the only thing that existed. When I learned she was Nathan's daughter, it felt like fate handed me the perfect excuse to pull her close. To keep her. To make sure no one else ever touched what was already mine.I went to her apartment that day telling myself it was just concern-she looked wrecked at work, pale and unsteady. But the second I saw her in that towel, hair dripping, skin flushed... all restraint vanished. I told myself she was too drunk that first night to remember me. That's why she never brought it up. That's why I never pushed. I wanted her to come to me on her own. Wanted her to crave it the way I did.Dang it. I shouldn't have gone.Shouldn't have looked at her body. Shouldn't have touched her. Her soft, wet heat under my tongue. Her lips parting on a moan. Those

Two days without seeing her felt like punishment. Business pulled me to other offices, meetings stacked like bricks, but every quiet moment my mind went straight back to Isabella...her soft smile, the way her thighs trembled when my tongue found her clit, the perfect arch of her back when she came on my fingers. I needed her under me again. Needed her begging. Needed her to remember who she belonged to.This morning I dressed without enthusiasm-charcoal suit, no tie, sleeves rolled to show the ink curling around my forearms. Dissatisfied. Restless. I slid into the back of the Bentley and waited. Nathan appeared seconds later, expression neutral, keys in hand. Good. Today he was driving. Today we were alone."Good morning, Sir. The Fadex meeting is canceled. Their CEO was in an accident. Still alive." he added.I smiled. Not because I wished the man harm, but because the sudden free hours felt like a gift. No obligations. Just time. Time I intended to spend with her.From the rearview,