Chapter 60: Goddess
Isabella flung the front door open, and her face lit up with excitement when she saw the man standing on the welcome mat. Axel looked much more grown-up compared to the picture on his cousin’s phone. His brown hair was short and artfully tousled, and his dark blue eyes held a more mature look. His frame was large and muscled, and there was a powerful aura around him that held a similar power to Gareth’s.
“Bell!” Axel shouted, dropping his black duffel bag and sweeping Isabella into a brotherly hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
“Bell?” Elliot asked, confused. He was standing behind the two cousins.
“Axel’s been calling me that since we were little,” Isabella explained as Butler Jones discreetly picked up Axel’s bag and brought it into the house. “He couldn’t say ‘Isabella’ as a kid, so he shortened it to ‘Bell’ and it just sort of stuck.”
“Thank you, Butler Jones!” Axel called after the man’s retreat. “It’s good to see you!”
The three walked into the house and entered the study that already had a crackling fire in the grate.
“Axel, I’m so excited for you to meet my fiancé,” Isbabella said proudly. “This is Elliot.”
The two men shook hands. A charming smile crossed Elliot’s face. He knew that he had to impress Axel not only because he was important to Isabella but because he was Gareth’s nephew.
“It’s great to meet you. Isabella was just telling me all about how you grew up together.” Elliot took a glass of red wine offered to him by a server.
“Whatever Bell tells you is an exaggeration,” Axel noted with a grin and sat down in a comfortable red armchair. “I promise I wasn’t as big of a troublemaker as she makes me out to be.”
Isabella laughed as she sat next to Elliot on the couch. “Don’t worry, Axel. I didn’t have time to tell him about the time you filled my dad’s bedroom with balloons or when you set all the alarm clocks in the house to ring at three in the morning.” Isabella giggled, her eyes twinkling with glee. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad more angry in his life.”