Grabbing a glass and a bottle of whisky, I poured, then took a sip.
I was going to need the whole bottle after tonight.
She stood there, arms folded, looking at me. “Are you just going to ignore me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re referring to. I thought I was pretty pleasant, actually.”
She blinked a few times. “No, you sat there looking like you were moping, and when you spoke, you were short and snappy.”
Callum wasn’t even here anymore, and we were arguing about him. If only she really knew why I was that way towards him—then she wouldn’t be questioning my actions. But I couldn’t tell her. Not now. She’d never forgive me for lying to her.
“Look.” I placed the glass down and ran my hands up and down her arms. “I’m sorry. Today at the office was a shitty day, and I shouldn’t have been that way during dinner.”
“Sebastian, he really does mean a lot to me, and you need to realise he was a big part of my life before you.”
I was her life before she even met him. I was the one who was there for her. The one who took care of her when she needed it. Protecting her. Keeping her safe from anything that could hurt her.
He’d had no right to take my place.
My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.
Except I’d left her, and she’d ended up in that situation. If I hadn’t left, she’d never have met Jason.
It was fucking hard, trying to keep all this from her. Especially now Callum was sniffing around. I didn’t trust him at all. He shouldn’t be around Aria, and he knew that. He was only doing it to get under my skin.
“I understand,” I said faintly, then kissed her forehead. “I care so much about you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“You don’t have to worry about Callum. He’s not like that. He’s only ever wanted to protect me. Nothing more.”
“I just—”
“It’s always been you, you know that, right?”
I rested my hands on her jaw, stroking my thumbs over her cheeks, and gazed into her eyes.
“I know, Nyx. You’re everything I didn’t know I needed in life. I may not have felt it until four years ago, and I shouldn’t have left you that night, because if I hadn’t, a lot of things would have been different. It wasn’t our time then, but now …” I paused for a moment. “We were meant to be together, and nothing in this world could ever break us, no matter how hard it may try.”
I leaned in and kissed her softly. She meant everything to me, and I never wanted her to feel like she had to be cautious of anyone she spoke to. I wasn’t that type of man. I just wish it wasn’t Callum fucking Brown.
My phone started to ring, and I pulled it out of my pocket. I looked at Soran’s name for a beat before rubbing my forehead
I let out a breath. “Sorry, Nyx. I really need to take this.”
She gave a tight smile. For a split second, she looked hurt, and it sent a pain through my heart—a way I never wanted her to look at me.
I swallowed hard to push that feeling down and made my way out of the room.
16
Aria
The sky was covered by dark grey clouds as the rain started to come down fast. I stood in the doorway, trying to protect myself as much as possible. Of course, I’d decided not to bring my coat because Sebastian had dropped me off right outside earlier and was supposed to be collecting me from the same place.
I clicked the side of my phone to check the time. It was my final therapy session, and he was late. I’d been waiting over twenty minutes.
He was never late.
I brought up his number and pressed call. It rang a few times, then went to voicemail, as it had the various other times I’d tried.
