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“It was what you wanted. It was what I wanted. There is no need to make more of it than that.”

“Of course not. Of course not, and why would I ever think so? You walked away from the business like it was nothing. Your best friend like it was nothing. Why wouldn’t you do this to me and then walk away like it’s nothing?”

“It’s not you,” he said, looking not at her but at the wall behind her. “It is only that I cannot feel anything more than this.”

“So basically, you’re a sociopath and we should be glad that you’re leaving.”

He looked at her then, something haunted and hollow in his eyes. “Basically.”

“Well, then. I won’t trouble you further. Thanks for the help. I’m definitely not a virgin now. And I guess… Alex never has to know.”

She could tell Alex. She could tell Alex that Adonis had used her and then left anyway. And shatter every last bit of fondness that her brother had ever had for him. But she found she couldn’t do that to them. Not to protect Adonis, though he would be in danger, but because she didn’t want to take that little bit of hope that might remain in Alex. Because it was too precious of a commodity. Hell, she had it before this. She had thought that maybe…

If she had been wrong.

It hurt. She didn’t want Alex to feel like this.

Well, he didn’t have sex with Alex. He had sex with you.

True. True.

The dress seemed just awful now in the morning light. This was why they called it the walk of shame, she supposed. What had seemed reasonable under the cover of darkness felt like an announcement of glaring mistakes now. She dressed slowly.

“I will have a car waiting for you in the back. No one will see.”

“You thought of everything. As always. Forgive me if I never get to enjoy the hospitality of one of your resorts. I think I would rather die.”

With her heart beating a bloody, shattered rhythm in her chest, she walked out of his apartment. And out of his life.

She shouldn’t feel sad. She hadn’t been looking for a lifetime connection with whatever man took her virginity last night. It was just that she could never think of Adonis that way. Even if she would like to. Even if she should.

She would always be marked by him.

No.

He didn’t make you a woman. He didn’t make you anything.

You are Esme. And that’s all.

It was just one night. One night doesn’t have the power to change your entire life.

Chapter Four

He had thought that it would be a cold day in hell when Alexander Brown contacted him for anything. And in truth, it was a cold day, and he was in New York, which was close enough to hell. So perhaps he’d been right.

It had been six months since he’d left the company. And five since he’d seen Esme.

Alex hadn’t come storming after him after the night that he had claimed Esme, so he assumed that she hadn’t told him.

Wise, for both their sakes, he supposed. But he had never been afraid of facing his consequences.

But when Alex’s number popped up on the phone, it was still surprising.

“I’m calling a truce,” Alex said.

“A truce?”

It was strange to feel the initial burst of relief in his gut, the sheer joy at the idea that might be possible. He missed Alex, if he were honest.