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You hurt her.
Yes, he had. But better the wound to her heart than anything else. Besides, she deserved someone who would put her first, and that someone wasn’t him.
His mission was more important and always would be.
Eventually he got word that Glory had returned to LA, but not to any of his residences. She’d gone back to her apartment, which he didn’t understand, not when she could have had any property she wanted.
Then again, who was he to argue? He’d let her go. He’d put distance between them, and that distance would have to stay. He made sure his security team was keeping an eye on her though, not that it mattered any more.
Not now he’d finally stopped caring.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
GLORYSATATthe kitchen table in the run-down apartment she shared with Annabel and waited.
The flight from Paris had taken it out of her, and not only was she heartbroken, she was also jet-lagged and exhausted, and the very last thing she felt like doing was fronting up to Annabel with the truth.
But she couldn’t bear the thought of lying any longer.
She couldn’t bear the thought of pretending either.
She’d tried to do that in Paris the whole past week, telling herself her heart wasn’t broken in two, and that she didn’t ache for him, or miss him, or wish he was with her every second of the day. And of course that hadn’t worked. Being in his mansion, surrounded by the memories of the precious couple of weeks they’d had together, only made the pain in her heart more acute.
So she’d finally packed her bags and headed home, taking with her the knowledge that the only thing she had left was the truth.
She loved him, but he didn’t love her. He’d walked away.
A part of her had wanted to go after him when he’d got out of the limo, to demand they discuss it, but it had taken all she had simply to tell him the truth and she hadn’t had the strength to face him. Not when it was so obvious that her love was just another burden he had to bear.
Sure, keep telling yourself it’s all about not having the right to push him or not wanting to be a burden, when the truth is you’re just terrified you’re not good enough for him.
She wasn’t sure what to think about that, but then she heard the key in the lock of the front door and a couple of minutes later Annabel came into the kitchen.
Her sister’s brown eyes widened and she stopped dead in the doorway. ‘Glory? You’re back!’
Glory sucked in a breath. ‘Hi, Anna,’ she said thickly. ‘I...need to talk to you.’
‘Where have you been?’ Annabel demanded, taking a couple of steps into the room, her shock moving into anger. ‘I’ve been worried sick—’
‘I lied to you,’ Glory interrupted, needing to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. ‘I’m sure you know that already. I’m sure you’ve seen the news.’
‘Lied to me about what? And no, I haven’t seen anything on the news.’
Glory sighed. ‘You haven’t seen the news about me and Castor Xenakis?’
‘That billionaire guy?’ Her sister frowned. ‘What about him? What’s he got to do with this? And what have you been doing?’
So, Glory explained everything that had happened, starting with that night in Castor’s mansion and detailing the wedding, the honeymoon and finally the gala in Paris and how he’d left her. The only thing she left out was his mission since that wasn’t her secret to give.
When she was done, Annabel looked at her in dumbfounded silence, and just like that Glory decided she was done with avoiding confrontation and making things okay for her sister.
She’d been letting Annabel’s opinion guide her life for far too long and she was over it. Just as she was over pretending she wasn’t in love with a man out of her league and unsuitable for her in every way.
‘Just so you know,’ Glory said into the tense silence, ‘I don’t care if you’re disappointed in me. And if you don’t want to pursue the IVF because Castor paid for it, then that’s up to you.’ She drew herself up, finding inside her the same well of strength she’d discovered with Castor. ‘But you should know that I don’t regret marrying him and I don’t regret spending two weeks with him in Europe. And most of all, I don’t regret loving him, because I do.’
For a long moment there was silence and then Annabel sighed. ‘I wasn’t the best sister to you, was I?’
Glory blinked, not expecting this. ‘What? Of course you were. You were the best. I couldn’t have asked—’
