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I stared at her, enjoying the sight as long as I could. She was stunning…more stunning than I remembered. I just saw her a few days ago, and she didn’t glow like this. My hand missed fisting that sexy hair, missed feeling the small muscles of her back. Now that I was there, I didn’t know what to say.
Why had I come here again?
She stepped away from her desk toward the door, about to run into me after a few more steps.
“Annabella.” I wouldn’t mind if she crashed into my chest—because I would get to rescue her from the fall.
She stilled at the sound of her name, her head popping up so she could stare at me. Now, she was the one caught off guard. Now, she was the one who couldn’t feign indifference. The papers she held slipped from her fingertips and fell to the floor, as if she couldn’t fathom the reality of my presence.
I stepped farther inside so I could shut her office door.
My movements snapped her out of her daze. “Why are you here?” She stared at my face with such concentration, as if she wanted to memorize my features because she couldn’t look at me again. She hardly blinked as she took me in, that ferocity mixed with a subtle hint of longing.
I stepped closer to her, stalling for time because I didn’t know what to say. “What are you doing?” Now that I was this close to her, I could smell her perfume. It wasn’t the way she used to smell, like she’d upgraded to something fancier now that she had Liam’s money again. That would explain the diamonds in her lobes as well as around her neck, in addition to that big diamond ring. “That asshole cheated on you. You left him and moved on. Now you’re right back?”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “So?”
“So?” I lifted my arms and threw them down again. “You deserve better, and you know it.”
“Yes, I do deserve better. But better isn’t out there.”
She’d slammed her fist into my heart. “Annabella, there is better out there. Don’t settle.”
Her hands moved to her hips, her fingers digging into the fabric of her dress. “I’ve been single, and it sucked. I met a lot of guys who were really just boys who hit puberty early. And the one guy I actually liked dumped me. I don’t want to waste my time anymore.”
“And Liam is the solution?” I asked incredulously.
“He loves me.”
“When a man loves a woman, he doesn’t cheat.” I threw my arm out. “Ever. No matter what the circumstance is. Even if she cheats on him first, he doesn’t do that shit. Because a real man is loyal, devoted, and will be committed until those goddamn papers are signed.”
“Maybe real men don’t exist.” She spoke with defeat.
“Yes, they do. Look at Hades. I’ve been with him to every bar, and every time Sofia would never know if he fooled around. And trust me, he doesn’t even fucking look. And there’ve been offers. When times got tough, it didn’t change anything. He was there—every fucking day. So yes, they exist.” I placed my palm over my chest. “I’m a real man. I’m honest and loyal—”
“But you didn’t want me.” Ferocity was in her eyes, as if she’d never forgiven me for what I’d done, as if she wasn’t over it. “You dumped me. And you knew how I felt, Damien.”
All my confidence went out the window when I heard those words, when I was confronted by this level of intimacy. I’d never spoken to a woman like this, listened to her speak to me like this. It was the first time…in my thirty years.
“Don’t be a coward. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
I breathed hard, feeling the vest of my suit stretch over my rib cage with every breath.
“I loved you.” She didn’t drop her gaze like she had in the bank. She looked at me head on, fearless, and confessed, “I fell in love with you, and you broke my heart.”
“I didn’t know—”
“Yes, you did.” She dropped her hands from her hips. “It was obvious every time I’d wake you up in the middle of the night to have you. Every time I climbed on top of you and said you were mine. Every time I’d reach out for you in the middle of the night because I felt so safe with you there.”
Paralyzed, I just stood there, listening to this gorgeous woman tell me these terrible things.
Tears formed on the surface of her eyes, growing wet and reflective with her speech, but she didn’t let them well up and fall. “I still don’t know how that happened. I expected it to take years to feel that way about someone, especially after the losers that came before you. But you were special…and I knew it. I’m tired of getting my heart broken, and I don’t have the energy to put myself out there again. I know what’s out there—nothing. Liam loves me, would do anything for me, and I know he’s sorry for what he did. He knows what it’s like to live without me, so he’ll never do that again.”
