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She took a slight step back.
“Elise?”
She wouldn’t look at me.
“I’m going to tell you the whole damn story, alright?”
She turned to look at me again, her eyes guarded.
“And then I never want to speak of it again.”
Her breathing remained elevated, as if afraid to hear my tale.
“She started off as a whore. But then I paid her to be mine. She moved in with me, became the woman in my life for three years. It wasn’t because I loved her, but because I was obsessed with her.”
Her eyes averted like a skittish fish in a tank.
“It was about control. It was about status. I decided to marry her and didn’t give her a choice in the matter. That was when she decided to leave—and I didn’t let her.”
She looked at me again, as if she hadn’t heard me right.
“I didn’t let her,” I repeated, wanting her to understand the horror. “She tried to escape, and I kept her mother’s necklace as leverage. She tried to get it back, and every time she tried, I tried to capture her. So she went to the one place where I couldn’t touch her—Cauldron. We weren’t on great terms, so he took advantage of her situation to torment me. I knew exactly what he was doing and I tried to warn Camille about it, but she realized I was right in the most brutal way possible. At one point, I stole her back and took her to my residence in Tuscany. Almost did something I’m ashamed of, but her voice of reason stopped me. At the end of all this, Camille fell in love with him and got her heart broken. I warned her that I wouldn’t take her back if she chose him—and I’m a man of my word. I won’t be second best, especially to him. I walked into that bar, ready to move on. I met you and haven’t thought about her since.” I paused to watch her reaction, to see if that made her feel better or worse. “Any questions?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “When did she leave?”
“About six months ago.”
“How can you want to marry someone and not love them?”
I gave a sigh. “Maybe I did love her…in my own way. But not in the way where I would ever say it to her.”
Her eyes were on the floor now.
“None of this has to do with us, Elise. Why does it bother you?”
Her eyes were still elsewhere.
“Maybe you were a rebound. But you definitely aren’t now because I would never choose her over you. You’re twice the woman she is.”
Her eyes lifted at that.
“Let’s move on.”
“I-I’m not sure if I can, Grave.”
My eyes shifted back and forth between hers. “I don’t understand.”
“You let her stay here—”
“Would you have preferred me throwing her out on her ass in the middle of winter? I let her stay here for my brother. That’s the honest truth.”
“You said she saved your life.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
I released a loud sigh in annoyance. “I can tell you’ve already made up your mind, so I’m not going to waste any more of my time on this bullshit conversation. Whether I love this woman or I hate her, it should have no bearing on our arrangement. But yet, you constantly let it sabotage it.”
