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She wasn’t in the mood to answer the questions that her friends would surely ask. How could she answer those anyway?
Mairi played with her phone, waiting for it to ring. Anytime now, it would ring, she told herself. Damen had changed completely. He was different now. He might not realize he had fallen in love with her yet, but he cared for her and Mairi believed him when he told her he never wanted to hurt her.
The minutes ticked by, the silence becoming more painful.
When her phone finally rang, she couldn’t answer it fast enough.
But it was not Damen.
“Mairi? It is Ioniko.”
“Oh.”
“You are disappointed?” Ioniko asked gently.
His gentleness undid her. She tried to speak but couldn’t. She was too busy holding back tears.
“I have just spoken to Katya. My sister told me you now know about this weekend?”
Clearing her tear-clogged throat, Mairi said tremulously, “Y-yes. I know that you’re one of our guests. We’d be honored—-”
“Mairi, small talk is wasted on me. You know that. I called because I wanted to be sure you are fine with what would happen?” He paused. “Will you be able to bear seeing them together in person?”
This time, she just broke down.
The sound of Mairi’s tears made Ioniko’s fingers clench around his phone. “Mairi—-” But he was cut off by a beep. He knew it meant another incoming call, and Ioniko would bet his entire bank balance that it was Damen.
“Go on,” he told her. “Answer it. You can call me after – if you need to. I am always here for you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing it was effective to ward off the pain of knowing Damen should have been the first one to call her, not Ioniko.
“Thank you,” she choked out.
“It is nothing. Now, no more delays. Answer the call.”
And so she did.
“Mairi?” Damen’s voice came out controlled.
The more worried he was, the colder his tone became, but Mairi did not know this. All she knew was that he had called her too late, and he didn’t sound like he cared.
When she didn’t answer, Damen’s heart dropped to his stomach. She already knew. He had a feeling the announcement would be made today, but he had delayed calling, not knowing what to say.
I did not have any reason to make Alina refuse the invitation.
It was the truth, but it sounded incredibly lame and more suited as a reasonable lie.
The silence lengthened, becoming tense and awkward.
He gritted out, “Mairi, speak to me, please.”
But she didn’t and even now, Damen could not figure out what to say. He tried to come up with something else to talk about. “Were you talking to someone before I called?”
This one, Mairi gained a little pleasure in answering, never mind if it was not fair. “Yes,” she whispered. “I was talking to Ioniko.”
Damen stiffened. “And?”
“He asked me...if I was okay with what would happen tomorrow.” She then asked bitterly, “Are you having second thoughts about asking the same thing?”
Damen knew now was the right time to explain, but he just couldn’t get past the fact that she had been talking to Ioniko Vlahos. It was his worst fears realized, and as the fear mingled with pain, he said with unconscious sharpness, “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
He snapped, “You didn’t tell him about us?”
She snapped back, “Is there an us?”
Damen cursed. “What does that even mean? Don’t fucking play games—-”
The sheer unfairness of Damen’s words had her crying out, “You’re the one who’s playing games! Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
She had the right to ask him that, he knew. But guilt was still not an emotion he was used to feeling, and so was jealousy. Together, the two was a dangerous combination, effectively messing with his head.
“Mairi—-”
“Cut the bull and answer me!”
His temper heated up, and he growled, “You are not my fiancée to have a right to make me answer your question!” The moment he said the words, Damen knew they were completely the wrong thing to say.
Her skin took on a sick pallor at his words. She thought he had changed. She had really believed he had.
“I wish I was in love with Ioniko instead,” she whispered, just to hurt him as much as he was hurting her.
The words were like a gunshot directly aimed at his heart. It made every cell in his being burn with fierce possessiveness and jealousy. A part of him knew that things had probably escalated out of their control. They were hurt and had both said things they didn’t mean.
He wanted to be fair and take it all back, but he couldn’t because in his mind he still heard her saying that she wished she was in love with Ioniko instead.
“If you want to be with Ioniko, I’m not stopping you.” He should stop here and now, but he was hurting too goddamn much to stop just like that. “I just hope he’s willing to settle for my leftovers.”
