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Angelina lowered her voice and dropped the fake conversational tone. “You’re not the first woman to want Tristan to put a ring on your finger, and you’ll likely not be the last. Let me assure you, Tristan is playing some weird game with me by bringing you here tonight. He may act the eligible bachelor, but he’s not. His heart belongs to me…always has, always will. You’d be smart to hightail yourself back to wherever it is you came from.”
Lillian’s headache returned full force and spread to her temples. Negative energy directed her way tended to have that effect.
“Your point?” She held her head high. Regardless of how she felt about Tristan, she’d remain calm and not let Angelina guess her true feelings.
“He’ll come back to me eventually, and when he does, I’d hate to see your little heart get broken.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Lillian managed to force the words out, knowing she told a lie. The thought of Tristan with Angelina knotted her stomach.
“Speaking of being fine, I heard about your friend today—the doctors and nurses were all talking about her. Quite the miracle turnaround.”
“Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I see someone I need to talk to.” Lillian had enough of Angelina to last a lifetime, and Tristan was returning with Angelina’s drink, which had a piece of pineapple sticking out of it.
Lillian turned and hurried in the opposite direction. Behind her, she could hear Angelina saying, “You’re looking fine tonight.” And Tristan’s deep voice answer, “I could say the same for you.”
My God, he was still in love with Angelina. How could she have been so blind? Their mutual admiration was sickening.
To think she’d almost given in to her attraction to Tristan. Well, she’d not make that mistake again. She just needed to remember that after tonight, none of what she felt for Tristan would matter. As long as she stayed clear of Kinetica, she’d be on her way home tomorrow and all would be well.
She swiped at the wetness in the corner of her eyes and prayed her mascara didn’t smudge. How could she pretend to be happy when all she wanted to do was cry?
ChapterSixteen
Lillian moved quickly, stopping when she’d put some distance between herself and Tristan and Angelina. She kept her head down to avoid making eye contact or drawing attention to herself.
She spent some time in the restroom, touching up her makeup, but she could not spend the entire party in hiding, so eventually made her way out to the ballroom, where a waiter passed by and offered her a large glass of water. She thanked him and greedily drank, allowing the cool liquid to slide down her throat.
She flicked a glance around the room, careful not to stare too long in any one direction. Her quick scan revealed nothing out of order, so she headed in the direction of the hidden alcove. She was almost there when nausea overcame her. The room swayed left, then right. She would have fallen if she hadn’t managed to open the curtain and grasp the back of the divan behind it. She collapsed onto the cushions, putting her head in her hands. What was wrong with her? Why was she so hot?
The curtain parted.
She vaguely recognized the man who entered.
“Where’s Zoey?” Tristan asked Angelina, handing her a Mai Tai, her favorite drink. His gaze swept the room, searching for Lillian’s familiar shape, but she was nowhere in sight.
Angelina pursed her lips. “I’m not sure. She said she saw someone she knew.”
Who? He hadn’t thought she knew anyone here. And she was supposed to be by his side, dammit.
Angelina picked up the stirrer from her drink and sucked the piece of pineapple from it. Then she moved toward him, stopping in front of his chest to straighten his bow tie.
“Why don’t you ditch her and come home with me tonight?” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, Angelina.”
“Oh, come on now, Tristan. Are you deliberately trying to make me jealous? I know I hurt you when I left, and I regret that. At the time I thought I was justified—you could have a serious illness, yet refused to be tested. I wanted children and you couldn’t give them to me. But I’ve come to terms with that now.”
A strange heaviness filled his chest. Weren’t these the words he’d been longing to hear? “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I need you in my life much more than I need my own biological babies. If you don’t want to be tested for Huntington’s, that’s okay. I’m lonely without you—pleasssse put an end to your stubborn pride and give in to what we both want. Come home with me tonight. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
He frowned. “You no longer want to have children?” Why wasn’t he more ecstatic?
She took a sip of her drink and licked her lips. “Not if it means I can’t have you. Besides as you once told me, we can always adopt, can’t we?”
“I’m flattered.” She was agreeing to adopt, the solution she’d refused to consider before she’d given him back his ring. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it?
He nabbed a glass of wine from a waiter with a passing tray and took a drink. What was he waiting for? He could have it all. He could build a life together with this beautiful, sophisticated woman who was willing to give up having babies just to be with him. A week ago…hell, just yesterday, the news would have had him overjoyed. Now, all he could feel was this damn heaviness in his chest, like he’d arrived at the pot at the end of the rainbow only to find it…empty.
