This chapter had to end so the next one could begin.
That’s a reason but not an excuse for my actions. I hurt you, knowingly. I’m sorry, Nikki.
Eric shot to his feet, needing to move. His thumbs tapped the screen.
That ends now. What we had, whatever it was, is over. I won’t treat you like that again. I won’t attempt to use the rules of the society to manipulate your life. I won’t try to protect you, when I know you’re able to protect yourself.
You don’t have to forgive me, but please believe me when I say I’m sorry, and I regret hurting you.
Nikolett’s phone buzzed again, rousing her from sleep. It wasn’t the special text tone that sounded when her security team, Nyx, or Grigoris messaged, just a faint vibration that was nevertheless enough to wake her.
She could probably leave it until morning, but Nikolett threw out an arm, slapping the bedside table several times before she grabbed it.
Rolling onto her back, she winced at the ache in her leg, and the weight of the cast that was back on. The 3D-printed one was both lighter and less bulky than the plaster, but it still hurt when she whacked it against her good leg.
Blinking against the brightness of the phone screen, she looked at her notifications.
Five new messages from Fleet Admiral Coward.
She sat up, no longer sleepy.
Nikolett opened the messages and read them.
Twice.
Fleet Admiral Coward
You don’t have to forgive me, but please believe me when I say I’m sorry, and I regret hurting you.
Mouth open in shock, she backed out of the app, then opened it again, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating.
Nope, the messages were real.
Eric had just apologized and then…broken up with her?
Nikolett slowly lay back, arms spread as if bracing herself.
What game was he playing? Was this really him? Maybe his phone had been stolen…
As far as she was concerned, whatever was between them ended the day Eric tried to marry her to Colum.
But clearly he hadn’t been able to let go—he’d kept her locked in his castle, like he was a dragon and she was some princess in distress.
He hadn’t been able to let it go…until now?
Why? What had changed?
Had he thought they were still…whatever they were…until just now?
Thatasshole.
Anger flared hot, bright, and brief.
Nikolett pulled a pillow over her face and screamed her frustration into it. Then she lay there, half smothering herself as her heartbeat slowed.
She flopped the pillow off her face. He thought he decided when they were done? She decided when they were done, and they’d been done since Amalfi. That day in Dublin had just proven one of her grandma’s favorite sayings—a szerelemben több a keseru, mint az édes.
In love, there is more bitterness than sweetness.
