“Can you?” I crossed my arms over my chest, nails digging into my flesh. Behind us, I could hear our friends desperately trying to steer the conversation back to safer waters, but it was too late. The hurricane had already stirred up deadly waves that would capsize this entire evening.
Necks craned. The influencers were probably already typing. Maybe even recording.
I should have cared about the optics, the business deal, the whole charade falling apart. Instead, I only cared about one thing.
“How could you not tell me this?” The words scraped past the glass shards forming in my throat.
“Can you keep it down?” He glanced back toward the dining room, and that small gesture—choosing them over me, even now—sent fresh pain spiraling through my chest.
“A fiancée? Are you kidding me right now?”
“Look, we can talk about this later?—”
“When were you planning to tell me about this? Ever?”
“We have company, Dakota.”
“Screw the company, Axel.” My voice shattered on his name, and I hated myself for it. Hated how much power he had to destroy me. “You lied to me. You let me stand there like an idiot while he, while everyone …” A sob threatened to escape. “You humiliated me in front of a house full of people who probably knew all along.”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
I huffed in disbelief. “Your definition of lying and my definition of lying are very different. And that should give me major pause about this whole”—I made exaggerated air quotes—“‘relationship.’”
Thank God nobody from the dining room could see that particular gesture, hidden and blocked by Axel’s body.
“Look, let me just say goodbye to them, and then we can talk, okay?”
“You failed to disclose something major to me.” When we were supposed to know all, if only to sell this story. Plus, “You held something back from me when I thought we’d opened up and shared our pasts.”
When I let myself believe this was real. When every stolen glance, every accidental touch, every moment alone made me think I was special. That maybe, just maybe, someone like you could actually want someone like me. But you were playinga different game entirely, and I was the only one who didn’t know the rules.
“Dakota, I can explain everything.”
He reached for me, and I jerked back as if his touch would burn.
“Scarlett never mentioned this to me. Nobody did.” A horrible thought crept in. “Am I the butt of everyone’s jokes?”
“Scarlett doesn’t know.”
At least there was that small mercy. But surely, all the guys knew. Maybe they’d even laughed about it over drinks, how Knox’s little sister was catching feelings.
“Look, the dinner is almost done. Let’s just get through this and?—”
“Sure, Axel. Get through your precious dinner.” The words tasted like ash and betrayal. “Clearly, appearances matter more to you than …” Than me. Than us. Than whatever I’d stupidly thought was blooming between us. “I’m leaving.”
“Dakota!”
But I was already moving, my vision blurring with unshed tears. I didn’t know where I was going. Didn’t have a plan, didn’t have a destination. All I knew was that I couldn’t breathe in this suffocating penthouse, couldn’t stand another second, surrounded by witnesses to my humiliation. My chest felt like it was caving in, and somewhere between the kitchen and the elevator, I realized the worst part wasn’t that he’d lied.
It was that I’d let myself believe it could have been real.
“Dakota, wait.” Axel’s voice cut through the foyer as I stormed into the elevator.
“I just need some air,” I managed, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears.
Scarlett’s heels clicked rapidly across the floor. “Dakota, let me come with?—”
“No.” Her face crumpled at my tone, and guilt twisted with everything else churning in my stomach. “I need … I just need a minute.”
