I kept my voice controlled, guarded. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life,” he continued. “I don’t deserve for you to give me the time of day after what I did, but is there any way you’d consider having dinner with me? Where we could talk? Really talk?”
I swallowed, the memories suffocating me.
How fate had thrown our love story a curveball, disguised as a business opportunity on the other side of the world for Mathew. It’s not like he made the decision lightly; at first, he had actually turned it down. But the guilt of knowing that he, like me, had worked his whole life to build something from the bottom up and was giving it up for me after dating for just three months … well, that was too much for me to take.
I’d been terrified that, someday, he might resent me for it. So, I insisted he take it. If love was meant to be, set him free and all that.
Free. A four-letter word that had sliced my soul into chunks.
Now here he was, looking at me like I was still his everything, saying all the words I’d once dreamed of hearing.
“Will you have dinner with me?” he asked, motioning to a table behind him. “I can tell my brother and his fiancée to scram. We haven’t ordered yet.”
For one dizzying moment, I let myself imagine saying yes. Maybe if I talked to him, all the feelings would come back? Maybe I just needed time for the shock to wear off. Maybe the love was still there, just buried under confusion and surprise.
I opened my mouth, not even sure what I was about to say. Maybe yes. Maybe I needed to figure out what had happened to all those feelings. Maybe?—
“Don’t even think about it, Sunshine.” Axel appeared, sliding a possessive hand around my waist, glaring at Mathew.
10
WHEN YOUR FAKE BOYFRIEND AND REAL EX ARE ABOUT TO THROW HANDS IN A 5-STAR RESTAURANT. #CLASSYVIBES
DAKOTA
Mathew’s eyes narrowed as he registered the arm around my waist, his gaze whipping from my face to Axel’s. The silence stretched as he waited for me to say something—anything—but my mind had gone completely blank, too overwhelmed to process basic human speech. When I didn’t speak, alarm flashed in Mathew’s eyes at Axel’s possessiveness.
His expression turned guarded. “Dakota, are you okay?”
“You lost the right to ask that question”—Axel’s fingers tightened on my hip—“the moment you left her.”
“That’s really none of your business.” Mathew’s voice was dark, cutting. His eyes darted between me and Axel, confusion clouding his features. “Dakota, what the hell is going on?”
Of course he was confused. Mathew knew my history with Axel Pierce. Knew I’d spent years complaining about my brother’s insufferable best friend. Knew what he looked like, thanks to Mom whipping out photo albums. Yet here Axel was, arm wrapped around me like he owned me.
“Dakota, is he bothering you?” Mathew stepped closer.
Axel’s chest rumbled with amusement against my side. “You don’t get to act like a hero now.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Means you broke her heart.” Axel’s voice dropped to a dangerous purr. “You left. And you missed your chance with her.”
Something in Axel’s tone transcended mere animosity toward Mathew. It was almost as if … he was genuinely angry at Mathew for breaking my heart. But that couldn’t be right. Axel Pierce wouldn’t give two craps if my heart was broken. Hell, he’d probably celebrate it with champagne.
I was about to ask Axel how he knew any of this, but the answer hit me like a slap: Knox. Of course it was Knox.
I visited my brother regularly, and, sure, I kept some things from him, like how dire Mom and Dad’s financial situation was these days, because that would just send him into protective overdrive from behind bars. But everything else? I told Knox most everything. Including the whole Mathew disaster. The dating, the heartbreak, the spectacular way it all went to hell.
And Knox, being Knox, probably couldn’t keep his mouth shut about his little sister getting her heart stomped on. Especially not to Axel, who visited him too.
God, I was an idiot for not putting this together sooner. My brother was the most protective person on the planet. Of course he’d vent to his best friend about some guy who hurt me.
“Axel,” I started. “That’s enough.”
“So, you’re with him now?” Mathew’s eyebrows slammed together, disgust and shock raging through his tone.
