I don’t want to give him the power to break me again.
I let out a long breath, shoving the complicated thoughts to the back of my mind once more. I haven’t left this room since breakfast. I don’t know if he’s home or not. Just seeing him for a few minutes at breakfast is enough to occupy my mind all day. I can’t even imagine what seeing him more than that would do to me.
I turn around, pick up my jacket, and leave the room. I’ll eat outside today as well.
My heart starts beating a little faster when I open the door of my room, the anticipation of seeing him outside is undeniable. But he is not there. A little disappointment dips low in my stomach.
It’s best that he’s not here. Idon’twant to see him.
I leave the penthouse and enter the lift. The restaurant where I eat is very close to this building as well. With my hands in the pockets of my jacket, I stride out of the building. The cold has been increasing rapidly over the past few days, and my ears are starting to feel numb. I unclasp my hair so that it canfall over my ears, walking down the road toward the Russian restaurant.
I shake my head, letting my hair tumble back into place, when I suddenly freeze. About ten feet away, a couple is hugging outside the restaurant. My heart lurches. I recognize the man instantly. A familiar sound rings in my ears, the same one I heard four years ago. My chest hammers violently, and yet, in the same breath, I wish my heart would stop altogether, desperate to numb the pain rising fast enough to suffocate me.Just like four years ago.
The woman steps away, and the man finally turns his gaze on me. I’m frozen in place. He frowns when our eyes meet, then strides toward me with long steps.
“Who is she?” I ask in a hollow voice. My throat and eyes feel so dry, as if I’ve been standing in a desert for ages.
“A colleague,” he says, and I finally blink. I look down, but everything inside me is still as disturbed as it was before he spoke. Now, I’m unsettled by how much Matleon can affect me.
He comes closer. First, his smell reaches me, then his warmth surrounds me. He stops when he is just inches away, the tip of his polished black shoes almost touching the tip of my mules.
“What did you think?” he mutters. I’m still looking at his shoes, I don’t want to meet his eyes, they’ll see the parts of me I want to keep hidden, even from myself.
He chuckles lightly. “There’s no room for another woman, Angel. You’ve claimed every corner.”
I look up at his face slowly.
He tugs strands of hair from my face behind my ear, then runs his cold knuckles across my jaw. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I couldn’t rationalize its effect on me. I didn’t understand what it was making me feel. I never realized how precious it was until I lost it.” His face fills with regret. “My Angel’s love.”
My pulse drums violently in my chest. With his hand pressed to my face, can he feel it? I don’t care.
He cups my face in both hands, pressing his forehead against mine. I close my eyes. He murmurs, “Forgive me, Iselyn. I will spend my whole life earning it. Give me another chance.” He pulls back slightly and looks into my eyes. “Marry me, Angel.”
Matleon
It’s not in the script. What am I doing right now? I don’t know. These are not the words I planned to say. These are not the words that will make her pity me and forgive me. I ruined my chance. I got carried away by those alien feelings and emotions and fucked it all up.
My heart drops when she shakes her head. Damn it.
“I can’t, Matleon,” she mutters. “I need more time.”
“How much?” I ask, a little desperate.
She stares at me, then says, “I don’t know.”
I let her go and take a step back. I had a foolproof plan: act like a gentleman, propose like a gentleman with a touch of self-pity, say things that would make her feel bad for me, and then ask her to marry me. It should have worked, but I fucked up the very important part. I rarely fuck my plans, and she is setting a record of making me do it more than once.
“You could take your time after marrying me.”
I just need to make her my wife as soon as possible. I’m a little impatient in this matter.
She shakes her head again, my gentleman persona melting away.
“That’s not how things work, Matleon.”
“I don’t know how things work, nor am I interested in figuring out.” She watches my gentleman act dissolve, her eyes widening slightly. “You will marry me. I gave you a chance to approve; you didn’t take it. Now don’t even think about complaining later that it was non-consensual.”
She frowns, then laughs sarcastically. “And here I was thinking you changed. Narcissistic asshole.”
