“But you will see reason, won’t you, darling?” Sophia was going on. “You and Angelique are simply perfect together. Don’t you agree?”
“No!” I said sharply. “And I doubt Dmitri Sysenov would either.”
Sophia waved her hand dismissively, although I noticed that Angelique had grown tense. “That’s nothing, darling. A dalliance. Angelique has seen the light now, haven’t you, darling?” She turned to Angelique. Her daughter’s smile was radiant. And yet, I sensed it was forced, somehow.
“A dalliance, Sophia? They’re engaged. I think it’s more than a dalliance, don’t you?” I struggled to keep my voice even.
“It was a mistake,” Angelique broke in. She curled her fingers more firmly around my bicep and pressed herself against me. “It was only ever you I cared about, Prince,” she murmured into my ear.
“You mean the wedding’s off, Angelique?” I asked. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but it was hard not to raise an eyebrow.
“I was just trying to make you jealous, darling,” Angelique laughed lightly. It was all an act, though. I could see right through her.
On the stage, Sasha was still bathed in light. Skin pearlescent, perfect curves on display. Her hair was a cascading waterfall that provided some modesty, but there was little left to the imagination. I had a sudden recollection of her standing like this for me barely two days before. My Venus.
And I had no doubt that she’d been scrutinized from head to toe by these two. The lights dimmed, and the crowd applauded as she disappeared from sight. I wondered if she would linger backstage and considered going to find her.
“We were good together, darling. Don’t you remember?” Angelique said.
I turned back to Angelique. “No,” I said firmly. “We were not.” The more I thought back to our time together, the more I realized how wrong it all was. We may have fucked like animals, but there was no love there. No real connection.
“Oh, come on, Prince!” she snapped, true colors finally surfacing. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t care about me. I could make you hard with just one look. You don’t need your little whore for that. Don’t fool yourself into thinking she can give you what I can.”
I yanked her hand away from my arm and put distance between us. “Yes, I cared about you, Angelique. I’ll
never deny that. But ‘my whore’ has nothing to do with us, and she never will.”
“Alec?” The word brought our conversation to a standstill, and I spun around to face it. Sasha was standing behind us, pale and beautiful in the floating dress she’d worn on stage. She must have seen me and come straight over.
“Your whore?” she said to me. Her cheeks were growing pink-tinted, and I sensed rage brewing. Angelique had pressed up beside me again and was trailing her scarlet nails around the back of my neck. “Get your hands off him!” Sasha snarled at Angelique, who blatantly ignored her and brushed her lips against my cheek.
“The whore has a temper,” she murmured into my ear.
“Sasha, I—” I began.
Her hand came up and connected with my cheek. Around us, everyone had stopped talking.
Fuck!
She stared at me for a long second, then turned and rushed out of the room.
“Oh my. Trouble in paradise?” said Sophia, smirking. Angelique’s face was lit with cruel satisfaction. The expression barely flickered when I pushed her away from me roughly.
“Who’s Alec?” Angelique asked. Fuck. We’d spent over a year together, and she never even learned my name. I didn’t bother to answer.
I was running out after Sasha.
Sasha Ramirez
You don’t own me
“Sasha!” I heard him shout my name. “Dammit! Stop!”
I ignored him and kept up my headlong rush out of the lobby of the hotel that was hosting the launch. People turned to stare, but I didn’t pay any attention to them. My heart was in my throat.
I burst out of the lobby and into the crush of people on the sidewalk outside. Out there, I felt lost. At sea in a flood of unfamiliar faces.
And then he was beside me, his fingers closing around my upper arm. I tried to pull free, but his grip was too firm.
