He scrutinizes my face for a moment. My devastation must be evident because he seems to take me seriously. He straightens up and pulls out his phone.
“Ethan. Where’s Kain right now?”
I can’t hear the response, but Darius’s jaw tightens.
“Keep eyes on him. Don’t let him leave the building. And tell Violet to come home. Now.”
He ends the call and turns back to me. “Leave the car here and follow me inside.” His alpha command reverberates against my soul, and I find myself obeying meekly, even though I just want to go home and cry.
In his office, I tell him everything I heard. Darius’s reaction is just as scary as I expected.
“And you did not notice anything prior to this, correct?” His voice is urgent as he begins interrogating me now.
My already broken heart stutters in my chest. “N-no sir. I did not notice anything before today. He’s my mate; I—I thought he loved me.” Hot tears of shame stream down my face. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I should have seen it…”
There’s a knock at the door, and Darius’s inspecting gaze leaves me. Violet enters without waiting for permission, concern written all over her face.
“Darius? What’s going on? Why did—” She rushes over when she sees me. “Anne? What are you doing here? What happened?”
I swallow hard. I dread seeing my friend’s face when she learns that I’d found out I was being used to get close to her and yet struggled to disclose the fact.
Protective as always, Darius moves to Violet’s side, his hand immediately going to the small of her back. “There’s a situation. I need you to stay here with Anne while I handle it.”
“What kind of situation?” Violet’s eyes dart between us.
“It’s Kain.” Darius’s voice is flat. “Anne just reported him for being a spy here to capture you.”
Violet’s face drains of color. She looks at me, shock and worry warring in her expression. Her voice is small, when she says, “Anne?”
I turn away, unable to speak.
Violet’s tone turns sharp. “She’s crying, Darius. What did you do to her?”
Darius becomes gentle in a way he only is with her. “I asked her one question before you got here. I needed to be sure.”
Violet chastises him immediately. “She’s my friend! She reported her fated mate to try to protect me. Why would you interrogate her?”
Faced with his mate’s displeasure, Darius reluctantly softens. “You’re right. I’m sorry, my love.” A sigh leaves his lips. “I’ll go deal with this,” he says, already moving toward the door. He pauses as he passes me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder. When I look up at him, he sighs. “I’m sorry, Anne.”
Fresh tears spring to my eyes. “I’m sorry, too.”
He nods once, then he’s gone, the door closing behind him with a finality that makes my lips tremble.
“Anne?” Violet’s tone is tentative as she crouches down next to me.
I finally look at her again. Her expression is clouded with concern, just as I thought it would be. I can tell she feels sorry for me.
“Vi—” That’s all I can say before my throat closes up and I’m full-blown sobbing.
Violet wraps her arms around me. “Anne, I’m so sorry. I know what he means to you. I know—”
The kindness in her voice breaks me. “He lied,” I gasp out between sobs. “It was all fake. He—” I can’t finish. Can’t get the words past the grief that is choking me.
“I’m so sorry,” Violet says again, her eyes glistening with unshed tears at my pain.
“I really thought—” My voice comes out broken, jagged. “I thought I had him back. I thought we were going to be happy. That maybe after all the years of pain, I could finally…”
But I can’t finish because there is no “finally.” There’s just this. This seemingly endless cycle of finding him and then losing him, over and over again.
