Page 81 of Abandoned Oaths

He wasn’t actually interested in me. He didn’t know me.

He was attracted to a fantasy, a carefully curated image made to fit his ideal woman. Millie Torres didn’t exist. Alessio Dias was a job. He was the enemy. He’d kill me if he knew the truth.

I wasn’t sure how many more times I’d have to remind myself of all of that.

Each time his fingers grazed mine.

When he held my gaze and slowly smiled like he couldn’t believe I was sitting across from him.

Every time he raised another green flag, I repeated it like a mantra. He was the enemy.

Never mind that he brought a boat with a cabin for our short cruise so I wasn’t outside and victim to the ocean mist and wind. Or that he opened my doors and suggested his favorite items at the restaurant rather than ordering for me. Or that he didn’t raise an eye when I turned down wine or champagne. He asked me questions rather than only talking about himself, and not once did he bring up his business, money, or importance.

“You expect me to believe you weren’t a heartbreaker in school? You weren’t homecoming and prom queen, probably captain of a team, and graduated with honors?” he teased.

I took a sip of my water and chuckled. “You have it all wrong. I went through the longest awkward phase possible. It lasted from eighth grade to my first year of college.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”

I leaned back into the booth. “Braces for six years, Alessio. Not to mention sleeping with headgear. I didn’t go to a single slumber party because of it, so the girls didn’t want to be my friend. They thought I was stuck up when really I was terrified of them making fun of me because I looked like a robot at night. I had relentless acne and didn’t know how to maintain and style my hair properly until my freshman roommate took mercy on me.”

None of this was true, but I’d watched enough human shows to know this was the nerd archetype.

“Well, all your suffering paid off. You’re beautiful, but more importantly, you’re humble and kind, so genuine it could only come from years of––”

“Being ostracized?” I finished with a laugh. “Fortunately, I’m an introvert, so all the alone time for me was great. No one interrupts my reading or makes me leave the comfort of my room.”

“Except to travel,” he recalled my earlier admission of having a severe case of wanderlust. The only extravagance I didn’t feel bad about from my privileged upbringing.

“Right, the only thing that got me out was my father telling me the plane was ready.”

Lies, lies, lies.

He reached out and put his hand on mine. “Have you been to Cuba?”

I cocked my head. “No. We had a house in the Cayman Islands, but we didn’t do much exploring in that area.”

“I’ll take you some time.”

“Is it as dreamy as the pictures show? Vintage cars and colorful buildings?” I rested my elbow on the table with my chin on my hand.

“It’s better,” he promised.

“Do you miss it?”

He lifted his glass and took a sip before answering. “In some ways, yes, but I visit enough.”

Like up until today.

“You have family there?” Or business?Jumping right to the point would be amazing right about now. I wasn’t sure how much more I could sit across from him without slipping, just a little. Not actually falling.

Yet.

“Yes, my mother lives there.”

“And Ama? Does she live there or here?”

He gulped his rum. “She’s a free spirit. She lives out of a few suitcases and goes where she pleases. Before visiting me, she spent three months at a sloth rescue in Costa Rica, and before that, she and a friend went on a global cruise for fourteen months.”

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