Page 60 of Dark Truths

“You seem to think I had any choice in the matter,” comes Dimitri’s deep voice.

“Well, you could have said no.”

“I did say no.”

“And you, Sophia? Did you say no?”

Sophia? As in my brother’s ex-wife, Sophia Mikailhov?

“I…I wanted to, Alexei,” she answers, confirming my suspicion. “But Daddy was really persuasive and it just makes sense.”

“Unbelievable.” The man, Alexei, sounds distraught and depressed, like a man who’s given up. “It makes sense to be fucking engaged to Dimitri?”

In an instant, my world comes to a sudden and jarring halt. The words hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving me frozen in place, unable to take a breath or move a muscle.

Is this what he’s been hiding from me? Is this the reason behind why he’s been so adamant against revealing our relationship? Because he was already promised to another? Because he’s engaged to the very woman who divorced my brother after he was lied to about being able to have children? How long has he been engaged to her? How long have I been sleeping with a man who warms another woman’s bed? How long have I been dreaming of a future with him? A future that will never be?

“Alexei, wait!” Sophia shouts, her shrill voice sending a jolt to my paralyzed body. Heavy footsteps echo and grow closer. I have maybe seconds before I’m seen. With a quick look around, I spy a dark corner and rush over to press my body against the wall.

Alexei rushes by a few seconds later, his eyes never once shifting in my direction. Sophia follows closely behind, her attention solely on the man. I wait until I hear them head down the stairs before I step out of my hiding spot.

My eyes move between Dimitri’s office and the stairs. I could just leave. It would be so easy. But what would that accomplish? Dimitri will be just as engaged to Sophia tomorrow as he is today. And at least today, I can get my answers.

Decision made, I straighten my back and walk confidently into his office, my head held high.

Dimitri looks up, and a look of panic flashes across his face before he smiles. “Angel.”

No. He doesn’t get to use that fucking nickname. I never want to hear it again. “Is it true?”

The panic returns to his face, and his smile falters before falling away completely. “What did you hear?”

“Are you engaged to Sophia Mikailhov?”

His heavy sigh is all the answer I need, and it’s like a gate slamming shut in my face. Unable to hear another word from his mouth, I spin around, intending to leave.

“Gabriella,” he calls. “Wait! Listen, please.”

I don’t. I can’t stand to hear his excuses.

Behind me, I hear him get up in a rush; the momentum slamming his chair to the floor. He grabs my arm and spins me around before I’m out of the office. My eyes move from his hold on me to his eyes and, for a moment, my anger hesitates at what I see. His expression is filled with agonizing and dreadful pain. Like his betrayal hurts him. The fucking audacity of his damn pride.

“Let me go,” I order him monotonously.

“Gabriella, please. Just listen to me,” he begs.

“No,” I snap back. “You’ve been lying to me. All this time.”

“Gabriella, no. That’s not it.”

I struggle to pull my arm free. “Let. Me. Go.”

“Ang—”

“No! I’m not your angel. I’ve never been your fucking angel.” Hot tears blur my vision before I blink and they run down my cheeks in warm trails. “I’ve just been your toy thing, your conquest, your fun little distraction to please you while you wait to marry her. Why her?”

“Gabriella, I promise you that’s not true.”

“You promise me?” I repeat back before barking out a laugh. “Your promises mean shit to me, Dimitri. Now let me go or I swear to God, I will kill you.”

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