Page 90 of Essence of his Soul

Tamara gave me an appreciative once-over. “You look good, Sis.”

“So do you,” I smirked, eyeing her long green satin gown. “How long did it take to squeeze into that?”

She laughed, patting her flat stomach. “Five pounds of waterweight gone, just to zip it up.”

We exchanged more small talk until she dropped the question I dreaded. “Have you talked to him yet?”

I sighed. I knew Tamara was going to bring it up. “Not yet. But I will before the night’s over.”

Tamara rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t talking about Malcolm.”

My chest tightened at the mention of Mark. I shook my head. “Mark saw the announcement, but we haven’t talked.”

“You need to tell him the truth,” she pressed, looking me dead in the eye. “Have you told him how you feel?”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure. “No.”

“Sis, you need to. You might be surprised.”

Before I could respond, I spotted Malcolm and Dennis approaching us. Malcolm looked sharp in his black tux, all polished and perfect. If only I could wave a magic wand and transfer all my feelings for Mark to Malcolm. But life didn’t work like that.

“May I have this dance?” Malcolm asked, holding out his hand like the gentleman he was.

I didn’t want to dance. I wanted to go home and forget this whole night. But I couldn’t. Smiling, I slipped my hand into his. “Of course.”

As we swayed to the slow, sweet melody of the Nat King Cole, I tried to focus on the moment, on Malcolm. But my mind was stuck on Mark—the mess we were in and how it all felt so impossible.

“You love him,” Malcolm said quietly, breaking through my thoughts. It wasn’t a question. He already knew.

I looked up at him, startled. “How could you tell?”

He let out a small, sad laugh. “It’s all over your face. You’ve never looked at me like I saw you look at him.”

I bit my lip, feeling the sting of guilt as I met his gaze again. The disappointment in his eyes hit me hard. Gently, I slipped theengagement ring off my finger and placed it in his palm.

“I’m sorry, Malcolm. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He closed his hand around the ring and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “No need to apologize. The heart wants what it wants.”

He was too good for this. Too good for me. But he didn’t fight, didn’t beg. He just held me as we swayed to the music. And even though I knew this was the right thing to do, I couldn’t shake the feeling of loss settling in my chest.

“He doesn’t love me,” I confessed, my voice barely a whisper.

Malcolm tilted his head, frowning. “Then he fooled me. From what I saw, he acted like a jealous husband.”

“Yes,” I said, more to myself than him. “He fooled me too.”

* * *

I was leaving in two days, and I wasn’t closer to getting what I wanted than when I found out I had a son. Hell, it was worse. Instead of Essence being engaged to me, she was about to marry some clown because she’d rather lie to herself than admit she still loved me. And that cut deep.

I’m not used to rejection. I stared down at our sleeping son, my thoughts racing, my frustration growing by the second. I’ve never been the type to sit back and do nothing when something was bothering me, especially when it was something I wanted. I’m a soldier. My job is to infiltrate, to take what’s mine. So why was I sitting here, letting some dude take what already belonged to me?

Five minutes. That’s all it took to get the location from Kelly. Essence was at some bougie New Year’s Eve party at the Maximillian Hotel, hosted by Malcolm’s law firm. Perfect. I already had a tux, tailor-made from my time in Korea, and I wasn’t about to let the night pass without making my move.

When I pulled up to the hotel, nobody stopped me. I walked in like I owned the place. I thought about storming in, beating my chest like King Kong, and scooping Essence over my shoulder like she was mine to claim. But that approach? That might get me slapped or escorted out. Nah, I had a better plan.

First stop: the bar. It was an open bar, and I couldn’t miss that. While waiting for my drink, I scanned the room and found her sitting with him at a table to the right. Tamara and Dennis were there, too, but my eyes were locked on Essence. She looked breathtaking in that long gown. I should’ve paid more attention earlier when I saw her at the house, but now I was soaking it all in. The dress hugged her curves, her hair pulled up just right, showing off a neck I love kissing.

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