Page 53 of The King's Fake Bride

He grins and takes her hands, bringing them to his mouth and kissing the back of them.

The tenderness in his eyes makes me a little jealous. I know that when I stand at the altar with Xander, he’s not going to be looking at me like he adores me.

There’s going to be respect and friendship there, but there isn’t the same emotion I have for him lingering behind his eyes. I’m not going to look at him and know the marriage is meant to be.

And there’s a part of me that mourns that.

Gabby clears her throat. “I knew that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together from that first night in our apartment. Most of our things were damaged from our storage unit flooding, and I was a wreck. You brought in those waterlogged boxes, looked at me, and asked me how long I thought it would take to burn everything.”

Paul smirks as the people around us start to giggle, leaning over to whisper to each other.

I reach up to wipe a couple tears.

Gabby grins and squeezes his hand. “You are the only person I know who would take a bad situation and set it on fire. But the growth that comes after the fire has always been my favorite part. I know my life with you is going to be filled with nothing but growth.”

Paul pulls out a scrap of paper from his pocket. “I had to write this down because I knew I was going to forget everything when I saw you.”

And as he keeps talking, telling Gabby all the things a wife wants to hear, I know I’m never going to hear those things from Xander.

But I want to.

I would give anything to have him love me the way Paul loves Gabby.

From that moment we met on the beach, I should’ve known that Xander was going to come into my life and change it forever in more ways than one.

And now, to know that he’s not going to love me the way that I love him is devastating.

I don’t know how I can go back to Katastinia and pretend that everything is okay when I’m in love with a man who would rather send mixed signals than sit down and talk about everything.

A man who is so terrified of losing another person that he’s doing a stellar job of pushing me away.

I force a smile on my face as I try to focus on the rest of the vows, but I can’t pay attention.

Was agreeing to marry Xander a mistake?

No.

The answer comes to me immediately, and I know it’s the truth.

Agreeing to marry him is never going to be a mistake. I know that I would never regret any of the time I spent with him because he did bring me back to life. He made each day better, even when things have been at their worst over the last couple months.

But having to leave him?

Knowing that I’m going to spend the next two years in love with a man who is never going to love me?

Now that’s something I think I’m going to regret.

CHAPTER 19

XANDER

Amy is back in Katastinia, and her friends from the States have come with her since our wedding is so close now. After departing the private plane, Gabby and the others load themselves into a waiting limo, laughing and talking to each other with glasses of champagne in their hands. They’ll check into a cute bed and breakfast and explore Katastinia while Amy prepares for the big day.

The chauffeur shuts the door behind them as Amy waves, standing beside me, one arm wrapped around her waist.

If the look on her face is any indication, she’s thinking about making a mad dash for the plane and leaving me standing on the runway, wondering what went wrong.

I swallow hard, trying to get rid of the dry feeling in my throat. “Is everything okay?”

---