Page 62 of The King's Fake Bride

And then the other part wants him to cross the room and tell me that he was wrong.

But this isn’t a fairy tale.

I take a deep breath. “What are you doing in here? I know that Daphne said there was going to be a first look, but I wasn’t planning on that. Besides, it’s bad luck to see me before the wedding.”

“It is?” he asks, his gaze roaming my body before he meets my eyes. “I didn’t know.”

“It is. Though I guess with a fake marriage that doesn’t really matter much, now does it?”

My laugh is bitter as I pace away from him, heading over to the vanity and leaning against it for support.

Xander makes a noise in the back of his throat. “I came in here for a reason, and you looking like that is making it extremely hard to think.”

“Was that reason to tell me that you want to call this whole thing off?”

“No!” He shakes his head, hands curling into fists at his sides. “That’s not what I came in here to say at all, though it seems like that’s what you were talking about with Daphne and Gabby.”

“I was.” There’s no point in denying it when he walked in here and heard us. “I know this isn’t what you want, and I know you’re never going to love me despite the way I feel about you.And I feel like such an idiot because I knew this was never real, but I still fell for you either way.”

“Amy, I need you to calm down and listen to me.”

I grab a cotton swab, pressing it to the corner of my eyes and catching my tears before they fall. “I’m not going to run, Xander. You don’t have to be worried about that. I told you that I would help you.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about.”

“If this is about living up to your brother’s name, you should know that you don’t have to do that. You’re your own person, and Yorgos would be proud of you either way. Look at all the good you’ve done in the country in the last few months.”

“I’ve done all that because I’ve been trying to prove something, but it wasn’t to him. It was to you.”

My breath catches in my throat as I look at him.

Every argument I had disappears as my mouth opens and closes.

Out of all the things he could’ve said to me, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought he was going to tell me that it was time for us to get down the aisle and promise to love each other. Maybe we were supposed to take a couple pictures before moving on with our lives.

Or maybe he was going to call everything off and tell me that it was time to go home.

“You don’t have anything to prove to me,” I say, voice wavering as I look at him before glancing past him at the clock on the bookshelf. “We should get downstairs. The ceremony issupposed to start soon. People are going to be wondering where we are.”

“Damn it, Amy. Let me talk for a minute, okay?”

“Why should I?”

“Because we’re either going to do this wedding properly, or I’m going to call it off.”

Xander tucks his hand into his pocket, pulling out a little black box. He flicks it open and holds it out to me. “This was my mother’s engagement ring. It was left to me when she died. She told me that I had to give it to the woman I loved when I was ready to marry her.”

I look at the stunning gold band with tiny diamonds encrusted into it and an emerald in the center. “Xander, you should save this for the woman you love. You know that.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do!” Xander says. He sighs and takes my hand, sliding off the ring that’s there and replacing it with his mother’s.

Holding my hand up, I stare at the way the ring sparkles on my finger. It’s stunning.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” he asks, tone teasing as he takes me by the hand and pulls me to him.

I stare up at him, holding my breath and waiting for him to break the silence.

Right now, I need him to say it to me. I need to hear the words for myself and know that he means them. No implied meanings or skirting around what he’s trying to say.

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