Page 109 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

“Don’t pretend that’s something you even want from me.” I grind out between clenched teeth, my temper getting the better of me now.

She has no right to ask me to give her parts of myself when she’s not available for the taking. She may be my fiancée and one day my wife, at least as far as she knows, but she’s mine because of an alliance only.

She really belongs to Astor and I have no interest in being the brother she settles for.

“What?” She asks, startled.

“Untie me.” I demand. “Now.”

She doesn’t. She stands and pulls her clothes back on with angry, hacked movements.

“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness, Phoenix. I’ve let you treat me poorly because I understand the Astor situation is difficult for you, but it is –it has been– for me as well. If you won’t open up in even the smallest way then I don’t know what we’re doing.”

“We’re fucking, that’s what we’re doing.” I bite out, harshly. I yank at the handcuffs again, this time more vehemently. The metal clanks and the wood of the chair creaks, but neither gives.

“Not anymore.”

My head snaps up to look at her as she puts her shirt back on. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She doesn’t answer me, picking up one shoe and putting it on, then grabbing the other.

“Sixtine.” I bark. “What the fuck does that mean?” I repeat.

With both her shoes back on, she stands and glares at me.

“My dad wants me to come home earlier. I leave tonight, that’s what I came to tell you.” She says matter-of-factly. “I'll be gone until the new year at which point our engagement will be announced and the clock will have run out on our arrangement.”

All of a sudden, my throat is so dry it feels like it’s going to collapse if I don’t get a sip of water in the next thirty seconds. I’d been so caught up in us that I hadn’t realized the deadline was looming.

“Six–”

“You want to threaten ending this because I asked you to bare yourself physically to me like I have done time and time again for you, making myself vulnerable and giving myself to you? Fine. Then consider it officially done. A nice, clean break before the holidays with no feelings involved, just like we said, right?”

I’m grappling with a panic in my chest that I’ve never felt before and that I don’t know how to handle now.

She tosses a pair of tiny keys on the ground at my feet. “I’m not your lover anymore, and I’m certainly not your friend, you made damn sure of that, so get someone who falls in either one of those categories to free you. I’m done giving you parts of myself only to get nothing in return.”

She moves to walk out but pauses, turning back to give me an unsure look. She hesitates for a moment before giving me a sad smile.

“Have a nice life, Phoenix.”

I roar and yank my right arm so violently that the armchair splinters. It’s not enough to free me, but it makes a statement about how furious I am.

“Come back here, Six.” I yell.

She doesn’t look back even though I call for her two more times.

Chapter 33

Sixtine

“Joyeux noël, ma chérie!”

I lean into my mum as she wraps her arms around me and kisses my cheek.

“Joyeux noël, Maman.” I tell her, summoning a bright smile.

“Are you having fun?” She asks me, her accent even heavier than mine. “I’m sorry none of your friends were able to come tonight.”

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