Page 32 of The Price of Fame

He bit his tongue and tried to sort everything he needed to say in his head before he said something that got her worked up again. He noticed she called him boyfriend, and not fiancé. She continued, and his heart sank further with each word she said.

“The engagement ring is in the drawer.” She turned away from him. “I think we rushed into things. I don’t know if I can be in your world after everything that happened last night. I think I need to take a step back.”

Gritting his teeth, knowing his voice sounded broken, he whispered, “Don’t. Don’t do this, Kylie. This is just our first big fight. We can get through this. We’re stronger than this.”

She shook her head as he spoke.

“Omorphoula, please, I wasn’t thinking when those women kissed me. I should have pushed them away quicker.”

She huffed.

“Okay, moved out of their way entirely. Come on, give us a chance. This is all new to me too.”

Kylie blew a raspberry. “You’ve been a star for many years now.”

“I’m talking about a relationship with a non-Greek woman.”

The monitors went off as she turned around, not caring about all the medical stuff.

“You have got to be kidding me. So, you’re telling me if you were with a Greek woman, she wouldn’t have minded being locked in a bathroom, and then going to a party where her fiancé makes out with several women while she sits in a corner and watches?”

The nurses came running in and pushed him out of the room before he could respond, and he stared at the closed door, wondering what to do.

A couple of minutes later, a nurse came out to him. “Mr. Pegios, Miss Breal asked us to give this to you.”

He looked down to see Kylie’s engagement ring.

“She also asked us to not let you in anymore.”

He stared at the door behind the nurse and looked down numbly at the ring. Nodding, he walked away, feeling defeated for the first time in his life.

Since his teenage years, he’d always gotten what he wanted, first with his modeling career, and then with his singing. Markus had never had any problems with women, as they always threw themselves at him. He didn’t know what to do. He’d never needed to woo a woman. Even when he’d been with Helena, she hadn’t minded the groupies.

He called his parents and cancelled their visit, telling them he and Kylie needed some special time together, and they would come and visit when Kylie and he were ready.

After leaving the hospital, Markus drove around for a while, trying to decide what to do. What he needed to do was get Kylie back, and he needed a plan. He made his way back to his house.

He called his manager when he reached home and told him to reschedule the interviews scheduled for the day, telling Gaelan he would do some by phone tonight, and to figure something out for the others he’d missed and get back to him.

He felt better now that he had a vague plan on the professional part of his life. Now he just had to figure out what to do with Kylie. Hunger finally made itself known. Making his way into the kitchen, he froze as his sister’s face came into view when she pulled a pan of lasagna from the oven.

“Oh good, you’re home. Mama called. I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I had a feeling you needed my help, especially when I saw the news about your wife-to-be going to the hospital and you leaving the hospital.” She put her hand on her hips and glared. “So what did you do?”

Raising his eyebrow at his baby sister, Bettina, he mumbled, “What makes you think I did something wrong? Why do you think it was me?”

“You’re supposed to tell me you didn’t do anything. Tell me what’s happened.” She cut a big slice of lasagna and placed it in front of him as he pulled one of the stools from under the island and sat.

Markus told her everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours. When he finished, Bettina came around the island and whacked him on the head.

“Ouch, what the hell was that for?”

“Because you’re an idiot, and I was trying to knock some sense into you. I can’t believe you’re my brother. Markus, you are an asshole, and Kylie deserves better, but since we’re related, I’m going to help educate you. First, you are going to send her favorite flowers to the hospital, and then you’re going to call her best friends and pay for them to come over and visit her to help cheer her up.”

“I love you, sis, but there’s no way I’m inviting her best friends. I can’t stand one of them. He’s an ass…” He trailed off at the look on his sister’s face. Her eyes were bright, and a grin spread across her face as she rubbed her hands together.

“Markus, trust me, he’s the friend you want to come. You’re going to be the bigger man and invite him here. Explain the situation. He’ll come.” Bettina grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. “Are you willing to give up all the women? To not let them fawn all over you? Because, if you’re not, you need to ask yourself if you really want Kylie and if you can be happy with just one woman’s lips and body for the rest of your life.”

An image of Kylie’s warm, love-filled brown eyes and her smiling face came into view, and he didn’t even hesitate a moment before he answered. “I love her with all my heart. I would be honored and blessed if she was the only woman’s lips I ever kissed again, or whose body I touched.”

Bettina nodded. “Good then, go get your butt into gear. Time’s a wasting. I’m going to the hospital to meet my future sister-in-law.” And with that, she turned and left him staring at the spot she’d just vacated.

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