Page 36 of A Billionaire Gentleman

Grateful he hadn’t made me finish that last sentence, I tempered my tone, but not my words. He needed to admit to himself why he’d done it before he’d even consider breaking the engagement. And based on what his grandfather had shared with me, the engagement had to be broken off. Soon.

“Is it out of your system now? Whatever it was that made you come into my apartment when you knew exactly where things would go?”

His eyes met mine. “It has to be. I’m engaged.”

“I heard you the first time,” I said and folded my arms over my chest. “Next time you want to scratch an itch, hire a pro.”

He winced. “It wasn’t like that.”

“It wasn’t?” I raised an eyebrow and tried to pretend that he was the one I was angry with. “That wasn’t you just wanting someone new to fuck while you were away from home?”

He shook his head but couldn’t seem to find the words he wanted.

“Do you love her?” The question had to be asked. If he said yes, Jude needed to know. If he said no, then I’d keep playing this role until it was over. Even if I did hate myself a little more each day.

“In a way,” he said. After a beat, he added, “But not the way you mean. Not how a man should love the woman he’s going to marry.”

“And you don’t think that’s something you should consider?” Maybe this was all he needed, someone to talk to him about it, show him how foolish he was being.

He shook his head. “It could grow into love. Arranged marriages happen all the time, and people end up happy.”

If he hadn’t sounded so miserable, I might’ve believed him.

“Look, I’m not mad.” Not at him, at least. I put my hand on his arm and was as honest with him as I could be. “And I’m not saying you should be with me or that you love me or anything like that. But if you’re going to be with someone forever, she should be someone you love. You both deserve that.”

“Sofi, I–”

“Trust me, Deklin. I know far too much about getting married for the wrong reasons.” I stood up. “I have a headache. Probably from the pressure change. I’m going to lay down for a while. Excuse me.”

I didn’t look back at either him or Jude as I headed for the cabin at the back where a bed was set up. My head really was hurting, but it wasn’t from the pressure. I hoped I’d gotten through to him because I needed this to be over.

Twenty-Two

Deklin

The plane ateup the miles between Vegas and Houston, but it did nothing to bring me closer to a solution for my problem. I’d never been the type of man who thought with his dick. Or, at least, I’d never thought I was until the other night. I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol. Sure, it’d lowered my inhibitions, but I hadn’t been too drunk to know what I was doing.

I was a horrible person. Dad had specifically said that Ronall wanted me to marry Aurelia because I would protect her and keep her safe. It hadn’t even been a week, and I’d done something to hurt her. My family would never trust me again, and I’d be lucky if I hadn’t completely ruined the friendship between the Kanes and us.

How had I fucked up my life so badly in such a short period of time?

Grandad sat down in the chair across from me, an unreadable expression on his face.

Did he know too? I hadn’t even thought yet about how my actions affected him personally. He’d hired Sofi, and he clearly liked her. She’d never want to work for me now, and Grandad would have gone to all the trouble of finding her, only to have her quit and leave him to look for someone else.

“What’s wrong?” He handed me a bottle of water. “You look like Davin stole your favorite toy and put it down the garbage disposal again.”

I managed a smile at the memory. I’d been maybe six or so, and I’d done something to my brother that had royally pissed him off. He’d taken my favorite action figure and put it down the garbage disposal. Dad had planned to tan his hide for that one, but Mom had intervened.

She’d said that Davin had behaved like a child, and he should be restricted to only the privileges I had until he bought me a new toy. We might’ve had money growing up, but our parents made sure we appreciated it by doing chores for an allowance, so Davin would have to work to replace the action figure he’d broken.

Even better, he would only be able to earn the same amount I did. He’d been furious. For two glorious weeks, he’d had to go to bed when I did, only watch the things I was allowed to watch, go the places I was allowed to go. For a twelve-year-old, it’d been the worst punishment ever.

What I’d done was so much worse than that.

My smile faded. “I cheated on Aurelia.”

He merely raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to go on.

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