Page 63 of The Forbidden Bride He Stole

She stumbled out of the opera box, the rings clutched tightly in her hand. She didn’t see him anywhere. When she got outside, the car was waiting down at the bottom of the steps, and she got into it, half hoping that he would be there.

He wasn’t.

She took her phone out of her pocket and she called Mariana.

“Mariana,” she said, her voice breaking.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know if I’ve made a mistake or not.”

“Tell me everything.”

Apollo walked the streets until the pain in his chest became unbearable. Until he had to stop because he was afraid he might be having an actual heart attack. He leaned against the wall of an old, ivy-covered building, surprised to find that he had wandered down to the village. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Was he doomed to be the same idiot, wandering around in the same places forever, never fully being part of them?

Because no matter how much money he had, no matter how much time passed, that seemed to be the case.

He called the one person who had always been there for him. “I need your help,” he said.

“I’ve been expecting this phone call,” Cameron said.

“What am I supposed to do? I want to be with her. But I’m... You know what we are.”

“Yes. I know what we are. And I’m a monster on top of that, and I am with Athena.”

“You’re scarred. You’re not a monster. It isn’t the same thing.”

“I wasn’t referring to my scars. There are other issues. And she loves me anyway.”

“Do you love her?”

“Can you doubt it? I love her with everything I am.”

“What is it?” There was a total silence at the other end of the phone. “Dammit, Cameron, I asked you a question.”

“I heard you. I just don’t quite know how to answer. I’m sorry. I guess I don’t understand quite what you’re asking.”

“No one has ever loved me, Cameron. I told her that I couldn’t love her, but the truth is, I don’t even know what it is. Is it this feeling like I’m going to die? And what good does that do her? Because she asked me that too, and it’s fair. She wants to know what she could possibly get out of being with me, and I have no answer other than good sex. And you and I both know that well can leave you very, very dry.”

“I love you, Apollo. Are you absolutely an idiot?”

That stopped him cold. “What?”

“What do you think our friendship is? And what do you think you’ve shown me in all that time?”

“We were forced together. We’re more like brothers.”

“Yes. Brothers are notorious for not loving each other.”

“It isn’t the same. I don’t know my life without you. I didn’t have to learn how to take care of you. I didn’t have to learn how to put my needs second to yours when necessary, it was easy. Because...”

“Because you love me. Which I know is probably a very uncomfortable thing for you to have to hear, given the state of toxic masculinity in the world.”

“I...”

“You were patient with me, and kind. When I was at my lowest, you didn’t leave. When I gave you nothing, you gave to me extraordinarily. You were patient with me when many would not have been. When many would’ve tried to buy me out or get me away from the company because I was nothing more than dead weight. You were my friend. My brother. You demonstrated love to me. What do you suppose caring for her is? Love for her parents. Love for her.”

“I’ve been trying...” He closed his eyes and swallowed painfully. “I’ve been trying to find some path toward redeeming myself.”

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