She shook her head. ‘It’s very simple. I have a life to get on with. I can’t stay here playing your fake lover for ever.’
His expression hardened even more. ‘We moved from fake to very real weeks ago. And call me egotistical if you wish but you loved every minute of it,’ he claimed arrogantly.
The truth of it was too visceral to deny. ‘Be that as it may, it’s time for me to face reality. You won’t even tell me whether you’ve located Ben or not—’
‘I haven’t. And we had an agreement.’
Frustrated anger mingled with despair. ‘Our agreement wasn’t for me to give up my life for ever. I’m drawing the line here, Xandro.’ She had to or risk him witnessing her heartache.
He remained silent for an eternity, his gaze analysing her every micro-expression. ‘Are you sure this is how you want to play it?’
She straightened her shoulders. ‘I know you can take all sorts of actions against my parents. Against Ben too, when you find him. But yes, I’m done.’
Just like in the alley in Washington, DC, when he’d seemed to loom large and fearful even while he was frozen, Xandro was statue-still. Only his eyes moved, boring into her from head to toe in a merciless scrutiny.
Then he nodded abruptly. ‘Very well. I want you gone by morning,’ he said icily.
Sage knew that enduring the newfound heartache that had arrived with her admitting her love for Xandro would be hellish. She experienced a whole new level of anguish as she watched him walk away, his tall, powerful body cutting a swathe through the guests. The pain was so acute she wondered how she was able to remain standing when everything inside her wanted to curl into a ball of agonising despair.
‘I want you gone by morning.’
The finality of it whipped at her vulnerable heart. Tore it to shreds. It was all she could do to re-enter the ballroom fifteen minutes later, and slowly make her way towards the door without drawing more attention to herself than was necessary.
From the corner of her eye, she caught Melissa leaning up to Xandro, her hand on his arm as they conversed. Sage whipped her gaze away, focused on blinking back shocked tears as she headed for the door.
The hallway leading to the lifts was relatively empty and she made it to the penthouse without succumbing to the threatening tears. In
the bedroom, she avoided looking at the bed as she hurriedly gathered her things and threw them into her suitcase. At her insistence, Nina had located her own clothes from where Xandro had had them stashed. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt and was slipping on her ballerina flats when she heard the door open behind her.
She whirled around, her heart banging itself against her ribs as she stared at Xandro.
His hard gaze went from her to the suitcase and back again. ‘It’s the middle of the night. Are you in that much of a hurry to leave me?’ he demanded coldly.
The thought of spending another night under the same roof as him was too much to bear. ‘I don’t see the point in prolonging this.’
His jaw clenched tight, as if he was stemming his words, before he exhaled. ‘Before you do, you might want to hear the latest news on your brother.’
Sage froze. ‘You’ve found him?’
He nodded abruptly. ‘Yes. I’ve just heard he’s in a hospital in Nice.’
Ice drenched her body. ‘What happened?’
Face set in stone, Xandro walked further into the room. ‘Apparently, he got into a brawl in a backroom gambling den last night.’
‘Is he all right?’
‘Two broken ribs, a possible fractured jaw and a black eye,’ he relayed in a clipped voice.
Her fingers tightened around the suitcase handle as a wave of despair washed over her. Through the loud buzzing in her ears she heard Xandro issue terse instructions to someone at the end of the phone.
It triggered her own need to act. Frantically, she dug through her clutch to retrieve her phone. She hit the number for the first travel agent her search threw up.
‘What are you doing?’ Xandro demanded.
‘Booking the first flight out to Nice.’
‘Hang up the phone, Sage.’