A sliver of a memory came to him.
Jaike, a tremulous smile on her lips, her gaze filled with hurt confusion at the way he kept standing her up—-
And during their last phone call as a couple, on what would be the night of their breakup, she had asked haltingly, ‘You promise you won’t forget this time?’
“Angelo?”
Lane’s voice drew him back to the present.
I’m a goddamn fool, he thought. Returning Lane’s smile, he said lightly, “Of course I won’t forget.”
And he didn’t.
He simply chose to break it.
LANE SAT ON THE FLOOR, her back against the door. It was close to one in the morning now, and there had been no sign at all of Angelo coming anytime soon. Biting her lip, she reached up for the knob and tried it for the nth time—-
From the other side of the door, Julieta said incredulously, “Seriously?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled as her hand dropped back to her lap. “I couldn’t help it.”
The painful note in Lane’s voice was impossible to ignore, but Julieta told herself that she was doing the right thing, and not just because she was paid to follow Angelo’s orders. Tonight’s revelry was so much more depraved than usual, and she couldn’t bear thinking of exposing Lane to it, with the way the younger girl was so obviously enamored with the world’s greatest idiot.
Damn you, Angelo Valencia.
She felt like she was close to selling every piece of her soul to the devil the longer she spent having to act as Lane’s jail warden.
Checking her watch, she said, “It’s really late.”
“I know.”
“So you should get some sleep.”
Pause.
“He promised he’d drop by.”
Julieta coughed uneasily. “Yeah, well—-”
“And that he’d read me a bedtime story.”
“For fu—ef’s sake, Lane,” Julieta said exasperatedly. “I’ll read you a story if that’s all you want.”
Another pause.
“It won’t be the same.”
Damn you, Angelo Valencia, Julieta thought again, noticing the way Lane’s voice broke in the end.
“How about I read you a story and I’ll call you ‘my Lane’ too—-”
“Julieta!”
“I just think it’s better if you simply forget he promised you anything,” she protested. “Can’t you see he’s forgotten his promise—-”
“But earlier, when you told me stories about Angelo, you were the one who told me he never forgets his promises.”
Shit. It was Julieta’s turn to pause, and she thought again, Damn you, Angelo Valencia. She said finally, “Well, maybe this instance, he has.”
But it was a lame answer, and they both knew it.
THE NIGHT THROBBED with music and near-naked bodies grinding against each other, but Angelo found himself completely immune to all of it. All he could do was glance at the clock, and every time he did, he would wonder if she was awake or asleep.
But she had to be sleeping now, shouldn’t she?
It was late. She had to be sleeping. But if she wasn’t, then she must have realized he was standing her up.
Just like he had with Jaike.
His chest tightened at the thought, but he told himself it was for Lane’s sake he was doing this.
Just like before, too, and he was hurting Jaike for her sake.
But a small voice told him he was lying about Lane.
His gaze slid back to the clock.
Was it too late to go to her? Was it too late for him?
He turned towards the stairs and was about to take a step forward when, behind him, Angelo heard a familiar voice call out his name.
Jaike.
She had really come.
He turned to her, expecting his ex-girlfriend to be in the arms of her husband, but instead he found her alone.
The shock made him go still, but he recovered a moment after and met her halfway, saying smoothly, “I’m glad you could make it.” He started to bend down to kiss her cheek by way of greeting—-
Caramel brown eyes flashed in his mind.
Angelo straightened abruptly and offered Jaike his hand to shake instead.
Jaike blinked at it, but he pretended not to notice. Finally, she shook it, asking uncertainly, “Is everything okay?”
“Of course.” He looked behind her, expecting to see her husband to appear any moment.
“Derek’s not here,” Jaike said.
He blinked. That was not the Derek Christopoulos he knew.
“He thought it would be better if I came alone tonight, but...” She made a face. “He also said this is the first and last time that’s going to happen. You know how he is. He thinks everyone’s after me.”
“I’m sure he’s not wrong,” he said politely.
But Jaike only laughed his words off. “That’s just your good manners speaking, and we both know it.” She paused, and the silence between them gradually became awkward.
“Would you like to go to the study?” he asked finally. He expected her to refuse, but she surprised him by nodding.
When they were inside his study, he offered her a choice of drinks, and again she surprised him by asking for a popular type of mocktail. After relaying her request to the staff, he told her, “You’ve changed.”