She lifted her head to regard him. The proud head of the Duke of Mondego hung in disgrace. He looked as sick as she felt. But he didn’t take a single word of it back. He looked resolved to his fate.
To his credit, he didn’t ask her to accept his decision. Good. Because she couldn’t. She never would.
She did what their mothers hadn’t had the strength to do. She turned on her heel and walked past him. Not once did she falter or look back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
He was only able to lift his head high enough to watch her walk away. He felt like he was coming out of his body. His feet wanted to run after her. His hands balled into fists. His heart beat as though it were trying to chase after her. His head told him to stay rooted.
He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know where to turn. He felt pulled in every direction.
In the end, duty won out. He couldn’t abandon his family and his home. He had a responsibility. That was paramount. It was what he was born to do.
The moment Spin was out of his sight, his chin slumped to his chest from the weight of his actions and what he still had to do. With feet as heavy as cement blocks, he turned back toward the club. When he reached for the curtain that separated the club floor from the back, it was yanked open to reveal Omar.
“What are you doing back here?” said the marquis. “The party is that way.”
“Yeah. I’m headed back.”
“You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”
Zhi could only take a deep breath. He couldn’t think up a response.
Omar put a hand to his shoulder. It was a light touch, but Zhi felt he was about to fall over from the pressure he felt.
“Looks like women troubles,” said Omar. “You chasing after that pretty DJ?”
Zhi’s glance shot up. He opened his mouth. To deny it? To bemoan it? He wasn’t sure. His features screwed into incredulity. How had Omar known?
“It’s pretty clear you two have a thing going. It was clear back on the ship. You even had the whole completing each other’s sentences thing going on like you walked out of a romantic comedy.” Omar shuddered. The entertainment producer did not like that particular genre of media. Not enough testosterone to hold him in his seat, he’d once explained. “You two have a falling out? She realize you’re just a man and put your pants on one leg at a time?”
“I wasn’t chasing after Spin,” Zhi admitted. “I was chasing after Parker.”
“Why would you bother with her?” Omar frowned. “You two have nothing in common.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that.”
“Maybe because it’s true.”
“And me and Spin have so much in common? She’s a DJ. She doesn’t have a permanent address or a bank account. I don’t even know her real name.”
Omar shrugged off each of those concerns. “I don’t know if you have a lot in common, but you two certainly have chemistry. But hey, it’s your life. Do with it as you see fit.”
That was just it, it wasn’t his life. It was other people’s lives that he was managing. It was other people’s messes that he was cleaning up. If he got the chance to live his own life, it wouldn’t be in this lifetime.
He was too tired to explain any of that to Omar. The man had amassed his own wealth outside of his family’s fortune. His parents were happily married. He wouldn’t understand, and so Zhi stormed past his old friend.
Once back out near the speakers, Zhi had to face the music. The base made his head throb as he walked toward Parker’s table. She didn’t look up when he approached. Her attention was on the woman beside her. Or maybe it was a guy. The other person’s hair was closely cropped, but they were wearing makeup. This world of Parker’s was truly confusing.
“Parker?” He had to call her name twice, louder each time to be heard over the music before she looked up.
“Hey,” sh
e said when she turned to face him. “You wiling out out there?”
Zhi wasn’t sure what that meant? Was she asking him if he was ready to go? And if so, did she mean on his own? Or with her?
As the beat changed, Parker threw her hands. “OMG, this is my jam. Let’s dance.”