The Palace (Chateau 4)

Her hands came together at her waist, her mannerisms exactly the same. With bright eyes, she looked into my gaze, giving me a look she’d never given me before. “I want to come home…” Her eyes watered as she let those words float off her tongue on a whisper.

My eyes narrowed instinctively. It was the confession I’d wanted to hear—just at the wrong time. Months had passed, and I hadn’t heard from her. The one time I did, she wanted something from me. She was an accomplice to her sister, destroying everything I’d built entirely on my own.

When I said nothing, she winced with rejection. “I’m sorry that I hurt you—”

“I’m not going to release your sister.” She only wanted me for one thing. Women used me for my money and my dick, but she bled me dry for her obnoxious sister. I wouldn’t bleed another drop. “Not now. Not ever. Go home.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you—”

“I’m not stupid, Melanie. You insult me.”

She instinctively shifted back at my vile words. “I left with her because I had to. If I’d stayed, I never would have seen her again. She wouldn’t have forgiven me if I’d chosen to be with you. I didn’t have a choice—”

“You told me that you would stay even if you could leave.”

“And that was the truth. I’d never expected Raven to get out, and when she did, it changed everything.”

“That’s the difference between us, Melanie. You break your promises. I don’t.” I stared her down hard, flooding her with hatred, before I turned back to the house. “It doesn’t matter if the circumstances changed.”

“Fender.” She came after me and grabbed my arm.

I twisted out of her grasp as I pivoted back to her, my hand now on her wrist. All of it happened quicker than she could even blink. “Leave.” I pushed her hand off me, ignoring the electrical impulse that zapped my hands and traveled all the way to my brain in a nanosecond.

With heartbroken eyes, she stayed. “You have no idea what you’ve done to me. You’re the reason we were in that camp in the first place. You’re a drug lord and a murderer. And yet, I’m absolutely lost without you…” Her eyes overflowed with tears.

I hated it when she cried, but that wasn’t enough for me anymore.

“I’ve spent the last month dreaming about you. Missing you. Every time Raven asked about you, I didn’t say anything…because she would hate me if I told her the truth. She would never look at me the same if I told her that it broke my heart to leave you.” Liquid diamonds streaked down her cheeks and reflected the sconces outside my palace.

My expression hadn’t changed. “I’m not going to release your sister—”

“I’m not asking you to!” Her voice rose in a scream. “I’m asking you…to let me come home. I can’t live in that apartment by myself. I can’t go to work every day and focus. I can’t go on dates with men I’m not even interested in—”

“Melanie.” I shut her up with just the slight raise of my voice. “If all of that were true, you would have come back sooner, not when you want something from me. You were here a week ago, and you didn’t want me.”

The tears continued to drip down her cheeks, to her chin, and then drop to the cobblestones underneath her.

“You only want me because of what I provide for you. That was fine before, but not anymore. Not after you left me. Not after you burned down my camp. Not after you betrayed me.” Every day without her was more painful than the last. Every night with another woman was unsatisfying. Every breath I took without her taking the same breath beside me was wasted. While I still wanted her, even after all this time, it wasn’t enough. I gave her a final look before I turned around and walked up the steps.

This time, she didn’t follow me.

I made it to the front door, which was still open as I’d left it.

Her voice rang out behind me as an emotional outburst. “Je t’aime.”

I’d almost crossed the threshold before her words hit me like a bullet to the bone. I stilled, replayed it in my head, and slowly turned around to regard her.

She remained where she stood, tears pouring down her cheeks. Her hands were clasped tightly together against her waist, a slight tremor to her body, the aftershock of her catharsis still making her shake.

I walked back to her, my bare feet hitting the cold stone as I approached, my eyes absorbing her appearance in a way I never had before. My hands ached for those hips. My lips yearned for her kiss. All it took was to hear the words I’d whispered to her so many times in the hope that she would say them back…and I was lost.