His Mistress by Blackmail

The laughter that emerged was raw with pain and bitterness. ‘That’s not what my parents said. Getting embroiled in the issues at school and getting injured only strengthened their belief that my dancing was just a burden to them.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘This is the real reason you’re estranged from your parents, isn’t it? Not your disagreement over the hotel?’

Her bruised heart lurched. The heavy stone that had lodged itself in her belly for far longer than she wanted to admit jumped into her throat, blocking her answer.

‘Sage?’

‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘That’s how it started. They didn’t believe me when I told them I was being bullied. Every school day for three years I had to face those girls and their vicious taunts. It worsened when I joined the drama class. Then it grew...physical.’

Xandro’s jaw tightened. ‘What did they do?’

‘It was mostly silly things at the start. A foot tripping me up. A shove here and there.’ She stopped and took a shaky breath. ‘Then I was picked to be Odette in the school’s Swan Lake production.’

‘What happened?’ he pressed.

‘The leader of the group, Darcy, wanted the part. She and her gang confronted me in the bathroom. We...fought. She broke my wrist.’

He swore under his breath. ‘You told your parents this too?’

It hurt to nod. She wondered why she was baring herself to him. But the time to bolt the door had gone. She’d already spilled her deepest anguish. Whether it would come back to bite her wasn’t something she wanted to consider now. ‘They thought I was making it all up.’

Xandro’s gaze dropped to the wrist he now cradled in both hands. His fingers traced the delicate veins beneath her skin, sparking hotter flames. ‘But they took you to get your injury seen to, right?’

Tears clogged at the back of her throat. She swallowed hard to keep them from breaking free as she shook her head. ‘No. They kept putting it off. It was Ben who took me to the ER three days later. The X-ray showed my wrist was fractured in three places.’

His fingers tightened momentarily, then he exhaled harshly. ‘And your parents still didn’t come around?’

‘My mother said she was sorry that I was in pain. But she wasn’t sorry enough to make the three meetings the principal tried to get her to attend to address the bullying problem. I was almost out of high school anyway so I guess she didn’t see what the fuss was all about.’ Sage heard the bleakness echoing in her voice and pursed her lips. ‘Anyway, that’s behind me now. I didn’t mean to unload on you like this. Just that...’

‘I was relentless and overbearing.’

Her sadness wouldn’t allow a smile to slip through. ‘Yes.’

Xandro remained silent after her response. For a long time he just caressed her wrist, his gaze riveted on it. ‘Did it leave lasting damage?’

‘No...it’s just...every now and then I think I feel the pain.’

He nodded. ‘Phantom pain. When you’re overworked or distressed,’ he surmised.

‘Yes. The doctor said it was all in my mind.’

‘And using the dumbbell?’

‘It helps me feel strong. Whole.’

His head snapped up, and he stared at her with piercing eyes. ‘You are whole. You powered through your adversity. If nothing else, you can take comfort in that.’

‘And finding out my parents turned away the talent scout who wanted me to join his company in New York when I was eighteen? How do I power through that?’ she questioned bitterly. Then immediately shook her head. ‘Don’t answer that. I’m not even sure why I’m telling you all this.’

‘Because you’re still upset by it. Dismissing your ambition was one thing. Deliberately setting out to sabotage your chosen career was quite another. They broke your trust.’

She suppressed a sad smile. They’d broken more than her trust. They’d broken her heart.

‘Not many people can turn their backs on everything they treasure to make a success of their lives. Don’t undervalue what you’ve achieved. Besides, that scout’s loss is my gain.’

His voice had dropped lower, and the fingers moving over her skin were creating even more potent magic on her senses. ‘Xandro—’

The fierce light in his eyes intensified. ‘What piece were you working on?’