But then again, he was Constantijin Kastein’s son, so maybe it was in the genes.
“If you really want me to be honest,” Daria began.
“Oh, like I called you guys to lie to me,” I said sarcastically.
“Bitch,” Daria sighed.
“Sorry,” I grumbled.
“But it’s okay. That’s normal when you’re heartbroken.”
“Stop making me feel worse. You were heartbroken, too, but you were never a bitch.” I was suddenly struck with self-pity. “Maybe that’s why Nathan’s trying to not-so-subtly break up with me. He realized I’m too much of a bitch---”
“Stop it,” Daria said in an unusually annoyed voice. “It’s not like you to be whiny, and it’s so not sexy.”
“I concur,” Yanna said even as she sent an apologetic look my way.
“I don’t blame you for feeling like Nathan suddenly knocked the wind out of your sails---”
I fought back a grin but couldn’t help interjecting with a dramatic sigh, “Of course you had to use a sailing idiom.”
Daria’s eyes widened. “Oh!” And then she was giggling, and so was Yanna.
Through our shared screens, Yanna and I watched Daria walk out of the stateroom and head up to the deck. She and Nik were in another one of their monthly honeymoons again, with the Greek billionaire fond of taking his mega yacht out to explore the Mediterranean.
“As I was saying…” Daria cleared her throat meaningfully as she settled herself on a lounge chair. “Nathan Callis looks like the perfect gentleman from every angle, so it’s understandable that you’re shocked at the way he’s suddenly acting all insensitive and distant.”
“Your point is?” I asked finally since I honestly didn’t get what she was hinting at.
“He’s no different from the men we love.” Daria’s smile faded. “Remember the time Constantijin suddenly started becoming too busy for Yanna?”
Yanna paled. “Oh.”
“And remember the time when Nik was just so nasty to me?”
Oh.
I could feel my own face draining of color. “You’re saying it’s the same with Nathan,” I said flatly.
Daria didn’t look away. “It’s a possibility.”
“You’re saying…he’s hiding something from me…and it could break my heart.”
Alyx
“You’re like a storm, sir,” the lady said in a tremulous voice. “It’s like when you see the sky turn black. You hear the thunder rumble, and lightning makes you jump. You know a storm is coming, and you know.” The lady’s smile was as beautiful as it was sad. “There’s nothing you can do. We’re all powerless to stop a storm from coming.”
The mist that surrounded the Gray Knight faded, but it did not completely disappear.
“Are you saying I’ll hurt you?” The knight’s voice was pained. “I would never want that.”
“I know, sir.” The lady’s tears started to fall. “But can’t you see?”
“It’s the storm in you,” she whispered. “You won’t be able to help it.”
“You’re meant to break my heart.”
~ The Lady and the Gray Knight
A storm was coming, I thought for the nth time the next day, and oh, how my heart trembled in fear, knowing that it was true. The sun was high, the sky was a dazzling shade of blue, but it didn’t matter.
A storm was coming, and there was no stopping it.
The stately high-rise residential building where Nathan’s luxurious penthouse apartment was located rose before me, as architecturally beautiful and complex as its most famous resident. Life was made up of parallels, I thought, and it was silly that I only saw this now.
Nathan Callis used to be just a model to me. Someone too young for me, someone too handsome for his own good, someone too rich for my taste.
If only I had dug deeper. If only I had gone past the surface, I would have saved myself from a lot of heartbreak.
I came inside the lobby, the key that Nathan gave me burning inside my pocket. It would be my first time to use his key, but it could also be my last. I wished I was just being paranoid, but I knew I wasn’t.
My instincts – everything that made me a woman, everything that enabled me to love – they all told me the same thing.
A storm was coming, and I was powerless to stop it.
Before I could talk to the receptionist, I heard someone call my name.
“Alyx Marshall? It’s you, isn’t it?”
I whirled around to see Rima Callis coming out of the elevator, her heels snapping rhythmically over the marbled tiles as she approached me. She was even more beautiful up close and in person, the old modeling photos I found of her on the Internet not doing Nathan’s stepmother any justice at all.
A tall, leggy blonde with the most wonderfully blue eyes, Rima smiled way, way down at me. It couldn’t be helped; I was wearing flats, and her heels had added five inches to her already statuesque frame.
“Mrs. Callis.” It wasn’t like me to stammer, but I couldn’t help feeling self-conscious and out of my element, knowing that this woman might be one of the reasons why Nathan had been acting so strangely.