Second (Betrothed 6)

It hurt to watch.

Damien didn’t return the affection, keeping his still position as he focused on the conversation. He didn’t look at me or try to talk to me. When she grabbed his hand on the table, he didn’t squeeze her hand the way she squeezed his.

Liam had his arm around my chair, oblivious to the pain I was in.

“I’m going to use the restroom.” She grabbed Damien’s shirt and pulled him close. She kissed him on the mouth, a long kiss that was inappropriate for the situation. But she didn’t care…because she wanted the world to know he was hers.

I couldn’t keep a straight face because the sight of him kissing her made me feel like shit. I remembered those kisses, remembered grabbing him in the exact same way. When he was mine, I got lost just the way she did…falling so hard. I wanted him every second of every minute because no amount of time was ever enough. I dropped my gaze because the torture was too much, the flashback of memories painful.

I felt her look at me, felt her blue eyes pierce my face. So, I turned back to her.

The stare lasted just a few seconds before she walked away. But that look was purposeful, like she was looking for something specific.

Very specific.

At the end of the meal, Liam and Hades went to the restroom, and since Sofia had to pee all the time, she joined them. Charlotte tagged along too, leaving Damien and me alone at the table.

Somehow, this was worse.

The tab had been paid, and the receipt lay in the leather folder in front of us. Empty wine bottles were scattered across the table, and our glasses were empty.

Damien didn’t look at me.

I didn’t look at him.

Silence stretched, and the conversations at the other tables were suddenly loud because there was nothing else to focus on. I hadn’t enjoyed my dinner because I felt sick the entire time. If it wouldn’t be obvious that I had a problem with Charlotte, I would have asked Liam to take me home. I couldn’t do that, so I sat there and suffered.

Damien finally turned his chin my way. “I didn’t want to bring her—”

“You don’t have to explain anything, Damien. It’s fine. Really.”

He continued to watch me. “I know she acts like we’re serious, but we aren’t—”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s very beautiful, and if you’re happy…I’m happy for you.” I had to force the words out, to take the high road with as much dignity as I could muster. It killed me to stare at a woman so beautiful, the kind of beauty I could never compete with. It killed me to see her cherish him just the way I used to. She didn’t take him for granted, knew he was one hell of a catch. He pleased her every night, and she wouldn’t let him go without a fight. It was like watching a little movie of our time together, because she loved him just the way I’d loved him. But she got to keep him…and I didn’t.

“Annabella.” His voice softened, packed with pain. “She said she would do a favor for me…if I brought her tonight.”

“What kind of favor?” I asked.

“I need her to get close to someone. I’m trying to hire a hit man to take out the Skull King, but he said no. So now I’m trying to find another way to convince him. It’s complicated…”

“I’m surprised she would make a demand like that.” She should help him because she wanted to, not make it conditional. That was manipulative and selfish.

He shrugged. “She knows what she wants, and she’s willing to do anything to get it.”

I knew that feeling all too well. I would have done anything to keep Damien. Charlotte caught the same disease I had…and went insane.

“I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea…because she doesn’t mean anything to me.”

I was married to Liam and I loved him, so he didn’t have to say that to me. He didn’t have to console me when he was free to do whatever he wanted. “Whether she does or doesn’t, it’s okay. Really, it’s okay…” It wasn’t okay, but I did my best to make it seem that way, to convince myself that was the truth…even though it was obviously a lie.

I sat at my vanity and pulled off my wedding ring. Then I unfastened my earrings and set the diamonds on the surface.

Liam undressed behind me, his reflection visible in the mirror. “Damien’s a lucky bastard, huh?” Shirtless, he sat on the edge of the bed then slipped off his shoes. Tattoos were on his skin, but not thick enough to cover all the muscles of his body.

I inhaled a deep breath, irked by my own husband’s admiration of her. “Yes, she’s beautiful.” She’d made Hades laugh a few times, and she was so gorgeous that she seemed like a hologram. Was I stupid for thinking Damien could ever feel the way I did? He was used to supermodels being hung up on him, and I was no supermodel.