Lie (Betrothed 8)

He released a deep sigh, his nostrils flaring.

“Sofia has a huge ring. That diamond is bonkers. This looks like fake jewelry that came out of a gumball machine. Do you shop at H&M?”

He snatched the phone from the table. “It does not. And since when did you become so materialistic?”

“I’m not. But you’re like, what, a billionaire? Can’t you buy her a big-ass ring? Open your wallet a little bit…”

“Annabella isn’t the type of woman that cares about the size of the diamond. She cares about the man giving it to her. She’ll love it.”

“Fine.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest.

Damien opened the photo on his phone again and stared at it before his eyes were back to mine, like he wasn’t as confident anymore. Then he released a deep sigh. “Fine, what do you think I should get?”

“How about we just go shopping? Anna is going to be my sister-in-law, so I don’t want her walking around without a big-ass rock.”

He put his phone back into his pocket. “Alright. But when you fall in love and the guy asks you to marry him, you aren’t going to care what the ring looks like. If it’s not a huge diamond, you’re still going to be just as happy.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. But if he was rich and knew me at all, he’d probably know what to get me.”

“Why does it matter to you?” he asked, turning serious.

I considered the question and the best option for a response. “It’s hot,” I said with a shrug. “If I’m walking around with a huge rock, every guy who looks at me is gonna steer clear because they’ll know I belong to one hell of a man. And every woman who looks at my hand is gonna be jealous, especially if she sees us together, because she’ll know that fine man is really devoted to me, ain’t gonna cheat on me, ain’t gonna even look the other way.”

Damien was quiet for a while as he considered everything I’d just said. His face was a blank canvas, as if he was replaying my words in his head. But it must’ve hit close to home, because he rose out of his chair. “Let’s go now.”

I grinned and followed him out the door.

Now that six weeks had come and gone, my life had returned to normal. I would never forget what happened because the memory still came back to me in my nightmares, but I definitely started to move on. Staying at home and moping around didn’t help at all. When I got back to work, hung out with my friends, spent time with my family, those things seemed to help me the most. I hadn’t been with anyone else since before the incident, but I thought it was time to get back on the horse.

I pushed Heath from my thoughts even though he’d never really left. As time went on, his presence in my mind begin to fade, and there were days when I didn’t think about him at all. But he always popped up again…eventually. Sometimes I thought about him when I was in the shower because I remembered that painful conversation in the bathroom. If I ever ate a hamburger, I remembered how he’d brought one to me when I was starving. Whenever I opened that white envelope stuffed with cash, I remembered him.

But in time, I would forget.

After a performance, the girls and I went out. It was my first time going to a bar since that night of the confrontation in the bathroom. I was in a short purple dress with my hair in curls, and it took me an hour to settle down after we arrived. I was aware of my surroundings more than usual, checking to see if there were any creeps similar to the one who cornered me in the bathroom. As if danger lurked everywhere, I kept my eyes peeled, and I guarded my drink like someone might spike it.

Tracy noticed my behavior. “Are you okay?”

“Absolutely.” I knew my answer was a little too enthusiastic, as if I was trying to compensate for my unease. “Why?”

“Because there’re so many hot guys staring at you, and you haven’t noticed.”

I only noticed the men who looked like a potential danger to me, and they didn’t seem interested in me at all. It made me forget the whole reason why I was there in the first place. “I guess I’ve been out of the game. I was sick for so long, and I just needed some time to get my feet back in the water.”

She patted my back. “Well, jump in. The water’s warm.”

After a few drinks were in my system, I wound up at a table with a nice guy. He was tall, blond, with fair skin and blue eyes—not my usual type, but nice enough. He had a position in a hotel, accounting or something, and he was absolutely nonthreatening.