Stakes & Stilettos - Michelle Rowen [114]
“They say that opposites attract.”
“Maybe temporarily. But I’m not looking for a temporary relationship, Thierry. This isn’t right. I can feel it. I’m trusting my gut on this one. It’s over. I want to see other people. People who aren’t so overbearing and moody. And when I leave, I would really appreciate it if you don’t try to see me again. It’ll just be awkward. Do you understand?”
He stared at me for a very long time. His eyes were gray and there was no warmth there.
“I see,” he said finally, and there was no inflection to the words. Just a general statement. “And I do understand, Sarah. I feel no ill will toward you for this decision. I have expected it for some time.”
“Well, that makes things much simpler.”
“Indeed it does.”
“Then I won’t draw this out any longer.” I took a deep breath. “I thought I loved you, but I was wrong. I’m sorry to have wasted your time and mine. Good-bye, Thierry.”
“Good-bye, Sarah.”
I blinked and turned around, and then all I could hear was the click-clack of my heels as they touched the ceramic-tiled floor and the accompanying thudding of my heart slamming against my chest.
I waited until I was outside in the cold February air before I started crying, great heaving sobs that made me clutch at the brick walls in the alley to stay on my feet. I’d never felt worse in my entire life. It felt as if all of my insides had been pulled out through my mouth and lay on the snow-covered ground next to me in a horrific steaming pile of pain.
And, no. Definitely not an exaggeration.
I loved him. Oh, my God, I loved him so much.
But it was obvious. He couldn’t love me in return. What he’d told me before had been words. Just words. If he really loved me he wouldn’t have stood there and listened to me without trying to defend himself. Without trying to fight for me. He didn’t fight. He didn’t care.
Gideon was right.
It was over. I’d never see him again. But at least he’d be safe. He’d be alive. That was all I could ask for. He’d never know how much this had hurt me. He’d never know how much I loved him.
But at least he’d be alive.
I tried to pull myself together and slowly, very slowly, I did.
Gideon would pay dearly for this. The devil would get his due. The ball was now in my court. Les jeux sont faits.
I sniffed. And other sayings appropriate to the situation.
I pushed my tears away. I’d go home to George’s place and pull a Scarlett. Tomorrow was another day. My first day as a vampire without Thierry in my life.
Dammit. Here come the waterworks again.
Interlude
Toronto, Ontario, Present Day
Thierry watched in silence as Sarah left his office.
She’d left him. His throat felt suddenly tight at the thought. He’d always feared that the day would come that she would see him for the man he truly was and that she would turn her back on him forever. However, he had never realized how much it would hurt.
He’d believed that she was different. That perhaps she wouldn’t leave. That perhaps she was someone he could finally, at long last, open his heart to.
That perhaps the fortune-teller from so long ago had been right.
Sarah Dearly was so incredibly wrong for him. So different. So young and sweet.
It had surprised him to hear such cruel things from her beautiful lips, although he had to agree that a great deal of it was very true and needed to be said. Perhaps he should have tried to defend himself, but from what? He had hurt her. That was the truth. His fortune was drained, although not nearly as much as she seemed to think. His stubborn, estranged wife—who had her own life on a separate continent—refused to give him the freedom to truly commit to their new relationship.
All true. And all reasons for harsh words.
He leaned back in his leather chair behind the desk that would no longer be his as of tomorrow.
Sarah had always claimed to him that she once wanted to be an actress of stage and screen, but it had never worked out for her. He’d always wondered why.
But now he finally knew.
Sarah