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  “Love is love—regardless of the intensity.”

  “Well, I know Liam loved me, but he still stabbed me in the back.” I walked back into the kitchen.

  “Not all men are like Liam.” He grabbed me by the arm and forced me to turn around. “I’m not like him, and don’t you fucking dare think I am. I would never do that shit. If I’m committed to a woman, I give it one hundred percent.”

  I pulled my arm away. “How do you know? You even said you’ve never been serious with a woman.”

  His eyes showed his offense. “I don’t need the experience to know what kind of man I’d be. Once I fell in love with someone, I knew exactly who I was. No matter had bad things get, I don’t sniff around. I’m loyal…just like you.”

  Hearing him talk about love made me want to push him away. “Damien, if you think you and I are just going to get together because Liam is gone, you’re wrong. I need time. I need space. I’m not in the right place—”

  “That’s fine, Annabella. I can wait.”

  “I don’t want you to wait,” I whispered. “I just want to be by myself for a while…”

  His eyes filled with pain even though he tried to cover it.

  “He hurt me, you hurt me, and then he hurt me again… I need a break.”

  He took a deep breath before he whispered his response. “I won’t hurt you again, Annabella.”

  “Liam said the same thing.”

  His temper flared like a bomb exploded. “I’m not Liam!” His voice suddenly grew loud, his anger a gushing volcano. “And I hurt you to protect you. I hurt you because I’d only known you for a short time. The situation is totally different now.”

  “And you don’t want to protect me anymore?”

  He took another deep breath. “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet…”

  “This was never meant to be, Damien. I wanted you when you didn’t want me. And now you want me, and I don’t want you.”

  He shook his head slightly. “I know you don’t mean that. You’re upset, you’re traumatized, and you need space. I got it, alright? I’ll give you as much space as you want. Just don’t lie and pretend you don’t love me—because I know you do.”

  I dropped my gaze. “I just don’t want you to expect anything.”

  “I don’t,” he said quietly. “I’m a patient man. If all you can offer right now is friendship, that’s fine. I can be a friend.” He dropped his arms and departed from the kitchen. He stopped to look out the windows that overlooked the city, the sunset leaving beautiful splashes of red and pink. He stared for a while before he turned back to me. “You know where to find me.” He focused on me as he waited for a response, hoping I would say something to numb the pain I’d just inflicted. He clearly wanted an embrace, the affection that we used to share, that we used to be addicted to.

  But I couldn’t do it. “Goodbye, Damien.”

  31

  Damien

  Liam looked like shit.

  His eyes were permanently gray, and his strong shoulders sagged from the weight of his grief. He wasn’t the powerful man with the bright-blue eyes. Now, he was a ghost of the man he used to be, still wearing his wedding ring even though the divorce papers had been filed.

  I’d seen them sitting on Annabella’s kitchen counter.

  He stepped into the ring and tightened the wraps around his hands. He was in just his trunks, his body slicked with oil so the punches would slide across his swollen muscles. He had been eager to get back into the ring when Hades had approached him, but he’d rejected death fighting.

  As if there was a chance he could get his ex-wife back.

  That train had left the station.

  The horn blared, and the match began.

  Hades wasn’t as interested in the match because the stakes weren’t as high. And Liam was so miserable, he didn’t believe he would win anyway. “She’ll come around. I’ve been divorced, so I understand why she’s so cold.”

  “Not the same thing at all.”

  “Divorce is painful, even if you want the divorce. She was dedicated to that marriage, determined to make it work. The fact that Liam betrayed her the same way, for the same reasons, just makes the sting more potent.” His hands were together as he watched Liam and his opponent move around the ring and battle it out. “She’s not gonna jump into bed with some other guy.”

  “I get that. But I don’t appreciate the way she pushed me away.”

  “Just give her time. She’ll come around.”

  I bowed my head in frustration. “I just can’t believe I’ve wanted this woman for so long, and now I can’t have her.”

  “For now.” He turned to me. “Do you really want Liam’s leftovers anyway?”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “You don’t want Anna when she’s still thinking about Liam, whether her feelings are positive or negative. Let her work through this, come out the other side, and be ready. When you guys were together the first time, you were the only thing on her mind. It won’t be that way again if you force it.”

  “Yeah…I get it.”

  Liam channeled all his rage into the fight and beat his opponent, knocking him out cold to the sound of cheers from the men. He raised both fists in the air in celebration, but his face was still blank like none of this really mattered.

  “It looks like you benefit the most from all this.” I watched Liam head to the gate so he could join the rest of the crowd and walk back to his locker room in order to shower.

  Hades gave me a slight grin. “I’m not ashamed of that.”

  When we got to the locker room, Liam was already gone.

  “I guess he just wants his money so he can go home.” Hades shut the door and walked with me to the elevator. We got inside and watched the metal doors shut before we rose to the top floor.

  The casino was in front of us, loud music playing and naked girls everywhere. We walked across the room.

  “I bet he went to a whorehouse.” The second things got rough with Annabella, he turned to pussy. Why would his actions be any different now?

  Hades stopped when we were within sight of the bar. “Looks like he just wants a drink.”

  Liam sat alone, his fingers around his glass as he stared into the dark contents. His face was bruised from the punches he’d endured, but he didn’t seem to be in physical pain…just emotional pain. He seemed genuinely heartbroken by what he’d lost, but that made him even more difficult to understand.

  “All he had to do was keep his dick in his pants,” I said bitterly. “I don’t understand him.”

  Hades continued to stare at him. “He’s just too impulsive. He loves her, but his behavior is driven by something else.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I need to get home. You’ll talk to him?”

  “Why the fuck would I talk to him?” I didn’t feel bad for the son of a bitch. He’d brought this on himself…and hurt a woman who didn’t deserve an ounce of pain. The turn of events was fortunate for me, but that didn’t make me hate him less.

  “Because he’s your client.”

  “No. He’s your client.”

  “Damien, come on.” He patted me on the shoulder. “He’s out of the picture with Anna. You got what you wanted. No reason to feel anything for him anymore.” He winked. “You won.” He walked off and exited the casino.

  I sighed and turned back to Liam, who looked utterly devastated. He wasn’t pressing up against a naked woman or buying someone a drink. He was just alone…because he wanted to be alone. He wasn’t angry anymore.

  There was an open spot beside him, so I joined him. It was a quiet night at the bar because the regulars preferred to sit at the poker tables. The rest of the guys were still down at the fights, watching the rest of the matches.

  He didn’t look at me, as if he didn’t notice I was there.

  I got the topless blonde’s attention and ordered a drink. I took a sip of the scotch and turned to him, forcing myself to extend some kindness. “You
fought well tonight.”

  He didn’t look at me, staring into his glass. “It’s strange. I used to want to fight more than anything. Now it means nothing to me.” He swirled his drink before he took a sip. His nostrils flared as it burned his throat down to his stomach.

  I couldn’t bring myself to show him pity, to say I was sorry about what happened. “You’ll get back into it.”

  “Maybe…maybe not.”

  Hades would just coerce him if he didn’t want to.

  “You want a ride home?”

  He shook his head. “I hate that house.”

  I didn’t need to ask why.

  “This divorce seems to be harder than the first one…”

  Still didn’t feel anything for him.

  “I don’t know why I fucked it up so bad. I don’t know why I lost my temper. I don’t know why…” He bowed his head and rubbed his hands over his short hair. “I don’t know why I had to throw away the only person I actually care about…”

  I didn’t get it either.

  “I love her so much. But why would she believe that?”

  She shouldn’t.

  He turned quiet and stared at his drink awhile.

  I let the silence pass and had no response to his sadness. I just wanted him to get back to work and move on. Listening to him complain about his despair seemed stupid when he wasn’t even the victim.

  He finished his drink then asked for another, not even looking at the pretty waitress.

  “Things will get better.”

  “No, they won’t,” he whispered. “I’ve lived without her before…and it was terrible.”

  Then he should have learned his lesson.

  “When she looked at me like that…” He shook his head. “So angry. So upset. I felt like shit. When she knew what I’d done, the hurt on her face was indescribable. I hate myself for what I did to her…when I heard her tell me what I did.”

  I stared into my glass.

  “I just…” He suddenly turned quiet.

  I continued to stare at my scotch.

  Then his head slowly turned my way, his blue eyes burning into my face for the first time.

  I met his gaze.

  He stared at me for several heartbeats. “You were there that night…”

  My palms started to sweat, and my heart began to race. I watched his mind work to connect the dots, to deduce what had happened right under his nose.

  “And she knew about it…because you told her.”

  I gripped my glass and took a deep breath.

  “And you told her…because you’re Damien.” He stared at me without blinking, rage slowly creeping into his features. He knew exactly who I was, finally understood this wasn’t a coincidence. The past six months seemed to play across his mind, remembering all the times Anna and I were together and he’d assumed it was harmless. But now he understood I was the guy who’d fucked his wife…who’d stolen her heart.

  He squeezed the tumbler in his hand until the glass shattered in his fingertips, the shards exploding across the surface of the bar. His knuckles turned white as his fingers closed into a fist. The vein down his forehead thickened and throbbed, the tint of his fair skin making him look as red as a tomato.

  Adrenaline spiked in my blood, but not from fear. A part of me wanted this to happen, to look him in the eye when he knew I was the man who’d fucked his wife, who’d claimed her heart and never let it go. She would be mine soon enough, and he’d have to live the rest of his life knowing he was the reason Annabella was sleeping with another man.

  I didn’t sugarcoat the truth or connect his assumption. This moment was bound to happen, and now I was relieved the truth was out in the open. I didn’t have to pretend to like the guy. I finished my drink and left the empty glass on the table. “She was always too good for you. You know it.” I slid off the stool and got to my feet. “She’s better off without you. And she’ll be better off with me.” I turned my back and walked away. Fighting him when he was drunk was cheap. Not my style.

  He got off his stool and yelled after me. “I’m going to kill you, Damien!”

  I stopped and turned around.

  He stood there, his arms hanging by his sides as his veins thickened with blood and adrenaline. “I’m gonna crush that skull with my bare hands until your brains explode. And I’m going to make Anna watch.”

  I stood still in the middle of the floor, the distant sound of moving chips on my ears. The deep bass of the music was loud, the women in cages dancing despite the lack of rhythm. I didn’t see anyone around us, no men crossing the path between us. All I saw were those blue eyes. “That’s the difference between you and me. I would never use Anna like that. That’s why I deserve her—and you lost her.”

  Their story continues in Forever…

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