Page 124 of Their Fairy Princess (Office Intrigue Duet 7)
“Then why are you turning your back on me?”
I turned, wrapped her in my arms. “Do you want to go to him?” I asked.
She didn’t lift her head, her arms squeezing me tightly. “Yes, my Liege. I do. And not because you instructed me. Because … because I know it’s where I’m supposed to be.”
“That’s something we can both agree on,” I admitted. “Even if I’ve been too blind to see it.”
Her eyes lifted, imploring me without words. She needed my reassurance as much as I needed her love.
“It’s what I need as much as you.”
When that had become the truth, I wasn’t sure.
Perhaps it had been the case all along.
And they weren’t the only ones pretending otherwise.
Everly
Walking away from Isaac should’ve been hard but it wasn’t.
I trusted him, knew he wouldn’t lie to me. Initially, I’d thought he was pushing me away to punish me. Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t in his nature.
That was what he’d said in the very beginning. That I would always know where I stood with him. He hadn’t gone back on his word, even now as he urged me to go to Ian.
Ian.
My heart squeezed as it always did when I thought about him.
These past few days had been hell. I knew he was ignoring me, though he wasn’t rude about it. When it came to Ian, his moods were pretty simple, and I’d never seen him so withdrawn. That was Isaac’s forte. Ian was the one who opened up, was quick to smile, and had a plethora of questions. He hadn’t been himself these past few days.
I made my way to the opposite end of the hall, paused outside his bedroom with my hand fisted, ready to knock. Before I could work up the nerve, the door opened.
His eyes, so beautiful despite the misery I could see churning there, settled on me.
“May I come in?”
He glanced down the hall briefly before stepping out of the way.
“Is something wrong?” he asked when he turned to face me.
“Everything’s wrong,” I told him truthfully. “You know it. I know it. Isaac knows it.”
“Did he send you in here?”
“No. I came because this is where I want to be.” I swallowed hard. “Where I need to be.”
Ian didn’t move, didn’t speak.
I could see his disbelief, knew it would take more than that to convince him that here, with him, was the only place I wanted to be right now.
A minute passed, then another.
“I love you,” I told him simply.
“Do you?” he asked, skepticism dripping from his words.
I ignored his reaction. I didn’t blame him for asking that, for thinking I was trying to soothe him.
I wasn’t.
“Truth is,” I began, “the short time Heaven was here, I was jealous of her. It’s not an emotion I’m familiar with. One I know isn’t appropriate. I have no claim to you, despite what my heart has wanted all along. Those moments I got to spend with you…” I swallowed hard. “I cherished that time, wished it wasn’t all I was given, but I loved you enough to accept it. To trust you were following your own heart.”
His lips formed a hard line, as though he was holding back whatever rebuttal he had.
“And I know I’m overstepping here,” I continued. “You’re in pain, that much is obvious. You won’t talk to me. Most of the time you won’t even look at me. I’ve done something, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what. But you owe it to me to tell me. Give me a chance to fix it.
“At the club. Back when this first began, you and Isaac scared me. No. Not the right word. Terrified is better. I knew what would happen. From that first night we played together, I fell a little bit in love. With both of you. It wasn’t right or fair. Not to the two Dominants who were training me. I kept telling myself I was confusing lust with love. That it was normal, and I needed to put distance between us. So I did. As much as I could. But there was no way I could deny either of you. So when you requested I scene with you, I gladly accepted, pretending it was a role I was playing. Only it wasn’t.”
Ian’s feet shifted, his hands sliding into his pockets, but still he didn’t speak.
“The day that man attacked me, I’d been getting ready to go to Zeke’s because I had been invited. Thought it would be a good thing to spend time with people outside of the club, see how they interacted, get a feel for the dynamic. I knew you and Isaac had been invited, looked forward to the chance to see you. When that man attacked me, my only thought was to go to Zeke’s because I knew the people there, knew I would feel safe for a little while.
