“My little Isla…” She stifles a sob. “Justtry—”
“I will not,” I say evenly, composing myself again. “Ididtry. I tried the whole time he and I were both living in the lie that I grievously wronged him. He made me suffer enough for a lifetime, and I am taking the first out available to me.”
She says nothing for long enough that I’m just done with the conversation.
“I love you, Mamá. I will see you soon.”
I end the call before she can say anything else.
The cursor is still blinking at me, and I shove away from the desk. I’m not entirely sure what time it is. I still haven’t changed out of my robe and nightgown even though it’s likely late in the day. But I couldn’t care less, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s time to drink.
After descending the stairs, I cross through the grand entryway to a hall that leads to the lounge that has a fully-stocked bar. Stepping across the threshold, I startle at the sight of Malachi seated on a leather sofa that faces the looming fireplace, sipping from a crystal glass of amber liquid.
Of coursehe’s in here.
I ignore him as I march to the bar, tugging my robe tighter as I cross around behind it to pull an unopened bottle of tequila from the shelf below. I don’t even bother with salt or lime, and simply retrieve a shot glass. I feel that distinctive weightiness of his eyes on me as I pour the first shot and down it. I don’t look at him as I sense him approaching me and down the second shot. After pouring the third, I finally turn, and he’s right behind me, both of us suddenly way too close to each other between the bar and the tall, mahogany liquor shelf behind it.
I jut my chin upward at him. “Keep your distance, evil Duke.” I down the shot and then gesture at him with the glass. “And don’t speak to me unless you have a status update on our divorce.”
His silvery-pewter gaze drifts from my face to the shot glass, to the bottle, and then back. “I do have one.”
I pour another shot and swallow the bile creeping up my throat from too much liquor in too little time. “Then you have permission to address me.”
The look in his eyes is saturated with not only guilt, but also something that looks likepity, and Ihatehim. “I’ve informed my parents. They are, of course, displeased. However, I did explain the circumstances. I explained everything we learned from—”
“There is nowe,cabron,” I snap, then down the shot. My head is already starting to float a little, and I can feel my inhibition unraveling. “You destroyedwewhen you chose to believe a lie rather than the person who loved you more than anything in the entire world.”
Malachi clears his throat and draws his tongue subtly across his upper lip as he appears to meticulously reword his statement. “I explained everything from the meeting with Officer Miller.”
“Ha.” I grip the neck of the bottle and swing it in an arc toward him. “And I’m sure they’ve done a complete one-eighty with regard to their disdain for me.”
He nods slowly, and it causes a strand of his dark hair to fall over his eyes, which don’t waver from mine. “They realize it was a misunderstanding. A cruel college prank. They’re quite devastated to know—”
“Well,good. I hope you all feel shitty for a lifetime.” I tilt the bottle neck toward him. “I know I will. And I haveyouto thank for that.”
He nods again, his eyes shifting, and he smooths his hand down the line of buttons on his tailored Oxford shirt. “I am sorry, Isla.”
“I thought I told you to save yourplatitudes, evil Duke,” I hiss, forcing my flitting gaze to focus on his face. “They do nothing.”
There’s a subtle pulse in the muscle of his jaw before his Adam’s apple bobs. “Additionally, I’m working with the Royal Public Relations Department to prepare for the press. I can assure you that all of this will be handled in a way that doesn’t reflect poorly upon you.”
“Nor onyou,I’m sure.” I sway slightly on my bare feet, and then inch backward a couple of steps so that I can steady myself with the edge of the bar. “Can’t have all of Corwick seeing their beloved duke in a negative light.”
He has the audacity to take a step closer to me, angling his face over mine. “I do not have a single care about how this reflects upon me, poorly or otherwise. I will spend the rest of my life attempting to right this wrong.”
I lift my chin higher in tipsy defiance. “And you will spend the rest of your life failing becauseIwill spend the rest of my lifehatingyou. I will spend the rest of my life hoping that your guilt overfailing meeats you alive. I will spend the rest of my life hoping you suffer until the moment you die alone as a decrepit old man in this cold, empty palace. Andthatis when I will finally be happy again.”
Malachi’s throat pulses again, and a sheen of emotion covers his eyes. “And knowing that will make you happy is the only thing that will finally put my soul at peace over this.”
“Go fuck yourself, Malachi,” I snap, lunging toward him. “You deserve nopeace. You are apieceofshit, full of empty words, and you deserve to suffer the wayIhave.”
He doesn’t back away from me. “I did suffer.”
I blindly slam down the bottle and the shot glass on the bar behind me. “Only because you decided to believe thatyouwere the victim when the only victim ofanythingisme.”
“If you think I am not suffering alongside you right now under the knowledge of what happened to you, you’re—”
Rage propels my palm to fly toward his face, and I silence him with a slap so hard that my own palm instantly throbs with pain.
