I looked at her—really looked at her—memorising every detail. Her hair caught the light from the tall windows. The fierce intelligence that lived in her blue eyes. How her jaw set stubbornly, showing she was ready to fight.
In a few minutes, I was going to break her heart. I was going to say things designed to hurt her so badly she'd never want to see me again. It was the only way to make this clean, to ensure she didn't spend months or years trying to change my mind.
I could see her clinging to hope, desperate for me to break, to admit this was all a lie. If I gave her even a flicker of truth, she'd fight for us. She'd never let go. This had to be surgical—brutal enough that she'd never want to see me again, cruel enough that she'd believe every word.
"We discussed the terms of my departure," I said, my voice carefully flat.
Her face went pale. "What do you mean, departure?"
"I mean I'm resigning from your protection detail, effective immediately." I forced steel into my voice, the same tone I'd used to give orders in combat zones. "It's over, Evangeline."
She stared at me as if I'd struck her. "What are you talking about? We discussed this. We knew there would be consequences, but we were going to face them together."
"That was before I came to my senses."
The words hung in the air like a blade. I watched her face crumple, then harden as she processed what I was really saying.
"I don't understand," she whispered.
This was it. The moment I became the villain in her story, when I said the things that would make her hate me enough to let me go.
"It was fun while it lasted," I said, injecting just the right amount of casual cruelty into my tone. "But let's be honest about what this was, Evangeline. A bit of excitement for a bored princess. A rebellion against Mummy's rules."
"That's not—" she started, but I cut her off.
"I knew your reputation going in," I continued, each word carefully chosen to inflict maximum damage. "Your history with palace staff, starting with Charles Pemberton five years ago. Your tendency to fall for the help." I let my gaze travel over her with calculated dismissal. "I just didn't expect it to be so easy."
The colour drained from her face completely. "James, don't?—"
"Don't what? Don't tell the truth?" I shrugged as if this conversation was boring me. "Look, you're decent in bed, I'll give you that. And the whole forbidden love thing was exciting for a while. But I'm not stupid enough to throw my entire career away for a princess who'll drop me the moment something better comes along."
She made a sound like a wounded animal, her hand pressed to her chest as if I'd physically struck her.
"You're lying," Evangeline said, but her voice was shaking. "I know you, James. I know what we had?—"
"What we had was good sex and proximity," I said with brutal finality. "Nothing more."
She stood perfectly still for a long moment, and I could see her fighting not to break down in front of me. When she finally spoke, her voice was steady and controlled, reflecting her princess training.
"Look at me," she hissed. "Look at me and say it again."
The command in her voice was unmistakable, the same authority her mother wielded but tempered with something more devastating—absolute heartbreak barely held in check.
"Say what?" I asked, though I knew exactly what she meant.
"That this meant nothing to you. That I meant nothing to you." Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears, but her chin was raised, with steadfast defiance. "Look me in the eye and tell me that what happened between us was just a job to you."
This was it. The final blow. I could see her clinging to hope, desperate for me to break, to admit this was all a lie. If I gave her even a flicker of truth, she'd fight for us. She'd never let go.
I stepped closer, close enough to see the gold flecks in her eyes, close enough to smell the jasmine perfume that would haunt my dreams. Close enough to see her lips part slightly as her breath caught.
"You meant nothing," I said, my voice low, clear and unequivocally convincing. "This whole thing—Sicily, the romance, everything—it was just entertainment. A way to pass the time with a willing woman."
The words hit her like physical blows. I watched the hope die in her eyes, watched her face go completely blank as she absorbed what I was telling her.
Then my vision blurred, and a tear escaped as the muscles in my neck spasmed, sending a sharp pain through me. A flash ofcrimson consumed my sight, rage ignited, Evangeline's hand a blur before the shattering impact.
My cheek burned with a slow, desolate ache, each pulse a cruel reminder of what I'd lost.
