Page 69 of Fake Fae-Ancée
"I could’ve managed myself just fine," I muttered.
"No you wouldn’t have," Claudio muttered darkly. "You were hurt and defenseless and he just happened to exploit your vulnerable situation."
I stiffened at his words.
"That’s a horrible thing to say," Lily scolded her husband.
"Sooo, after that you were what, boyfriend-girlfriend?" Charly piped up, overriding the hostile vibe the conversation was suddenly carrying.
"Kinda…" I looked at my plate, puncturing a vegan meatball with my fork.
Gabe and Claudio had known Yuri and I had a thing going on — and the entire base, as I’d found out later on. But no-one had known about the getting-married part, although I could never be too sure with Gabe. He tended to know stuff.
I didn’t dare to look back at Yuri. Under the table, his knees were dangerously close to my legs.
"But why did you split up?"
"That’s a rather personal question," I said, boring my eyes into Charly’s hazel ones. My friend just smiled.
Yuri cleared his throat. "I messed up."
The table fell silent, all eyes on us now. And that mortifying heat inside me changed, turning into something more hot and dangerous, as he suddenly held my hand in his, and his dark eyes were on me.
"I messed up and I am still so sorry about that. I want to be better. And I am so grateful that you’re giving me a second chance to make you happy. Because you deserve nothing less."
More silence, an endless one this time. Everyone stared, even Gabe. Charly mouthed a shocked "Ohmygod!" Lily’s chin quivered, starry eyes swimming.
Claudio glowered.
I stared at Yuri, a thick and heavy lump in my throat.
Fake, it screamed inside my head. It’s all fake! It’s just for show! Never mind that this was the apology he’d owed me for years.
It was all fake. An act. An elaborate scheme, to fool a bunch of Bear Shifters, an Assassin and everyone I held dear into thinking we were real.
His kiss hasn’t felt like an act, though, that dark and dangerous part in me whispered. Neither has his touch…
I yanked my hand away, couldn’t grab my glass fast enough and quickly downed some of the chardonnay, willing the conflicting knot of emotions to please, please, please disappear before I could lose my act.
Kai
I just returnedfrom the bathroom, when Claudio caught me in the hallway.
"Are you serious?"
"Gawd! Don’t scare me like that!"
Claudio flowed out of the shadow he’d been waiting in, his Half-Daemon nature supplying him with the necessary concealment.
"Tell me what’s going on," he hissed, tugging me by the shoulder and pulling me into the corner, clearly not wanting everyone else in the living room to overhear our conversation.
I sighed. "Isn’t it a little late to become all overprotective on me?"
Claudio scowled, puffing himself up into the thundercloud act he used to intimidate people. "Stop it," he gritted. "I know when you’re being weird about stuff. Something’s off."
Okay, apparently you couldn’t just grow up with someone without him being suspicious about you acting out of the ordinary. Which my moving out and getting "engaged" head over heels apparently was.
"I don’t know what you mean," I said. "What should be off?"
