Bartered (19 page)

Authors: Pamela Ann

BOOK: Bartered

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“Because it is,” he confirmed with ease.

He’d had seven days to come to terms with any of this, yet I’d barely had an hour and he simply wanted me to hop on and pretend as if he and I hadn’t shared anything—no intimacy… nothing. His callousness wasn’t a side I was accustomed to. Being in the forefront of his brashness was quite a painful thing to adhere.

“
So that’s it?
You got bored with me and now you’re ready to have Sherry and Chantel or whomever you fancy take my place?”

He remained silent.

His detachment shook me mad.
“Answer me, damn you!”
I screeched at him, wanting him to feel this hollow pain that was eating me alive.

After a full second, he finally spun around to face me, bearing his usual mercurial self.
Truly unreadable. “I have to go. My plane’s waiting,” he simply informed me like I hadn’t just screamed at him. He was the epitome of calmness, while I was a raging inferno.

“I’m not ready to say goodbye,” I threw at him, meaning every single word of it. “I feel like there’s more to say. Don’t leave like this. Please.”

“All you’ve ever wanted is your freedom to go back home, to your friends.” His eyes focused on me with a look of indifference, or was that disgust? I wasn’t so sure which one. “You’re free from any contractual obligations,” he pointed out once more, highlighting my freedom. “What more do you
want
, Isobel?”

“I want more time,” I said without thought. “I know I’ve been distant and temper
amental. It’s because of Damen—” I tried to reason with him, maybe show him a little of how much torment I’d been putting myself through to make him understand, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“That’s enough, Isobel.”

Shaking my head, I was adamant to stay. “But I’m not ready to go—”

“Isobel…”

“Please, I’m begging you.”

“No. This is it, Isobel.” He stared into me, making me feel as if he’d reached into my heart with his bare hand and squeezed it until it no longer functioned. “This is goodbye.”

With my tears, pleas, and heartache, I put a piece of myself out on display. “If I wasn’t in love with him, I could’ve given you what you wanted the most, but I can’t betray my heart. I hope you can see that. I’ve already caused enough damage that I’m not sure I can repair,” I sobbed. “Please forgive me. I wish I had given you a chance.”

He simply remained still, eyes flickering over my face, gazing, memorizing as I stared at him with tears slowly steaming down my face.

“Am I ever going to see you again?” Maybe in a year, maybe in two… ten years… I wasn’t sure when, but I would love to see him again.

“We end here, Isobel. We won’t be seeing each other again. I’ll make sure of it.” When he unexpectedly reached out with his thumb, not to wipe my tears, but to press it on my bottom lip, it felt as though he was searing it with something. Maybe he was sa
ying his goodbye. He did once like to kiss me.

“Hugo,” I cried out, needing him to reconsider.

And when I saw something pass his eyes, I thought he’d change his mind. Instead, he merely left a kiss on my forehead, sealing his goodbye.

“Never let your
father, or anyone for that matter, dictate your fate again.” He made a smile that broke my heart. “Go on, ma belle, follow your heart.”

It was his words that made me choke on the ones I wanted to tell him, the truth in his eyes clearly evident. However, what gutted me most was the fact that he’d made sure I was taken care of before leaving me. It was his kindness—even after all I had done to him—that ate me alive. How could he still be so generous when all I’d ever done was be a total bitch to him?

As I stared after the closed door where I’d seen him give me the last glimpse of farewell, I knew there was no way I would ever forget him. He’d dismissed me when I was ready to open up to him again, which had only left me hanging with my thoughts, needs, regrets, and unfulfilled longing that he roused within me. It was buried deep within, but I knew it thrived, waiting to be unleashed.

As farewells went, Hugo Xavier did know how to make an impression, making sure I had been taught a lesson.

A lesson that I’d know inside out soon—that being left behind when things felt unfinished between two people would have its own demons to contend with. Haunting dreams would soon make me question everything I had once believed.

Book 2 of The Encounter Trilogy

Unhinged

COMING SOON

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