“What are you doing here?” I asked, turning to face him. He looked just as handsome as ever.
“I could ask you the same thing. Are you enjoying the show? Do you miss being the centerpiece of it all?”
I walked around him, knowing he was going to follow. I needed to get air; I felt like I was suffocating. I found a balcony and didn’t stop until I was standing beside the railing. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my beating heart that felt like it wanted out of my chest.
“You look stunning in this lighting. You’re still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, Ysabelle.”
His fingers crept on my back and he brushed them up and down my spine, my backless gown, giving him the liberty to do so.
“When you left, you took my heart with you…did you know that? Hmmm…did you know that I was in love with you?”
I swallowed the saliva that accumulated in my mouth.
“Of course you did. You loved it, didn’t you? Knowing that I wanted you, only you. It was a game to you.” He roughly grabbed the nook of my hair, letting my up-do go free; crazy curly hair surrounded my face. I felt nauseous. My present and my past colliding, even though Sebastian wasn’t physically there, he made his presence known.
He jerked my head back and I gasped, making me look at him.
“Answer the fucking question, gorgeous. Did you know I was in love with you?”
“Yes…” I breathed out.
“Was I a game to you?”
“Yes…”
“Did you want me to fall in love with you?”
“Yes…”
“Why? Hmm…answer me!”
“Because I could,” I simply stated.
He let go and shoved me against the railing. I felt his heat against my back even though he wasn’t touching me.
“I could fuck you right now and you would fight me the entire time. My how times have changed. What are you doing here? I can see it written all over your face, you don’t belong here anymore.”
I took in his words.
“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel…is there, gorgeous? Sometimes broken toys can’t be fixed. And all that’s left is to throw them away,” he mocked, making me turn immediately.
“Go to hell.”
“Beside you? It’d be a fucking pleasure.”
He walked around me, eyeing me up and down. “From the looks of it, you’re in purgatory. VIP doesn’t have the lure that it used to, does it? You want to know why that is?”
My eyes followed his every movement.
“I was your first…do you remember?”
I nodded.
“Say it.”
“Yes…”
“I’ve fucked you three ways from Sunday. I’ve tasted you on my mouth for days after devouring you. Do you remember?”
“Yes...”
“I always knew what you were. I’ve seen inside your soul because I’ve loved you and you’ve laughed in my face because of it.”
“I’m sorry, Gabriel. I never meant to hurt you. I’m not that person anymore, but I can’t go back and change things. I can only go forward.”
He laughed. “See…that’s where you’re wrong. You aren’t going anywhere. You’re at a standstill. You’re like a mouse on a spinning wheel, running round and round with nowhere to go. Aren’t you exhausted?”
“What do you want? Did you come here to patronize me?”
“Can’t an old friend say hello?”
“You were never my friend.”
“Lover then?”
I laughed. “Not even close.”
“Ouch…that’s not nice, Ysabelle.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back,” I declared, walking around him.
“Back to what exactly?”
I turned to look at him. “You want to know the difference between you and a lover or even a goddamn friend?”
“Enlighten me.”
“You used me, just as much as I used you. You want to pretend like you loved me and justify it…then go right ahead. You never loved me because, one, you don’t know the meaning of the word and, two, you don’t know who I am.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, gorgeous, I knew then what I know now. You aren’t a VIP, you never were. Your Madam knows it, too. It’s why she wants you so desperately. You’re the first person that’s ever told her no, now that’s hard to forget.”
I backed away from him. “I hope you find happiness one day and it’s not at the hand of a whore.”
“Like you?” he snarled.
“Always a pleasure.”
I left the party without saying goodbye to anyone.