“What do you mean?” Sasha asked anxiously as she watched Damon stuff clothing into a suitcase. “Where do you have to go?”
Something was very wrong! First of all, Damon never packed himself. He had a huge staff that ensured that his life ran smoothly, including using the hotel butler’s service to pack up his clothing and toiletries for him or his housekeeper when he was at one of his homes across the world. But he’d burst into the Paris penthouse a few moments ago, telling her that he had to go.
Secondly, he hadn’t indicated that she would be traveling with him. He’d only said that “he” had to go, not that “they” had to leave. Ever since he’d returned to the villa weeks ago, he’d kept her by his side. Initially, she’d been so angry with him, resentful of his demand that she travel with him although secretly loving the excitement of the whole thing.
And lastly, he was simply stuffing clothing into the suitcase. Damon never looked rumpled. His clothes were always neatly pressed and he smelled wonderful. But the way he was shoving shirts and clothing into the suitcase, he wasn’t going to look very put together whenever he arrived, wherever he was going.
“I…” he looked down at her and opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then he shook his head and closed his mouth. Moving back into the closet, he pulled down other clothes and stuffed them into the suitcase as well.
“Damon, please tell me what’s going on. I’m not sure what to think right now and…”
He stopped right in front of her. “Trust me,” he said and kissed the top of her head. “I have to go,” he told her once again and he closed his suitcase before pulling it off of the bed.
A moment later, he disappeared, leaving her standing in the middle of the bedroom, once again alone and confused, not sure what was happening.
She felt her legs give out on her as her heart broke with his departure and callous refusal to tell her what was going on.
It was happening again! Something important, very important, had just occurred and, instead of telling her about it, trusting her with the information and maybe even coming to her for support, he’d simply walked out on her. Left her. Again!
The tears rolling down her cheeks went unnoticed as she tried to figure out what had happened, what she’d done wrong. Had she hurt him in some way? Had she offended him? She’d thought that they’d been getting along amazingly well over the past few weeks but…
But he was gone. He was gone and something had happened and he’d cut her out of his life.
For perhaps a half hour, she sat there, wondering what she’d done wrong, what she might have done better, what she could have said to keep him from cutting her out of his life before she realized what she was doing.
As soon as she grasped that, she stopped herself. The past six years, she’d gotten into the habit of blaming herself for his abrupt departures. But she’d slowly come to the understanding that she wasn’t at fault. Damon was the one that pushed her out of his life.
With an angry swipe, she dried her tears, angry with him now for leaving her like this. He was a selfish bastard that didn’t know how to be a husband other than to make love to her, or more specifically, have sex with her whenever the need struck him.
She was not going to be used like that!
Oh, goodness, she thought and almost tripped over her feet. She’d loved that aspect of their relationship. He made her feel beautiful and sexy and desirable!
Not right now, though! Nope, she didn’t feel sexy in any way. And she felt about as desirable as a wet rag.
She pushed forward, not allowing herself to think about Damon walking out on her again. No matter how much her heart ached, she wasn’t going to think about him. She’d pushed him out of her mind once, she could do it again, she promised herself. So what if her muscles felt like they were made of lead? So what if her bones were starting to ache? She was a strong, resourceful woman with an inner strength that would get her through this! She would not only survive, she would thrive!
Sasha pushed herself to work that afternoon, to keep Damon from flashing into her mind. It was hard, but she finally was able to focus on work issues. She wouldn’t change any of the investments today though, knowing that she was in an emotionally vulnerable state of mind. Damon might be a horrible man to be married to and he might have broken her heart this morning by banishing her back to loneliness after giving her weeks of being in the sunshine of his attention, but he was also a brilliant businessman. He never allowed emotions to cloud his business judgement.
When she realized that it was dark outside the Paris hotel’s window, she shut down her computer and sighed, trying to come up with a plan for her night.
Unfortunately, she glanced at her watch and realized that it was almost midnight. None of the restaurants were open now, but neither would she go to any of them alone. It wasn’t that she couldn’t. She was perfectly capable of dining by herself. She’d done it often enough before Damon had stormed back, demanding that she become a wife in the truest sense of the word.
Sasha stared through the penthouse window, not really seeing the beauty of the Paris skyline or the twinkling lights as the city slowly went to sleep. All she saw in her mind was Damon’s features, hard and impenetrable as he shoved things into his suitcase.
Something struck her. That look! The expression in his eyes! Sasha had never seen him like that!
It suddenly occurred to her…Damon was upset! Whatever had pulled him away, he was in pain!
Oh goodness, she thought as she turned away from the unseen beauty of Paris. Her man was hurt and she’d just let him go! She’d let him walk out and try to deal with…whatever it was…on his own!