Chapter 135 Good news, bad news
Finn’s hand came to rest on a shelf just above my head, trapping me between his body and the solid oakwood behind me. His eyes bore into mine, the beauty of them causing my throat to tighten.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“What? No.” I licked my lips nervously. “I thought I made you uncomfortable.”
“Mm...” his curls tumbled over his forehead in a controlled mess, but I could still see the way his eyes traced the outline of my face and then lingered on my lips.
He pulled back. “You don't. Can we uh… is it possible to forget about the past? You know, the stuff I wouldn’t stop rambling about.” He looked uncomfortable now. “Loving you and all.”
My head jerked back. And he might have slapped me for how painfully hot my cheeks got. Loving you and all, Loving you and all? He bought me all those gifts just to turn around the next minute and say that.
I stepped back. Was he disgusted by me? Irritated from watching me with the men just now?
But as if he would read my thoughts, he went on. “It was kinda rude of me to, um, tell you all that stuff.” He swallowed hard, sinking his hands in his pocket and a trace of sadness darkened his eyes. “During the trip, I sorta had time to think and realized you were right. You really do have too much to worry about with…” heat flared on his cheeks. “Two husbands and an intended fiancé?”
“Finn...” I took a step closer, but he gave his head a quick shake, backing away.
“Your schedule’s about to get real hectic. I’ll not become one more thing for you to worry about.”
My eyes were stinging now, as grief settled in my bones. He was right, and this was what I wanted. I pushed him away over and over because I wanted to live and cheat the ritual more than I wanted to be his woman.
So why did this hurt so much? Why did it sting like a bad bruise?
“I'll like it if we can be friends again though, if that's not, uh… asking for too much. Or cordial, you know, say hi when we meet.”
He said all this looking like he was being gutted, barely able to hold my gaze and shifting on his feet. The pre-Japan sadness was back in those eyes.
I bit my lip hard. Then I wiped my hand on my bathrobe and held it out. “Friends.”
He went still, and then his gaze met mine. His footsteps were soft as he closed the distance between us again and took my hand in his.
We instinctively decided to ignore the shiver that ran through both of us at the contact of our hands. And when suggestive sounds began to echo from the bathroom the other men were in, we broke apart immediately, carefully avoiding each other's gaze.
Finn considerately unpacked for everyone and then left while I settled before a vanity mirror to apply makeup for the opening ceremony.
“Fairy,”
I turned to find Hale watching me, arms crossed, and leaning against the doorway. My hand stilled, the curling wand tangled in my hair. And then I smiled.
He covered the distance between us in three strides, and was leaning in to kiss me when he paused. He gave an exaggerated look of distress at my makeup and then pressed his lips onto my temple instead while I chuckled.
“I have news for you.” He took the wand from me and gently set it down on the dresser. “I want you to hear it from me first.”
“Is everything OK?” I stared up at him from the stool.
“Finn and I are together now.”
I blinked rapidly, hardly understanding him for a stretch of seconds. And then the information settled in my mind and, heat, that heat that had become familiar this past week flared up bright and scorching from my core.
“Why?”
“Why? I love him.” Hale gave me a baffled look.
The heat was at chest level now, and in a few seconds my skin would light up like a chandelier. I discreetly slipped my fur slippers off and anchored my feet to the cool floor like Mordaine had taught me.
“Of course you love him,” I said, with more control over the coil inside me than my mouth. “Everybody loves Finn at this point.”
"Lys,” His elegance fractured for a second, betraying his surprise.
I was just as stunned at my own reaction, at my emotions. A searing jealousy was slicing me open, the intensity of it causing black dots to appear behind my eyelids.
Hale was watching me now, that dissecting look that read your emotions like an x-ray. “There’s something different about you.”
I turned sideways immediately, trying to keep my hand from shaking as I reached for the wand. Mordaine would be livid if I let anyone else notice the changes in me.
“Forgive me.” My voice came out calmer, the quiet tone that was more natural to me. “I only thought we would be as we were four years ago.”
That was the cruelest thing I could have told him. Especially when it was I who destroyed what we had. Who betrayed him and crushed every hope of monogamy for us.
But my chest was on fire, and at this rate I would cry and ruin this makeup. I wanted him to leave.
And he did, without another word to me. I contemplated following him to apologize, but I did not have the courage to.
“Ughh.” I muttered a curse under my breath as one of my makeup brushes fell and rolled under the table. My jealousy was like a three-mouthed prong. I wanted Hale to myself, and even Mordaine to myself, but most importantly, I wanted both of them to stay the hell away from Finn. He was mine first.
I leaned down to retrieve the brush, thinking how this possessiveness was like a smoldering fire, threatening to eat me alive.
“Oh.” I jumped when I straightened again, startled to find Mordaine at the doorway.
How long had he been standing there?
He moved towards me then, those bright silver eyes, hypnotic, pinning me in place.
“You will be late for press.”
“I’m sorry.” I turned to the mirror again, scanning for any smudges on my soft glam makeup. My phone started up on the table, vibrating.
Tamar. I silenced the call and turned the screen downward. Her anxiety about perfection would only make me more anxious.
I stood up then, and slipped into the dress Tamar had a popular designer custom-make for me, while Mordaine came to stand behind me. It was a delicate dress, in a soft pink color. The fitted lace bodysuit hugged my bust and outlined my cleavage in a sweetheart neckline.
Tamar had insisted on this dress for the opening ceremony. She claimed that Asians went all out for events and would find it insulting for a guest to show up in any of the other modest dresses I had chosen.
It took only one glance to see why she had chosen this almost-vintage dress. With a high-waisted skirt that began with a wrap-style overlay waistband, and fell smoothly over my hips right to the floor, I looked like a modern princess.
But there was a problem.
A beauty team was supposed to prepare me for this event. But as I had lost my room, and definitely could not bring them here, there was no one to lace my corsets.
I reached for my phone to return her call and ask for her to send Kathy over. Mordaine, who had been watching me quietly the whole time, placed his hand on my hip. “Let me.”
I stared at him through the mirror, and he smiled at the doubt evident on my face.
“I witnessed the invention of these things,” he reached for a corset lace, twirling it around his finger. “And I had a wife whose mantra was, if you learned to undo them in your haste to fuck me, you can learn to fix them too.”
He said this in a high-pitched tone that mimicked a feminine voice and my lips were trembling from an effort to fight my laughter.
“Even if you were king?” I stared at the laughter dancing in his own eyes.
“Especially as I was king.” He smiled fully, that rare boyish smile.