too mortified about interrupting a private moment to deal with this situation.
The door creaked as I started to close it, and I cringed when the guy on the bed suddenly swung around to face me.
Busted!
“Well, hello, beautiful. Please come in. Three is never too many in my bed,” he said in a welcoming tone.
Oh, dear God!
I put my embarrassment aside long enough to realize that I knew that face.
I knew that gorgeous body.
There was no mistaking those distinctive, peridot-green eyes.
And I definitely recognized that deep voice with a British accent, even though the tone was somewhat different.
“Damian?” I’m not sure why I asked, because I already knew exactly who was lying in that bed with a hand up the skirt of the woman’s pink dress.
My entire world upended, and then started to spin.
“Why?” I cried out like a wounded animal, keening the single word as tears flooded my eyes.
Damian stared back at me with an empty-eyed gaze I’d never seen before.
No embarrassment.
No remorse.
No affection.
There was absolutely no emotion radiating from those beautiful eyes at the moment, and it completely crushed me.
Deciding that I didn’t really need to know why, I fled.
I slammed the door closed, went and retrieved my purse and clothes off the couch, and then sprinted out of the east wing, visions of Damian’s smug, detached expression still haunting my brain.
“No! Wait a minute!”
I heard Damian’s call from the bedroom as I made my escape. I ignored it. Did he really think he was going to talk me into a threesome?
Bastard!
“It’s not like he ever promised me exclusivity or anything,” I whispered harshly as I rushed down the hall and toward the stairs. “He never promised me anything. Nothing.”
My brain was trying to convince my heart not to break. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working.
My vision was blurred from the tears coursing down my face, and I decided to try harder.
It was my problem, not his. He was free to fuck any woman he wanted. There was no commitment between the two of us. There never had been. I’d always known it was a fling, right?
Maybe so, but…I just didn’t see him as the type of guy to do that in his mother’s house, or during one of her events.
Or while another woman he was currently fucking was in the same damn place!
He’d looked just like he had in that damn orgy picture, his eyes wild with what I could assume was lust.
“My mother used to say that a leopard never changes its spots. I guess she was right.” I panted as I ran down the stairs.
What in the hell is wrong with me? Had I really bought that story about the whole orgy thing being a setup?
Yes. Yes, I had, and I wasn’t a stupid woman. I’d believed Damian Lancaster because I’d wanted to believe him, not because it really made sense.
Dammit! I cursed when I couldn’t get the chain undone at the bottom of the stairs. So I simply ducked under the barrier, and raced through the crowd to get out the door.
All I wanted was escape.
From this house.
From the memories of Damian and me together.
From every snobby rich person present who would never understand the kind of pain I was suffering right now.
“Nicole. Wait! Where are you going?”
For an instant, I thought it was Damian calling my name, but it was Leo, and he caught up to me the moment I got outside.
“Nicole!” He grabbed me by the shoulders to stop me. “What in the hell is wrong? You were running like the house was on fire.”
I could hardly lie to him. I was probably a mess. My tears were falling hard and fast, so I knew my makeup was beyond repair, and probably smeared everywhere.
“I have to get to Heathrow, Leo. Something happened. It’s an emergency. I’ll explain later. Can you help me?” My voice sounded pathetic, even to my own ears.
My only thought was to put as much distance between myself and Damian Lancaster as possible right now. I had my passport and ID in my purse, and the clothes I’d worn to Bella’s home this morning.
Damian could send me the rest of my things. It was the least he could do. I never wanted to step inside his ridiculous castle again.
Leo nodded solemnly. “Of course. I’m sorry, Nicole, whatever it is that happened. You look terrible. Do you want me to find Damian? He’d want to be here with you.”
I shook my head vigorously. “No! He already knows. I just need to get to