dreams and broken promises. I’ll stare at her lips and know that I can never taste them again.
Even though I want Ivy—even though she awoke something inside me—Cara’s grip on my heart is still tight. Her claws are dug deep into my flesh, making me drag my shattered heart behind me like dead weight.
I inhale. “Please, what?”
“Look at me.”
“I can’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” I snap.
Silence hangs between us, and I still can’t look at her. What would it accomplish? If I look at her, I don’t know what I’ll do. Push her away? Snarl my teeth at her? Kiss her?
She still has a hold on me, even though she’s married to my brother. She still makes me feel like laughing and throwing up at the same time whenever I stare into her face. She still smells like heaven and flowers and candy.
Cara. My queen, my first love, my first heartbreak.
“I want us to be friends,” she says softly, twisting the knife in my heart once more.
“We’ll never be friends.” I jerk my arm away from her. Then, I turn to look at her.
I knew I shouldn’t do that.
Deep, brown eyes stare back at me, full of memories I’ll never live again. Emotions erupt inside me, warring for a place in my heart. I hate her, but the way she looks at me makes me miss everything we had together.
“Do you remember when you told me you’d wait for me forever? That you’d be by my side?” My voice sounds strangled. My chest is hollow.
Cara sucks the inside of her cheek, and I remember what it was like to kiss her. I still remember how she tastes, and the face she makes when she comes.
I wonder if my brother makes her come like I used to.
Blinking the thought away, I stare at the woman who ground my heart to dust. Surprisingly, the tension around my chest eases slightly. I notice lines on her face that I hadn’t seen before. The dimness in her eyes. The curve of her shoulders as she drops her head.
Cara sighs. “I thought you wouldn’t come back, Luca. You kept pushing me away.” She reaches to touch my arm. I don’t flinch away, and I’m surprised when her hand doesn’t shock me.
The feeling of her fingers on my arm doesn’t send heat coursing through my veins, and it doesn’t put another dagger in my heart.
I feel nothing.
“You thought I was broken,” I say.
“No, I…” Her eyebrows draw together. “I wanted to come to Singapore, but you kept telling me to stay away. It was hard, Luca.”
“You thought I’d never walk again, and you couldn’t bear to be attached to someone damaged.”
“That’s not true.” Cara shakes her head, her brown curls trembling around her face. “Theo and I were both so heartbroken when you left. We were so worried for you… It brought us closer. You were gone so long, and when you stopped answering my calls…”
She trails off, her hand squeezing my arm.
I purse my lips, nodding. “I was gone a long time getting my body stitched back together, Cara. You could have jumped on a plane and seen me. You could have moved to Singapore with me. You could have tried harder.” I shake my head, scoffing. “I’m glad I could play Cupid for you.”
Shrugging her hand off, I turn on my heels and walk away. I let my feet carry me all the way to the garages, where an attendant drops a set of keys into my hand. I get into a car and drive myself out of the castle grounds. I need to put some distance between Cara and me. I need some space from her—from her body, her stare, her voice.
I don’t know what to think. Feeling her touch made me feel surprisingly detached, but there’s still the memory of my heartbreak that clings to our interactions. It’s almost as if I want to hurt. I want to be angry. I want to want her…but I’m not sure if I really do.
My foot is heavy on the accelerator, speeding through the unfamiliar streets of Farcliff City. I’ve spent the past year away from Argyle, and right now, I have no desire to go back. I like the unfamiliarity. I like the strangeness of the world away from home.
I like the distance between me and the woman that I loved. The woman that doesn’t love me back.
Maybe she never did.
It’s only when I turn onto the road leading up to the LeBlanc mansion that I