not wasting time glancing at the caller ID before taking the call. Putting my cell to my ear, I said, “I’m sorry, Soph—”
“It’s not Sophia,” a familiar deep voice boomed.
“Oh.” My eyes widened.
His gaze narrowing, Journey moved toward me. For the first time, I took a step back, away from him.
“Saber,” I whispered into my cell, dropping my gaze and feeling guilty, although I had no reason to feel that way. “It’s late. What do you want? Is everything okay?”
“I know very well how late it is.” He sounded really pissed. “And no, everything is not okay. Where the hell are you?”
Shit. “Where are you?” I asked, my heart beating so fast, I could barely think over the pounding in my ears.
“Your hotel, looking for you. I ran into Sophia in the lobby. It took some doing, but she admitted you’re not in your room.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” My spine snapped straight. “You shouldn’t have put her on the spot.”
My breath caught, and I looked up. Journey was staring at me, but he no longer looked concerned. He looked as pissed as Saber sounded.
“We broke up,” I said weakly into my phone, but wanting both men to hear me.
“We were on a break!” he shouted.
I winced, pulling my cell away from my ear.
“We were not on a break,” I said after returning my cell to my ear. I turned my back to Journey, but it didn’t help. I could feel his eyes on me, cold like an arctic blast.
Shit. Shit.
“We’re over,” I said firmly to Saber, though reiterating it brought tears to my eyes. “You know as well as I do that we’ve been going nowhere for a long time. You didn’t even remember my birthday.”
“I remembered. I’m here right now because it’s your birthday. As soon as we finished the single, I drove straight here to see you. Took for-fucking-ever. Traffic was terrible. Shield whined the whole time about the detour.”
“It’s a nice gesture, you coming to LA for me,” I whispered. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
It was too little, too late.
I was proud of myself for sticking to my decision, knowing in the past I might have caved and taken him back. Pre-Journey, almost certainly. Saber was practically a perfect boyfriend, and Cork adored him.
“It changes everything if you let it. If you come talk to me, we can fix this.” Saber blew out a breath. “Are you with someone right now?”
“Yes, I’m—”
I gasped as Journey snatched my phone out of my hand. My jaw dropping, I stared at him as he hit the mute button.
“Do not tell him you’re with someone.” He glared at me, his brows forming a deep crease between his eyes.
“But we—”
“There is no we here, darlin’. You got off. I got off. But playtime is over. It’s time for you to go, understand? I don’t want any part of the drama you’ve got going on.”
He thrust the phone back into my hands, his words and the sharp look in his eyes severing the tiny shoot of hope that had pushed its way upward through all the heavy shit that had buried it before, that had buried me.
“Lotus,” Saber said, his voice blasting into the heavy silence in the room.
Belatedly, I realized Journey had unmuted the call and put it on speaker mode. Why did he want to hear this?
Saber’s voice turned pleading. “Please give me another chance. I love you. You love me.”
A crash followed that declaration. I spun around, a hand to my throat where my pulse raced beneath my skin.
One of the macramé planters swung back and forth, but it was empty now. The pot that had held the violets was shattered. Jagged terra-cotta pieces scattered on the floor amid clumps of dirt.
“Okay, I’ll come back,” I said abruptly, ending the call.
Tears burning behind my eyes, I avoided Journey’s gaze as I went straight to the corner. Most of the pretty purple blooms were separated from their roots. It was probably hopeless, but I had to at least try to fix the damage.
“You only fail if you stop trying.”
Remembering Storm’s words, I scraped all the potting soil I could find into my hands. Violets that had roots attached came next. My hands full, I turned, looking for a container, but before I could find anything, Journey raked the dirt and the flowers from my hands.
“Why—”
“Leave it,” he said curtly, and a tear spilled down my cheek as I glanced down at the remains on the floor. “It’s