Chapter 26
Chapter twenty-six
Eli
Throwing open the front door, I charge inside, knowing exactly where I’ll find her.
“We need to talk, right fucking now,” I shout as I find her in the kitchen sitting on a counter stool with her hand wrapped around a spoon midair, prepared to dig into the pint of chocolate fudge ice cream before her.
“No, we don’t,” she answers calmly, thrusting the spoon into the container.
“Do you think ice cream is going to solve whatever the fuck is going on inside your head right now?”
She ignores me, shoving the spoon into her mouth while staring down into the container. Even from where I’m standing, I can see tears building in her eyes.
I don’t know if I want to throttle her and shake her until the truth comes out of her lips or wrap her in my arms and tell her everything is going to be okay.
“Madeleine!”
She pauses and meets my gaze, a slight twitch in her cheek as she bites her lip, trying to suppress the emotions racing through her.
I take a deep breath, placing my palms on the cool counter.
“You need to talk to me. You need to tell me what is going on. And I’m not just talking about tonight.
I’m talking about everything.” I drag my fingers through my hair.
“I want to hear the truth, starting with why you’ve agreed to marry Alastor. I deserve the fucking truth!”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t need to do anything.” She drops her spoon on the counter and slides off her seat, ready to storm away. But before she can, I grip her arm and pull her into my chest.
She maintains her posture, her back as straight as an iron rod, but I can see how her jaw tightens, trying to hold together the last thread of her composure before she breaks.
I stare into her tear-filled eyes. “You’re scared,” I say softly.
She scoffs. “Scared? Of what?”
Her chest rises a little faster, and I don’t miss the deep swallow she takes.
I reach for a tendril of her dark hair, pushing it behind her shoulder. “Why don’t you tell me?”
For a moment, I think the wall between us has come crashing down, and she might actually begin to share what’s been going on. But in an instant, she blinks, and I watch as her hard exterior falls back into place.
“Nothing scares me,” she says flatly. “I’m an Alarie.”
“And clearly, a liar.”
Anger lines her features. “Don’t forget who you work for, Eli. You’re in no position to undermine me.”
I can’t help but let out a deep, throaty laugh. “Oh, Princess. That’s where you’re wrong.” Her brows cinch in confusion as she waits for me to elaborate. “You’re in charge of managing your family’s finances regarding the main account, correct?”
“Obviously.”
“Then you know every transaction that comes in and goes out?”
“Of course.”
“Every employee’s salary?”
“Yes!”
“Then tell me this: how much am I getting paid to be your bodyguard?”
“Well, you get… You make… I think it’s somewhere around…” Her whole body freezes in my grasp; her lips, after seconds of contemplating my question, part in shock.
“How much?” I ask again, speaking slowly to emphasize my point.
“Nothing,” she breathes.
“That’s right. Not one fucking penny. Because after I agreed to this assignment and transitioned from being Scarlett’s bodyguard to yours, I had the direct deposit to my account cancelled. And do you know why?”
She shakes her head, a tremble taking over her body. Her beautiful blue eyes blink back tears that she’s too afraid to let fall.
“Because I’m not here as your paid employee. I’m here as a man who loves you and will stop at nothing to protect you. I’m here because you’re mine and always have been. I’m here because there’s no fucking way in hell I will ever let you walk down the aisle to marry any other man but me.”
The smooth skin on her palm connects with my cheek, taking me by surprise.
Her eyes widen as she covers her mouth with her hand.
She slips out of my grip and quickly turns away.
I rub the spot on my cheek where a fresh sting warms my skin, watching her scurry off toward the stairs.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I take a deep breath, trying with all my strength to control my anger—something I’ve always been able to do.
But not this goddamn time.
A volcano can only take so much pressure before it erupts.
And this beautiful fucking crazy woman just unleashed my wrath.
Striding across the marble flooring, I reach the stairs just as her bedroom door slams shut. I take two steps at a time, arriving in front of her door in seconds. With a forceful shove, I open it, the door slamming against the wall, nearly dislodging from its hinges.
She spins in shock at my arrival.
Probably assuming I wouldn’t have followed her.
But she’s wrong.
She’s so goddamn wrong it makes my fingers curl into fists at my sides.
Because I’d follow her to the fucking ends of the earth and back.
Her hand pulls back, and before I have a chance to comprehend what’s happening, she hurls a small object at my chest. The box containing the engagement ring bounces off me and lands at my feet, its lid snapping open to reveal the diamond ring inside.
“How dare you stand there and tell me you love me when you bought that ring for someone else!” Pain and agony lace her voice, emotions so intense that they seem out of place.
Emotions that wouldn’t be there if she knew who this ring was always meant for.
I bend down and pick up the ring, closing the lid. I stare at the box as I say, “You think this ring is for someone else?” My gaze shifts up to meet hers.
She gestures with her hands wide open. “Obviously. You bought it for—”
“You,” I interject.
She slowly drops her arms to her sides and blinks a few times in surprise. “W-what?”
“I bought this ring for you.” I tuck the box into my pocket. “I planned on giving it to you when I got back from my last deployment, but…” My eyes drift to the ring on her left hand.
She instinctively covers her hand.
I take one step into the room, and she takes one back.
“You think I don’t know what’s going on here?” My voice comes out rough, filled with pent-up frustration. “You signed your soul over to the devil. And now, it’s time for you to tell me why.”
Panic flashes across her face, but she remains silent. With each step I take toward her, she takes another step back until I have her cornered against the wall, our chests brushing against each other.
I can feel her warm breath cascading across my neck as she looks up at me, her chest heaving a little faster.
But she doesn’t cower.
No. My princess is too rebellious to cower, and right now, as she juts her chin out, arching a brow at my proximity, I watch her attempt to build the thick stone wall between us. The one she’s maintained for the past year to protect her secrets and guard her heart.
But I’m about to tear it all down to the motherfucking ground.
Brick. By. Brick.
“A little over a year ago, you promised me you’d wait for me.
Do you remember? It was the last time we saw each other before I left for Iraq.
” My eyes drop to her pulse point, noting how it beats erratically.
“And after losing my comrades and after being kidnapped and tortured, the only person I wanted to see was you.” I pause, letting my gaze drift back up to meet hers. “Just you.”
She looks away, shame spreading over her features. But I refuse to let her hide from me any longer, so I grip her chin, forcing her to face me.
“So, imagine my fucking surprise when I heard the news that Madeleine Alarie was engaged to Alastor Manacorda. I thought there was no way, not after everything that had happened between us. So, in disbelief, I took a flight straight here instead of to my own home. I made it all the way to your front door with my hand raised, ready to knock, but I stopped when I saw you through a window.” She rolls in her bottom lip, her eyes staring at the floor.
“You reached your hand up to your hair.” I grab her left hand, bringing it between us.
The gaudy ring on her finger mocks me as it shines brighter than ever.
“And you were wearing another man’s goddamn ring on your finger!
” I roar, my voice echoing across the room.
Silence fills the space between us, suffocating me.
I drop her hand as my breaths come out heavy and labored.
I remember that moment as if it were yesterday.
And all the anger I feel comes crashing down on me.
“I have given you no reason to hate me, yet you have given me every reason in the goddamn world to feel that way about you, and still, I bloody can’t! ”
Defiance flashes across her eyes as rage washes over her. “You’ve given me no reason to hate you?” she asks incredulously, gritting her teeth.
“None.” I lower my face, leaving only an inch of space between us. “You, love, are the one who betrayed me.”
Her shoulders rise and fall, and her hands clench into shaking fists at her sides. She looks ready to hit me again, and I’ll probably let her, knowing that whatever is happening between us right now is likely to reveal more than either of us can understand.
But I’m suddenly taken aback when a single tear crawls down her porcelain skin, her hard exterior melting.
I reach out, ready to wipe the tear from her face, but she shoves me away and moves around me.
I turn, prepared to confront her again, only to find her reaching under her bed for something.
Pulling out an old shoebox, I watch as she throws off the lid and digs through a pile of papers, tossing them to the floor until she finds what she’s looking for, holding it before her.
Her wild eyes lock onto mine, and I realize that whatever is about to happen will change everything between us.
Forever.
Her bare feet march over to me, and she doesn’t hesitate as she shoves the paper against my chest, her fingers trembling like leaves in the wind.
“You betrayed me!” she yells, her voice cracking. “When you wrote these words for me to read, you broke my fucking heart!”
My brows furrow as I grasp the paper and read what it says.
Four words.
One sentence.
And one signature—my signature.
The only problem is I have no idea what I’m looking at.
“What the hell is this?” I ask, lowering the paper so I can look at her face.
She scowls, shaking her head in frustration. “Don’t play dumb with me; it doesn’t suit you. You know exactly what that is. It’s the last goddamn letter you sent me after I told you I was pregnant.”
My world stops spinning.
The only sound I register is the thundering of my heart, pounding against my rib cage.
“It’s the last goddamn letter you sent me after I told you I was pregnant.”
“What?” I breathe, blinking violently as I try to clear my head. I must have misheard her. There’s no way she just said what I think she said.
She turns away from me, staring out the window. Her shoulders slump as she lets out a defeated sigh. It feels like an eternity, though it’s probably only a minute or two, before she quietly says, “Don’t worry. You got what you asked for.”
What I asked for?
What is she—
I glance down at the letter again, seeing those four words in an entirely new light.
Get rid of it.
Fear, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, engulfs me.
“Madeleine…” I take a step closer, towering right behind her. Our eyes meet in the reflection of the window as I say, “This letter… This letter wasn’t from me. I never wrote these words. I never received a letter from you saying that you were…”
Pregnant.
Oh God.
Everything spins as I grip the four-poster bed and close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
Every emotion swirls around me like a vortex of agony.
I sit on the edge of the mattress, placing the letter beside me and dragging a shaky hand through my hair.
“You were pregnant…with our baby?” I look up at her, finding her completely at a loss for words as she slowly nods.
I grip the sides of my head and lean forward, tugging at my hair.
She was pregnant.
She was pregnant with our baby.
And I had no fucking clue.
The center of my chest tightens painfully, and I feel like I can’t get enough oxygen into my lungs.
“I don’t… I don’t understand what’s going on.” Her voice trembles as she wraps her arms around her waist, her eyes wide in disbelief. “You never… You never got my letter?”
I shake my head.
“Oh my God…” she breathes, her voice breaking as she reaches for the wall for support. “You really didn’t know.”
I swallow hard, trying to muster the courage within me for what I need to ask her. But even as a man who has seen the horrors of this world firsthand, I’ll never be strong enough for the answer she’ll give me.
“Princess,” I say as softly and calmly as I can manage. Tears pour from her blue eyes, soaking her cheeks. She knows. She knows exactly what I’m about to ask her, and as much as I don’t want to hurt her, I need to know. “What happened to our baby?”